Captain Marvel leads Priory to historic win

A marvellous record breaking innings of 167 not out by skipper Richie Oliver saw Priory chase down 306 to beat Sunbury and stay top of the Premier Division. Richie’s innings was the highest score by any Priory player in the history of 1st XI league cricket. The previous highest was 160 not out by Alex Richards against Farnham in 2006.

Richie’s unbroken 2nd wicket partnership of 233 with Aussie overseas star, Alex Ross (88*), was the second highest stand for the 1st XI but Andy Delmont was quick to point out that it was not a record 2nd wicket stand as he and Chris Murtagh enjoyed a stand of 254 at Sunbury 10 years ago.

Earlier in the day, bad weather delayed the start by 1 hour as the Llamas having won the toss decided the best way to win the game was to bat second. At the half way stage, winning the game appeared unlikely as Sunbury amassed 305/8 declared in 50 overs. The Llamas were left to rue a couple of crucial dropped catches as two opposition batsmen made hundreds. Connor Newbold, playing his first 1st XI league match for 9 years bowled well and was unlucky not to have better figures. Meanwhile Michael Munday took 4 late wickets while joining the two Sunbury centurions in reaching 3 figures.

Credit to Sunbury for declaring with seven overs still available, however they must have thought they had enough runs on the board. The turning point of the match was the counter-punch thrown in the 8 overs prior to the tea break as the Llamas raced to 68/0 as Luke Haughton stroked 46 in 32 balls. From this point the Llamas never fell behind the required rate as Richie and Alex combined in their memorable partnership.

Congratulations to Richie for his record-breaking innings. 167 not out in a winning run chase is a special achievement and a fitting one for someone who gives so much to the club on and off the field.