1st July 2006 - Match reports.
Barnards Green 1st XI vs Brockhampton Brockhampton won the toss and asked Barnards Green to make first use of a very good batting track. Rich. Williams and Kev. Golder again opened positively, taking the score to 90 without loss by the twentieth over. A fine performance. At this point two wickets fell in quick succession, first Kev.Golder for 26 then P. Drinkwater for a    quick 8. Rob McCard joined Rich.Williams who together recovered the innings taking  The team score onto 131 before Williams fell caught behind off the bowling of A.Rauf, Brockhampton’s over seas player. Middle order wickets fell in pairs until over thirty eight when with the score on 177 for 8, some lusty hitting by Captain Chis. Smedley, Tim. Williams and Duncan Bell lifted the Barnards Green final score to a useful 231 all out.   In reply to this first innings total, the Brockhampton openers were separated in the very first over, by the bowling of Rob. McCard. This early success was short lived, however, when fist A. Hewlett and A. Nahorniak, then A. Hewlett and J. Apperley battled on, reaching 98 for 2 by over twenty. By over thirty eight their score had been moved on to 170 for 3 when Hewlett was smartly caught behind the wicket by Adam Binks for 79 off the bowling of Tim Williams. The fall of this wicket brought A. Rauf to the crease who proceeded to plunder 47 runs off  23 deliveries to take Brockhampton to a winning total by the forty sixth over, leaving J. Apperley on 39 not out.  Once more a respectable total by the Green’s batsmen could not be protected by the bowlers and fielders due to some wayward overs being served up by the home sides bowling attack. Of the six bowlers used only Captain Smedley 2-5 and Rob. McCard 4-3 returning economy figures  below that required for a result. Brockhampton ---- 20 Points Barnards Green----- 4 Batting bonus point + 1 bowling point	Brockhampton vs Barnards Green 2nd XI The green seconds travelled to Brockhampton for an 11oclock start hoping for a better performance than the previous saturday.After winning the toss the green took to the field.G.Webb and G. parker opened the innings and put on 41 for the first wicket ,Parker survived a second ball regulation slip catch and a very adjacent LBW appeal which left Sam Spencer wicketless after 6 hostile overs, Tom Clack bowled his usual tidy spell again, he also was wicketless.Skipper Spencer then turned to the off spin of Lewis Hooper and decided to use his own variations from the other end.Hooper bowled 20 overs finishing with 3 for 85 , and Spencer bowled 19 overs for figures of 3 for 64. Brockhampton finished 210 for 6  off their allotted 50 overs, most  of the home batsmen made double figures with Parker 38 and Edwards 48 top scoring.After a quick drinks break the green openers Brewer and Paddock began the reply , they had taken the score to 60 before Paddock was caught  for 14, Wheeler came and went without troubling the scorer, Steve Bevan made 27, Jason Brewer finally sucumbed to heat exhaustion for a fine 67, leaving the greens reply in the balance 131 for 5 after 32 overs.Three more cheap wickets and the green were in trouble, Spencer then took control off the innings striking 37 before he played a reckless shot putting his side back into trouble. Tom Clack and Glendenning moved the total closer to the target before a mix up saw Clack runout for 12, Glendenning and Shane Thompson moved the green to within 1 run of Brockhamptons score when Glendenning was bowled for 16, leaving Brockhampton victors by 1 run. Brockhampton gained 24 points and the Green only 6 from a game they were  favourites to win on more than one occasion.
Barnards Green 3rd XI vs Cleobury Despite the failure of Ratters negotiating skills to get this match started early Cleobury could not get sufficient players to the ground for the scheduled start time and forfeited the toss allowing Ratters to field first. A fiery opening over from Hooper saw Curtis fly through the air to take a spectacular catch and Cleobury were 0 for 1. Carter took a shine to Hooper and crashed him for three successive boundaries until he skied an attempted hook and Freeman back pedaled at first slip to take a fine catch high above his head. The Green fielding was of the highest order as the batters struggled to pierce the infield. Chris Hill was at his metronomic best as delivery after delivery slapped into the keepers gloves. Hooper (3 – 39) wilted under the sun and Brown kept the batters guessing with a mix of deliveries, Shorter’s ordeal was ended with a catch by Ball to bring the dangerous Nick Griffiths to the wicket. He signaled early intent with crashing drives but Hill, aka Nostradamus, predicted the inside edge that bowled him and cleaned Griffiths’ brother up next ball. Wilkinson released the shackles temporarily until giving the impressive Simon Ball his first wicket when holing out. Preece then survived as the ball flew through Hooper’s hand at mid on and he cashed in making 35 valuable runs, Number 10 Williams(20 no) kept him company to add 45 valuable runs but Brown (3 – 47) returned to mop up Preece and the number 11 to leave the Green chasing 169. Despite the early loss of Yorke the Green were never in any trouble against the Cleobury bowlers. Judd Doughty once more took centre stage with another display of clean striking. Aided by skipper Ratcliffe the pair scored at over 8 an over, Doughty needed to employ several ball finders as he scorched his way to 71 and took a spectacular catch to dismiss him. Curtis quickly perished but Ratcliffe (34) was rattling along. However, he succumbed to the flight of Griffiths with 30 runs still required but the incoming Dave White was quickly into the pull with a succession of legside boundaries. There was just time for Freeman (25 no 5 no) to get off the mark before White (5no 25 no) creamed a ball through the offside to secure the victory in the 23rd over. Barnards Green 3rd XI vs Cleobury Alternative version - ( both reports sent in by S Freeman ).. only he knows which is which!!! Barnards Green IIIs maintained their impressive start to the season with a comprehensive victory over Cleobury. Skipper Ratcliffe asked Cleobury to make first use of the track and was rewarded in the first over with a tremendous Curtis catch as he flung himself forward to scoop the ball inches from the turf. Carter bludgeoned Hooper with three successive boundaries but was well caught by Freeman at slip. Chris Hill maintained his form with yet another disciplined spell with his 12 overs yielding only 17 runs. Shorter and Wilkinson could not pierce the Green field as the fielding was of the highest standard and the runs were at a trickle. Brown replaced Hooper to remove Shorter and the dangerous Griffiths brothers were dismissed by Hill in successive deliveries. Debutante Ball (2 – 13) had Wilkinson caught for 48 and the Cleobury tail had to wag to post a decent score. Evan hit out and perished as Ball took a second and it was left to Preece and Williams to nudge the score upwards. The pair added 40 runs until Brown (3 -47) returned to dismiss Preece (35) and the innings closed on 168. Despite losing an early wicket Doughty was in free scoring mode and aided by Skipper Ratcliffe the pair rattled along at 8 an over. All of the bowlers took stick and it took an excellent catch to dismiss Doughty for 71 with his side only requiring 50 more runs. Curtis came and went and Ratcliffe succumbed to a stumping for 34. Dave White took an immediate liking to B Griffiths and dispatched the leg spinner for four consecutive boundaries; Freeman added another boundary before White finished the game off with one that was drilled through the offside to see his side home by 6 wickets with some 22 overs to spare.	Knighton on Teme vs Barnards Green 4th XI Saturday saw the Green 4ths take the trip to Knighton on Teme, a picturesque little ground where sheep and goats paid a passing interest to the days entertainment.  Skipper Ian Scullion won the toss and with temperatures in the high 80's and a team packed with batting, he chose to bat first.  At 35 for 6 when he entered the fray, he was starting to question his decision.  With some balls taking off vertically and others shooting along the floor, the Green batsmen were ill at ease on such a wicket and the home team bowlers, clearly used to such conditions, exploited every inch of the wicket.  When last man jamie Longmore strode to the wicket a score of under 70 looked likely, but with encouragement from his skipper at the other end, Jamie decided that shut eye and swing was the best policy and proceeded to smash four fours and a few singles to help his skipper, who top scored with 25, to take the Green to 103 before Longmore finally perished. After an early tea, Knighton had a testing time against the experienced Scullion who moved the ball just too much for the batsmen to get a bat on the ball and young Adam Price made the batsmen hop about a bit but without success.  Graham Spiers and Jamie Longmore were introduced and Longmore made an almmost immediate impact, jagging one back to get the batsman to play on.  A further wicket fell to Longmore as young Sam Marshall took an excellent catch, but this was to be the Green's last success and the Knighton batsmen despatched anything loose avaoiding the steepling deliveries and surving the grubbers to complete an 8 wicket win and go top of the division.  Next saturday the Green visit Hallow