The mighty 3s had a pre-season friendly against Galleywood & the finely tuned athletes appeared for the game in plenty of time to put out the nets, mark the boundary, remove the square protecting ropes & generally try to remember what to do pre-game.
Skipper Tim won the toss & chose to bat. After 2.1 overs at 5 for 2 he might have regretted his decision. But, Tim had a great partnership with George Davis to recover from the disastrous start that John & Q had given the team, by both getting out very cheaply.
George scored rapidly, with 6s & 4s raining down on the trees, getting to his 50 in only 36 balls. George retired & Jacob Brock came in. Jacob was a last minute replacement for ex-captain Jack Ridge & had a run rate of less than 40, way in excess of anything Jack has ever managed. Tim & Jacob batted really well, with Tim hitting his first ever 6 & playing a captain's innings. Jacob showed the ability to play straight & gained in confidence to play a variety of attacking shots as his innings progressed. Tim moved to his first ever 50 & retired. Jacob continued his good form, playing confidently, finally out for an excellent 32. Harry & Nick moved the score along near the end & Owen slogged a quick 19, helped by the fact that Galleywood bowled one extra over! But they had 12 players.
After a self service lunch Totham took to the field. Max & James opened the bowling, which included lots of variety to confuse the batsmen. Tim soon turned to John, hoping he could do better with ball than bat.The old favourite, a straight ball that the batsman missed, brought the fist wicket, soon followed by a sharp catch down legside by Tim. At the other end, the young Galleywood opener looked a good batsman & he played a number of excellent shots, not giving any chances.
The combination of John & Tom saw Totham race through the overs, with a low run rate, increasing the pressure on the opposition. Tom took the next 2 wickets & at drinks Galleywood were behind the run rate.
After a brief pause to clear some rubbish from the pitch, Owen came into the attack, bowled some good stuff, took a couple of wickets with some filth & ended up with 3 wickets. George came on to bowl, time travelled to the 1930s & resumed bodyline, or was it head hunters? Good catches by Harry & George & good fielding all round helped to keep the runs down.
The Galleywood innings included some strong hitting, but the Totham total was always too much to chase & a victory by 27 runs was the outcome.
A great start to the 3s season, next week sees the first league game away at Bentley. The team will be anxious before selection on Monday, the amendments on Thursday & the last minute changes on Saturday morning.
