All
round effort just fails to force result
Spirits
were high as we travelled to Hersham, a fixture secured for us by Jerry
W. through his Walton connections. We were without Edgar F., Alex C. and
Mike P. so once again the batting looked a little fragile with us looking
to Rob S, Jerry W., Ashley, Doug and Nick W. (in his first appearance
of the season), to secure the bulk of the runs. We were dealt a blow before
the start when we discovered Rob S. was sat at home with his feet up due
to not picking up e-mail or telephone messages confirming his selection.
Fortunately, Hersham had an extra man and were able to lend us the services
of Michael Cayford, a left-handed middle order batsmen, and left-arm pace
bowler. I duly lost the toss and Hersham elected to field.
We began with Jerry W. and Ashley and they made a solid start until Jerry
departed for 15, leaving us 47-1. Nick W. playing his first innings of
the season immediately began to play his shots, and made a confident 27
until he was caught at mid-wicket with the score at 93. Ash soon followed,
mistiming a pull to mid wicket, for a steady 37, and we were 100-3 with
Doug M. and Mike C. at the crease. Eager to impress his team-mates, Mike
C. started positively but was bowled for just 8, and when Paul R. was
bowled for 7, we were wobbling at 133-5. Jerry S. made his way to the
wicket, striving for form, and showed good application in supporting Doug,
and although he finally departed for 9, a valuable partnership of 44 had
been assembled to push the score to 177-6. Late contributions from Brian
H., and Mick R. supported Doug in raising the total to 200-8 at tea. Doug
finished with 59 in a good team effort in sweltering heat.
With the temperature continuing to soar, we took the field and I opened
the bowling with Ashley. Hersham's opening pairing at made a stand of
175 last week, so we were a little relieved when a pulled hamstring prevented
the no.1 bat from continuing. Ashley soon bowled the other opener, before
another superb one handed catch from Jerry S. at cover point reduced the
hosts to 16-2, (
effectively 16-3). Ashley, then caught and bowled their best batsman for
1, and another 'straight one' from the writer had the hosts reeling at
33-4. Jerry W. and Toby C. then came into the attack with Toby picking
up 2 wickets, including another super Jerry S. catch as he held a tricky
skier coming right out of the sun. Hersham were 46-6, but then mounted
a spirited fight back before Jerry bowled their skipper for a handy 43,
leaving them 102-7. Doug M. then produced a superb diving catch at backward
point to leave us needing a solitary wicket for victory with three overs
to go. But despite aggressive field settings, we were unable to grab the
last wicket and Hersham clung on for a draw finishing on 119-8. Bowling
figs. were Ashley W. 10-1-25-2, Jerry W. 8-2-19-1, Toby C. 6-2-16-2, Paul
R. 2-0-16-0, Mike C. 5-1-18-1, and myself 9-3-17-2.
A slightly frustrating finish but an enjoyable game nonetheless against
decent opposition. Once again we managed to put together a good performance
despite missing key players. 7 wins, and 7 draws in 15 games so far now!