Captain Tim was still needed in the 1s, so John took the armband again, won the toss & elected to field on a hot day, with no thought of compassion for his players. Jamie Phillips was used in 2 over spells to allow him to bowl his full complement of overs & he opened up well, with James at the other end. James soon accounted for the opener, gloving behind to Jacob.
Clarkie came on & bowled well, again. The only problem with Clarkie today was that he forgot to bring his dad with him!!!! Debutant Jamie Potter (another Jamie , to confuse us) came on to bowl. His first ball was floated at the batsman, who looked to hit the teaser over the square leg umpire & edged it to Jacob. We got to drinks & Rainham were 92 for 2, going at 6 per over. Billy & Pete took over bowling & Rainham looked to advance the scoring rate. By this point of the afternoon it was getting hotter & the fielding suffered as a result, with a number of missed opportunities to take wickets. Debutant Jamie was the exception, taking 2 catches & a run out to show everyone what to do. James & Clarkie took over, either side of Jamie Phillips, who took 2 deserved wickets. John finished off at one end, doing his usual job of taking the wickets of the tailenders whilst bowling some dross. A discussion with the umoire about bowling wides to a batsman who moved across the wickets to open up the leg side ensued, as John felt aggrieved that the batsman then chose to leave the ball alone. But, we manged to get 10 wickets & maximum bowling points.
Jacob/Goochie teas were well received with home made sausage rolls a highlight.
Nick & Jacob opened the innings & the Rainham bowler was the quickest seen in Division 9 for a number of years & bowled well even if he was stroppy when bowling wides. He was too quick for our batsmen &, after he bowled Nick, Jacob & Max W did well to survive. Both managed to get to 18 & were out to lesser bowlers, having survived the pacey opener. Billy & John came & went quickly & Totham were a long way behind the run rate. Jamie Phillips followed his fine bowling & Jamie Potter followed his fine fielding display by both reaching double figures.
Clarkie & Reg then established the most entertaining partnership of the innings, Clarkie pulling with confidence & Reg defending resolutely & driving boundaries off the bad balls. Pete hit a couple of lusty blows at the end, Reg finished as top scorer & Rainham were deserved winners by a lot!
But, maximum bowling points keeps us in 7th place, with 6 games to go.
Hornchurch away next week & improvements in the field will be needed if we want to be competitive.
