Rowington made the long long journey to Overbury on a warm, but windy Saturday and promptly lost the toss and were asked to bowl.

 

With opener Steve Jay trapping a nerve in his back whilst preparing the home pitch, it was a case of how long will he last. Old foe Eike Gilbert opened with Jay, they kept a good line and it wasn't long before Goodwin (5) dragged one onto his stumps off Gilbert. Munro was joined by Stout and they began their own little test match. Jay was as thrifty as ever and, despite great pain, continued for over after over. He eventually ended his 10 overs for a miserly 10 runs with the score on 28 off 20 overs. Dale Glover came on and had Stout (6) clean bowled and then in came Arnett who tried his best to up the run rate, Overbury were on 61 off 30!

With some big shots Arnett seemed to kick-start Munro and they moved the score past the ton and up towards 150 when Andy Shaw had Munro (58) stumped by Tom Jefferson. Eike Gilbert came back on to remove Arnett for a fine 50 and Shaw made his figures look a little better by bowling Brookes for 7. Cleaver and Griffiths steered Overbury past the 150 to end their innings on 153 - 5.

The lion-hearted Jay 0 - 10, Gilbert 2 - 30, Rogers' cameo appearance 0 - 8, Glover 1 - 9, Leon Clarke 0 - 27 and a rather expensive Shaw 2 - 57.

In reply 'Boycott' Alex Smith continued in his Warwick vein - leaving Rogers to do all the scoring for the first 10 overs once again - before, much to the cheer of his teammates, he hit a boundary. Then, with the score on 64, Rogers got bowled for 46 and Eike Gilbert came to the crease. He pounced on any bad delivery and with 'Tavare' Smith holding up one end they slowly, moved towards the 154 target. A series of boundaries from Gilbert took him past his 50 and, with Smith finally managing to undo the shackles, they eased to 154 off 32 overs and the Rs had secured their second win on successive weeks and 19 points. Gilbert ended 66 no and Smith 27 no. Goodwin the only bowler to get a wicket with 1 - 29.

High flying Shipston next week.

Steve Jay