The ones took their regular road trip, off to Writtle for this one in a lower table clash. Changes this week saw the return of Liam and Tommy Hawkridge, with no Phipps or Jacob available.
Jonny won the toss (5 in a row!) And decided as usual it was a lovely day for a bat, with Nob opening with Joe back at the top of the order. After a serene start, Nobby got the board moving slightly, remembering how to hit the ball, but lost partner Joe caught behind. FGA was the new man. One soon became 2, with the keeper coming up Nob feathered an edge behind, and nearly became 3 with Liam surviving a big LBW shout. Both batters made a start before falling, both caught and leaving the rebuild from 69-4 to Tommy and Mutton. The score climbed to 91 before Tommy's departure and in strode Pook, and despite being dropped second ball, looked like he was playing a different game to most others. His 85 contained clever hitting, finding gaps in the big outfield and targeting the shorter available boundaries, and supported by Muttons 26 and the tailenders running, carried the team to 214-7 from the 45, a near identical score to ingatestone, but with a slightly tricker pitch and massive boundaries, one we backed ourselves on.
Tea rating: sandwiches with no crusts, crisps and biscuits, not a memorable one 5.5/10
The one issue with Pooks issue in the heat was he'd worn himself out enough not to be able to open the bowling, so JFH made the call to try and spin the new ball himself. After two balls it looked a nightmare having been carved for 4, two balls later genius as the batsman drove straight at cover to get us on the way. RKs first over was a tad short, but his recovery next over saw Writtles skipper walking back, playing an awful shot to give Tim a good grab behind the stumps and us in the game. From here a slow but meaningful partnership formed, Henge replacing JH and having some interesting fields, but it was mini wheels who inevitably got the break through, caught well by FGA. Pook replaced Henge for a short stint and got the other end of the partnership, the ball spitting to Henge to take the catch and Totham, rotating bowlers, finding control. There was however still a threat, the new writtle man hitting hard across the line and finding boundaries, but he was dealt with by a returning Joe, finding the shoulder of the bat to Nob in the gully to hold on before Joe doubled the dose and knocked the stumps back. From here the asking rate rose, and Totham kept their cool, the returning RK bowled beautiful and got a reward near the end, but it was the show off Pook taking another 3 as Writtles tail tried to drag them over the line, but on the whole our fielding and catching was good and we stopped Writtle 17 short.
A good team effort, but Pook definitely the stand out! Two home games coming against the top two to take us through the turn of a very tight league, a win away from 3rd, but equally a win away from 9th catching us!
