After being thoroughly sent to the pumphouse in the initial fixture under the supreme stewardship of the Reverend himself, a wary Totham 3s played host to Bentley. The tone was set early doors when HRH Taite declared that he would be an hour late, so my dad had to field, and Charlie was late because he was stroking his new puppy.
In the only W of the day, Ridge won the toss (continuing his superb tossing record) and chose to field on a green and bowling friendly surface. DK (1-22) and George Davis (1-18) opened things up and bowled well, keeping things tight and frustrating the openers. It was last week’s wicketkeeper-batsman George who made the breakthrough, trapping one of the openers LBW. A well-deserved wicket for Danny soon followed, with their 3 suffering the same fate and Tothamlooked in a decent position at drinks. After his majesty Taitedecided to grace us with his presence the wickets started to tumble in a fantastic 7 over spell, with Dockney (2-23) and Issey (2-29) picking up wickets despite being a little costly. The spin of Super Sam (2-18) and Ethan (2-43) then finished the job off despite Ethan being sent to the pumphouse (15 off one over is really impressive stuff) and we bowled the oppoout for 161. Their tail wagging significantly with their skipper picking up a cheap 35*. 161 was a very chaseable score and looked around par, but we allowed them to pick up 30 too many in the field and with some of our bowling.
Tea was a decent effort from Mrs Felton, however, the sandwiches were left at home and completely forgotten. Sandwiches of course generally being regarded as a crucial aspect of a cricket tea. That being said, the selection of savouries was pleasing to see, with an excellent spread of homemade cake and scones. There was a lovely fruit platter for those more health-minded too. A decent effort, howeverthe lack of sandwiches cannot be forgiven. 6.5/10.
It was the Ridge brothers to open up, with some 1932-33 bodyline series vibes. The oppo skipper had everyone within 10 yards of the bat, including leg slip and leg gully. Rogue. However, it paid off, with Stroker chipping a half volley up to short midwicket. Cheers mate, you were meant to get all the runs. Taite and Ridge-o looked to rebuild, with Taite going along nicely but Ridgey struggling to hit it off the square (classic). Ridge, off the back of his maiden 50 last week, looked to fancy a bit of the spinner after seeing off the openers, and having deduced that he didn’t turn it, went back to cut one that ragged back and saw his off stump getting rearranged. Oh dear. George Davis, also off the back of his maiden 50 looked good for 5 minutes before hooking one to the only bloke out deep. In the same over Taite was stumped (27) and Totham looked in a worrying position at 53-4. Super Sam got to work testing out the opposition catching, slashing his way to a few quick runs. DK joined him at the crease, and having hit a lovely straight 6, soon chipped one to mid on and departed for 8. Lewis Allen looked to rebuild with Sam and batted sensibly, but Sam soon fell being caught at the 5thattempt. Cal Dockney was in and out having looked dangerous for a few overs, but Ethan, having been pumped with the ball, looked very solid with the bat and at one point it looked like the chase was on. Lewis went, being bowled for a battling 8, but Issey and Ethan frustrated the oppo and rotated the strike well. Just as people on the sideline started to say‘we can do this’, Ethan was runout having got his bat stuck in the ground sliding it in, and we succumbed to a 22 run L. Not a bad effort, but we go again next week at Rankins.
MOTM – Danny Kennedy
Jack Ridge One to Watch – Super Sam
