On a bitterly cold April day – a real two-jumper job – 11 chilly 3s players welcomed Chelmsford Spartans to Braxted. We started as we meant to go on with Ridge losing the toss, and we were fielding first.
The Spartans came flying out the traps, playing their shots from ball one. Ed bowled nicely and was unlucky, with Jess bowling well at the other end. But it was the Bot that made the breakthrough, Owen the safe pair of hands. He followed this up dismissing the number 3 soon after, Hetty taking a good catch at square leg. After Jess had completed an impressive opening spell, the Bot and Owen settled into their work in the middle overs, holding up the run rate with Owen nabbing a couple of important wickets. The Spartans’ lower order provided useful runs. Yeatesy came on and broke the partnership with an important wicket, with Jess coming back on for a second spell to blow away the table. The wickets were fairly evenly spread around, with Hetty and Ed Vale being unlucky not to register in the W column having shown bright signs. Fielding on the whole was okay given the April cold, despite a couple of catches going down. But always good to have something to focus on at training!
The Bot was due to open, but given that he needs 50 minutes to pad up, it was J Ridge and Jacob Slater to open. Not an ideal start for Tots though, with Ridge back in the shed for a scratchy 6. However, good things come to those who wait, and Strobot certainly was worth the wait, making the April deck looking like nothing of concern. After Jacob was dismissed following a caught and bowled, RK and the Bot put together a lovely little partnership. While the dynamic duo were in the middle, it looked like the early season dub was well on the cards. However, at 105-2 the tide turned with RK gone for a well played 33, and the Strobe gone shortly after bringing up 50. Unfortunately, the ghost of Braxted took hold, with Owen, Yeatesy and Tim going in quick succession, and we were left at 129-7. Ed Vale offered some rearguard action, with Jess and Tom showing signs of being very handy down the order, despite not clocking up many runs on this occasion. Unfortunately, Hetty couldn’t do it all on her own with us requiring 40 runs with just one wicket in hand, and we fell 40 short.
Some areas to work on, but a great effort in the bitter April cold against opposition lining up two divisions above us this season. We go again against Theydon Bois on the 17th.
Player of the match: Ben Ridge (The Bot)
