Tillingham 1st XI vs Great Totham 1st XI
GTCC were coming into the back of this fixture off the back of 2 strong performances against two of the leagues trickiest teams but going to last years 3rd place team would prove the sternest test since the opening weekend.
Skipper Harry Cooper won the toss and decided to bat on what looked a good deck which had the potential for pace and bounce, but the captain fell early, with miserly bowling from both Tillingham opening bowlers the going was tough. Tom Hawkridge (27) and Paul Marks (30) built a steady (slow) partnership to give the innings stability but when the stand was broken Tillingham seemed to get back into the game but the game was taken away from them by a fantastic 7th wicket partnership of 61 from the ever impressive Barry Mays (61*) and the returning Will Simpson (28*) who justified the captains decision to promote him up the batting order. At the end of 45 overs GTCC finished with an above par score of 210.
After tea it was over to the bowlers and the opening partnership of Joe Smoker and Sam Bowen started off with controlled spells (apart from Smokers left foot) and put the pressure back onto Tillingham’s batting line up who never had the answers. A special mention has to go to Jack Bowen for his spell of fast bowling (1-15) who really opened up the opposition and deserved more reward.
But the star of the show was Ollie Cheeseman returning 10-3-23-5 who simply torn through Tillinghams middle order and reduced them to scrambling around just to make 175 for an extra batting point finishing 180 for 9 with absolutely no chance of victory.
GTCC sit in 2nd place in division 1 after the weekends fixtures and travelling to Springfield next week will pose another tough test but with moral high and consistent performances put in every week who would bet against them!!?
Star Man
Ollie Cheeseman
