SNELL CRASHES 272 AS RECORDS TUMBLE [01/07/08 05:10:57]
In twenty years or so, when some of us are long dead and buried, there will be people at The Brow who will proudly claim that "I was there" on that hot, sunny afternoon in 2008 when Steve Snell (pictured right) created mayhem by hitting 272 against Gosfield.
Thanks to the meticulous efforts of bothy our scorer Brian Savill and club statistician Simon Swinn, we can reveal the true extent that Sunday's exploits have had on the record books for not only the club, but the league as well.
His knock comfortably surpassed the 214* made by 1st XI skipper Shaun 'The Vicar' Calladine against Great Bromley in 2003 and contained more sixes (14) and total boundaries (45) than any previous score for Abberton. His 200 in 118 balls eclipsed the 'assault' by Giles Saunders on Kelvedon in 1997 (129 balls) and his whole innings lasted just 140 deliveries!
As can be seen from the reproduction of the scorepage below, the New Zealander outscored his two partners from the word go and the unfortunate Gosfield bowlers were given little respite as Abberton piled up 438-2 from their 45 overs. Our previous highest innings total was 403-3 v Shalford in 1999 and the 411 run victory margin easily overcame the 241 run beating of Tollesbury six years ago. The team total, individual score and the margin of victory are all new competition bests for the PDQ North Essex League.
With Dave Schofield, who hit 100*, Snell added 328 runs for the second wicket, beating the 259 set by Simon Peek and Simon Swinn against Earls Colne some 23 years previous. It becomes the largest stand for any wicket which was held by James Carroll and Jason Leckie v Halstead in 2005 (273*). The pair are pictured below savouring their glory hour.
Cannot Bat
Snell reflected on his innings yesterday having slept off a few well-deserved pints of John Smiths. He felt that his success was mainly down to careful pre-match preparation which started immediately after Saturday's shambolic defeat at Copdock.
Steve takes up the story: "Mate, I always place a great value on getting a good night's sleep and making sure that my diet is spot on before an important game. After a light post-match dinner, I was tucked up in bed with a glass of warm milk in order that I could focus clearly on the Gosfield encounter when I woke on Sunday morning."
This is clearly a regime that many at the club would do well to follow and nobody could claim that his diligence did not pay maximum dividends. The Gosfield bowlers would probably have preferrred our man to have stayed out on the town, slurping Bacardis until dawn before sneaking into the sack with a good (or possibly, bad) woman.
"That would be totally inappropriate" says Snell. "I have an example to set to the younger players at this club and my behaviour, both on and off the field, is always in the spotlight".
Asked about his record-breaking contribution, the modest Kiwi said, "It was hot out there and I was pretty tired by the time I had reached 100 as there had been a lot of singles early on because Johnners couldn't hit the ball off the square. After that, I managed to relax more and started playing my shots and, I suppose, I just got lucky."
As regards the club record, Snell was unaware that he was anywhere near the previous best until skipper Kemlsey Robb took him a desperately-needed glass of water. "Its a good feeling to make such a big score, but the Gosfield lads derserve a lot of credit for their attitude. They never stopped encouraging each other and they were very sporting in their congratulations" he added.
Whatever Snell does during the remainder of his days at The Brow, there is no doubt that Sunday's increbile feat will be remembered for an awfully (Copson word) long time. He singled out Paul Le Ford as being the main inspiration behind his performance. "The guy is such a natural batsman, comfortable against both pace and spin and he's got a huge array of shots. He is so talented, one for the future, no worries".
