An absolutely thrilling start to the season with the boys dusting off the winter cobwebs and officially getting the latest start to a cricket season ever underway!

Freddie & Finn took up the mantle of opening the batting and with the first ball flying past Finn’s nose I think the boys realised they were going to be in for a tough four overs. Both bowlers sustained excellent pace coupled with good line and length which eventually frustrated the boys into playing a couple of big shots meaning we lost a couple of wickets. However they both regained their composure and started to claw back some of the runs we lost meaning we finished the partnership -9, not a bad result given the quality of the bowling!

Roman & Thomas continued the innings, under a little less pressure than our openers they carefully crafted a partnership with some composed running and sensible batting playing straight when needed. This coupled with a few helpful extra’s built on the recovery of the first pair adding 16 runs to the total losing no wickets between them.

Sam & Arthur came next and buoyed by the platform being built started to put the pressure back on the bowlers, Arthur played straight and ran well ensuring we kept the strike rotating. Sam played a fantastic straight drive earning the first four of the season and followed it up with a number of strong shots culminating with a magnificent pull for another four, which was a great effort considering the outfield grass resembled more of a rugby pith than a silky cricket outfield! The pair added 24 for the loss of just 1 wicket with Sam adding 12 of those off the bat.

Tom & Dan strode out with confidence. With some excellent running including backing up, listening to each other and not hesitating, they added 10 quick run singles. With some assured batting they soon had the scoreboard ticking over and Dan hitting a superb on drive for 4. Again coupled with the loss of only one wicket the pair rattled up an excellent partnership of 24 putting us in a fantastic place to push on.

Oli & Drew closed out the innings. Oli set the tone in the first over crashing a four through the covers and then playing a slightly more agricultural shot through mid-week for another four of the last ball of the over! Again sensible running and assured batting added a further 32 with Drew pulling the last ball of the innings for 4.

Given the outfield the boys were confident ahead of taking the field that we had at least posted a competitive score.

The Boys bowled in the same pairs they batted.

Freddie & Finn bowled with real composure and showed the value of winter nets only giving away three extras. As they applied consistent pressure the opening pair buckled and we took a couple of wickets pegging back a promising start from Ballinger keeping the pair to just 5.

Roman & Thomas took over and both bowled very straight only giving two extras away further frustrating the Ballinger batters. Thomas was unlucky to have a catch dropped of his second over but with good ground fielding the opposition could not score any boundaries. This kept the batting pair to just 8.

Sam & Arthur came on with two very contrasting bowling styles which caused further issues for the batters. Arthur took a wicket with his first ball and Sam was very unlucky throughout his spell passing the bat (and just missing the stumps) on numerous occasions. Ballinger had only managed to muster 10 runs from the partnership and were struggling to keep up with the rate leaving 64 required off the last two pairs.

However Ballinger had kept the strongest batters down the order and Tom and Dan came under a sustained assault from Ballinger and in a helter skelter period of play they added 30 (including three powerfully hit fours) for the loss of one wicket (a great run out from Oli). The boys did well not to lose their composure and kept a lid on a very explosive pair!

The game was in the balance with Oli and Drew bowling the final four overs. Again Ballinger had two strong batters who managed to smash four fours in the first three overs, one of which was nearly brilliantly caught by Sam! This left just 7 needed off the last over with Oli bowling, the second ball was brilliantly fielded by Freddy both stopping a boundary and keeping their best batsman off strike! Off the fourth ball of the over Roman brilliantly threw the stumps down completing a run out meaning they needed 8 off 2 balls! We then bowled a no ball meaning 7 were now required off 2 balls, however with two perfect Yorkers they could only get two singles and we were home!!

A great game played in a great spirit. The key lesson from the game was when the bowling is good and straight we need to play straight rather than trying to smash it to cow corner!

MOM went to Sam Westcott who led the fightback with the bat, bowled very consistently with no luck and almost took a brilliant catch in the deep.

One league match down and one win. More match reports to follow when I catch up with my homework!!!

A special mention for Stanley Scott who did a great job scoring for us.

Regards
Richard