Coddington and Winthorpe’s Max Pickles hits maiden century to defeat cricket opposition Great Dalby

Coddington and Winthorpe completed a demolition against Great Dalby thanks to a magnificent maiden century from Max Pickles, writes Joshua Mee.

The match started how almost all of Coddington and Winthorpe’s bowling displays do, with early wickets putting them on top.

Great Dalby were left 31-4 and then 64-6 after great opening spells from both Jake Warrener (3/37) and Ewan Butterfield (3/36), with the soft pitch and cloudy weather creating the perfect conditions for bowling.

Although defending a short boundary, the fielding side put on a solid display, taking nearly all their chances and not giving away many easy runs. The pressure created from the early wickets was telling, as only 2 batters scored over 20. One of these was Rory Thompson, who scored an incredible

102, with 12x4s and 5x6s. He batted himself into the game, surviving the new ball and then pushed on, taking advantage of the short leg side boundary when the ball stopped moving as much. His century took the home side to 176/9 off the 40 overs, with him falling just before the end of the innings.

With the way the pitch played at the end of the innings, Coddington and Winthorpe were quietly confident going into their batting innings.

This confidence only rose as batter Max Pickles came out and scored an incredibly destructive century from 55 balls, ending the game on 123 from just 69 deliveries. 98 of his runs came from boundaries, with 11x4s and 9x6s.

Another player stated that it was the best innings he’d seen by a non-professional cricketer.

The game was taken away from Great Dalby, who were shellshocked by the onslaught. The one wicket to fall didn’t slow the attack, with captain Ewan Butterfield (32*) and Max Pickles seeing the side home after just 21 overs.

It was a simply incredible game to watch, with the first innings century being outshone by the second. Coddington and Winthorpe were absolutely delighted with the win, which was only their 3 rd of the season. Spin bowler Josh Jones said ‘We performed really well in the field against a strong batting side, and then we were given an absolute treat in Max’s innings. It was unbelievable to watch.’

Next week, the 1st XI look to go back-to-back with a home game to Chilwell, while, for the second week running, the 2nd XI have a week off.