A HARPSDEN cricketer who used his home-made bat to score 1,000 runs has won this year’s Henley Standard Best of the Week award, the John Searby Trophy.

The Best of the Week competition runs throughout the season and records the number of times a batsman scores more than 50 runs or a bowler takes five or more wickets in weekend matches.

Horatio Cary featured 10 times in the Best of the Week table with six centuries and four half-centuries.

Cary batted for 21 innings during the summer with his top score being 122 not out in a match against Hurley.

The 24-year-old created the bat in a workshop at his Harpsden home from a piece of willow given to him by his godfather. However, the bat split on the toe-end of the bat at the midway point of the season but Cary, who works as a mechanical engineer in Slough, is now in the process of making a new one for next season.


Cary, who has played for Harpsden since he was 13-years-old, received his award at a presentation dinner held at Antico’s restaurant in Henley on Thursday evening last week.

The trophy, which has been contested for 32 years, was presented to Cary by the guest of honour, Dr Robert Treharne Jones.

Earlier in the evening a minute’s silence was held in memory of John Searby, the founder of the trophy, who passed away earlier this year, aged 96.

This season, due to one of the wettest summers on record, entries for the competition were down. There were 283 entries this year as opposed to 343 last year. Of those entries 237 were for batting and 46 for bowling.

Stand-out performances this season saw N Hill of Whitchurch top score with a knock of 176 against Checkendon while J Knight of Greys Green hit 166 against Strolling Optimists.

On the bowling front T White of Turville excelled with figures of 8-4 against Ibstone while P Slade of Goring took 8-21 against Shinfield.

Published 12/11/12