East Hanningfield are a team who usually give us a good hammering, so when they arrived noticeably missing a handful of regulars, spirits were definitely lifted. In addition, we had arguably our strongest line up of the season. Nothing but a win would do to keep us clear from relegation.
I lost the toss, again. The first 16 overs were as bad as we have bowled all season. Too many half-trackers, half-volleys, wides and general filth we offered up and the visitors captain Morgan was all too keen to cash in. The introduction of Kendall and Jonny Hewer saw us take control; the run rate dropped and they both grabbed a wicket apiece in their opening 3 overs. The screw was turned further when Jonny dismissed Morgan, who was by far and away the best player in their side, for a classy 91.
With Kendall (1-39) and Jonny (2-40) bowled out it was left to Matt (2-30) and John (2-13) to mop up the long tail with two wickets each, plus another two run outs for Matt. From 116/1 to 199 all out is on one hand very pleasing, but on another shows just how poor we were early on.
Foxy and Matt shared tea duties this week; Matt was on sandwiches and Foxy everything else.
Matt arrived at the ground clutching a French stick in one hand and a loaf in the other, and whilst I was told the fillings were very nice, the presentation left a lot to be desired, the contents of the sandwiches were bursting out like an overpacked suitcase.
Doing teas brought out a side of Foxy that I have never seen before. Firstly, he was only 15 minutes late to the ground; secondly, he showed quite an artistic side with his cheese & pineapple and sausage ‘hedgehogs’ and then there was the cake. Costing more than Jimmy Hay spent on his entire tea, the cookies and cream cake from Lola’s was exquisite. They clearly both wants to do teas again early next season. 9/10
Back to the cricket. Chasing 200 to win, with the batting line up we have, should have been comfortable, and so it was. Liam and John got us off to a solid start and whilst the weather threatened to curtail the day, it passed over and we were able to continue play after a 20 minute break. John was bowled for 23 shortly after the break bringing Snail (35*) to the wicket to play the supporting role to the Liam Jones show. After a very rusty looking first 10 overs, which included a number of play and misses, he began to find the middle more frequently, playing in the V and dispatching bad balls at will, before bringing up his ton with a maximum and finishing the game in style with 6,6,4,6 to end the game 123 not out. A welcome return to form for a players who’s season has been ruined by a broken finger, the 2’s will not be seeing him much, if at all, next year but we will make the most of him for now. Even though his bowling was pony.
Pretty routine in the end, despite the rough start. A Great Waltham victory means we have to win next weekend away to South Woodham or we will be relying on Navestock beating Waltham. All to play for!
Star Man - Liam Jones
