Sunday 25th May 2025
Wick were back to 40 over action on Sunday against Penarth, keen to put the midweek loss to F troop from few weeks ago behind them, and to continue their unbeaten home record for the season.
Having seen a league match on the green called off because of rain the day prior, hopes were not high for Sunday. But, by the time 1pm rolled around, the sun was shining and 8 of the 11 Wick players were ready to go. The Dixon brothers (collective noun suggestions: Lateness? Headache?) had been for a out on the Bridgend tiles the previous night and all three turned up a bit late and a bit worse for wear. Not to be beaten though, Gutsy still managed to turn up the latest of the three, and considerably later than Amal, who was feeling smug.
With no Russell this week as he was hosting a cricketing delegation from the US, no doubt negotiating the next high-profile takeover of a sleeping giant Welsh sports team by a pair of Hollywood A-listers, it was over to co-captains Steve and Dickie to take the reins. As Dicky was feeling a bit tricky after a few ‘blue drinks’ the previous night, it was down to Steve to call the shots.
Penarth CC – 160 All out (34.3): Tim Webber 62, Harry Withers 2-7, Kenny Thomas 1-8
Wick CC – 164 for 4 (33.5): Harry Withers 52*, Owen Thomas 35, Steve Collins 28
Scorecard
Coin toss won; Wick were bowling. Gutsy, in what some consider a deliberate ploy to drag himself out of his existential bowling order crisis, took himself out of contention as an opener by not being there. So, it was over to Simon and Amal to open the bowling, and it didn’t take long for the first wickets to fall. First was Dennett Jr. having been run out by Harry off some lovely, economical bowling by Amal, he was soon followed by Dennett Sr. who was bowled by Simon. Not a great day out for the father and son partnership.
It was then over to the Dixon’s four to maintain the early wick momentum; Gutsy bowling with his trademark pace and accuracy from one end and Dickie Warne from the other. The Penarth no.3 and 4 did good work of punishing the bad ball as they motored towards drinks. The old saying goes ‘a change is as good as a rest’ and whilst Captain Steve wasn’t keen for a change away from the Dixons, swapping R and G Dixon for C and T Dixon brought about a much-needed breakthrough for the Wick side (keeping up?).
Colin took a caught and bowled with his first delivery of the match, a ball that was so far outside off it wasn’t even on the strip, no doubt all part of his plan to tempt the batter and he got his reward. This was followed by a run out by Chris, a direct hit from the bottom of Trepit Road and with just one stump to aim for. Majestic. A bit of confusion followed as to which batter was out, but thankfully for the Wick side it was deemed that the Penarth No.3 was the one to walk for a very well batted 62.
Penarth went in to drinks looking good at 130/4 but a few quick wickets had the Wick side feeling optimistic. The optimism was well placed as a devastating spell by both Harry and Kenny saw 3 wickets for just 14 runs between them, turning the tide firmly back in Wick’s favour. Owen, having handed the gloves to Colin at drinks stepped up alongside Steve to bowl the last few overs with both picking up a wicket to give Wick a score of 160 to chase.
Steve, no doubt in an effort to lull the Penarth bowling attack into a false sense of security over the quality of the Wick batting, decided to have Owen open alongside him. This match reporter, however, saw it for what it truly was, a courageous and maverick piece of captaincy. Did it pay off? Sort of.
Steve, having struggled to get going with the bat so far this season wasted no time in finding the boundary. With some efficient running between the wickets and Steve hitting a six and two fours in an over, Wick were making good progress towards the Penarth total. Wick were 49-0 after 9 overs which is when Owen decided to thank Steve for his show of faith by running him out. Was there a run? Maybe. Did Steve repeatedly shout at Owen not to run? With the wind it was hard to tell. Either way, Steve was out for a blockbuster 28 and Owen felt guilty…for a bit.
Next to the crease was Harry, having played a match or two for Wick over the last couple of seasons we understood the kid could bat, and bat he did. Playing some lovely shots including a massive straight six that narrowly missed a smart car on Trepit road, Wick were on course for another positive result.
Penarth utilised their two young fast bowlers brilliantly. Their captain saying to Owen ‘we’re only keeping these two on because the other guy can clearly bat’, which was a hurtful yet fair assessment of the contrasting quality of batting at the crease for Wick. In the 19th over Harry took a nasty blow to the ear from one of L Dennett’s deliveries, thankfully no major damage caused and with drinks called early Wick were 96-1.
Owen was next to feel the full force of the Penarth bowling attack as a combination of an unpredictable bounce, a quick delivery and less than quick reactions saw him take the full force of the ball to his neck. Whilst there are some downsides to having such a big neck, including having sleep apnoea at 34, it no doubt came in handy in this instance as he was able to shake off the blow and get back to the crease after milking a bit of sympathy from the gathered crowd.
A few overs later Owen edged one behind to the keeper and was out for a glacial 35. Wick were 125-2 as Colin strode out to the crease. In the next over, having achieved his 50, Harry retired (much to Gutsy’s disapproval) to bring Tubsy to the crease. A swashbuckling approach by the two non-related Dixons saw Colin bowled for 7 and Tubsy caught for 4. Knowing that a classic Wick collapse was never far away, Dickie and Chris took to the crease to steer the team to victory. With Chris the more cautious of the pair acting as a foil to the big six hitting Dickie, the evergreen twosome saw Wick home in the 32 over ensuring that the unbeaten home record remained intact for another week.
Thank you to Penarth for the game and thank you to David & Madden for sponsoring the Match. Wick are next in action against Llancarfan for some village vs village T20 action on Wednesday 28/5.
– Owen Thomas
