Brintons vs BGCC 3rd XI
With both of their regular captains absent this week, it was the responsibility of the experienced Robbie Lewis to lose the toss, a challenge which he duly rose to. On what looked like a seamers wicket but which was likely to deteriorate throughout the day, the home side elected to bat. With the aid of the usual flurry of extras which have plagued The Green all season, Brintons pushed the score along at over 6 per over before losing opener Maiden (18), well caught behind by Mark Perkins off the bowling of Chris Hill (1-29). With such an impressive start it appeared that Brintons, lying second in the table, were on course for a large total. Jones (26) and Lockwood (27) continued to dispatch anything loose to the boundary and were beginning to look comfortable. With Hill continuing to be as tight as ever but running out of ideas skipper Lewis looked to the youth in the side for inspiration and the introduction of Dave Price (2-38) and Ian Bryant (4-26) immediately stemmed the flow of runs at both ends and started wickets falling. In the field The Green were impressive, turning in their best performance of the season, with the ubiquitous Dave Price chasing everything and saving countless runs, and the youngsters in the side, Adam Price, Matt Higgs and R Lewis holding onto difficult catches throughout the afternoon. James Lyons playing in his first match for The Green and Adam Price returning after several weeks gave excellent support to the wicket-taking bowlers before Simon Ball (3-17) was introduced late in the innings to clean up the tail. Brintons were bowled out in the penultimate over for 178 with 39 of these runs sadly being extras.
R Lewis (42) and Neil Hacking (27) started positively for The Green with the bat, with Lewis in particular showing sturdy defence and then putting away anything short. Hacking showed a preference for hitting over the top as the Brintons fielders gradually retreated. The score soon reached 50 before Hacking became the first victim of Hipkins (6-33), caught going for another big hit in the 11th over. John Sherliker making one of his rare guest appearances appeared to be untroubled before getting a thick edge to the keeper and the wickets of Higgs and Mark Perkins then followed in rapid succession. Chris Hill (30*) entered the fray and not for the first time this season much depended upon him holding the innings together. With Lewis and Hill both scoring steadily and looking comfortable, The Green had hopes of achieving a memorable victory, but Lewis was tiring rapidly and became another of Hipkins’ scalps as he missed a straight one. Despite the best efforts of the remaining “batsmen” who all went to the middle under strict instruction from their skipper to “support M.J.”, all succumbed without ever troubling the bowlers. With a collapse of huge proportion, and 8 green batsmen scoring 5 runs between them, the visitors were bowled out for 130 in the 37th over. Although well beaten, The Green will know that after such a determined effort in the field this is a match which they should have won.
Brintons 178 (44.4 overs; S Hipkins 29) - I Bryant 4-26, S Ball 3-17.
Barnards Green 130 (37 overs; R Lewis 42, C Hill 30 no ) -S Hipkins 6-33.
| BGCC Singles vs Cleobury Skipper Ratcliffe will be somewhat surprised to hear of this ‘Singles’ defeat but in truth it was a poor all round performance that saw them slump to this five wicket defeat. The wicket looked suspect with a black stripe from over fertilisation giving it the look of a zebra crossing and Cleobury invited the Green to have first use. Wheeler went second ball to a waft that looped to slip. Freeman and Beavan built a partnership and laid a foundation for the team both dispatching the loose deliveries and slowly the run rate crept upwards. The pair had added 59 runs when Beavan was caught in the covers for 33 giving Williams his second wicket. Curtis arrived at the crease and made batting look easy with some sumptuous shots. The introduction of Preece was to be the undoing of the singles. From 65 for two the Green crashed to 118 for 8. Firstly Freeman (22) was bowled behind his legs by Preece as the bowler extracted prodigious movement off the seam aided by some variable bounce. Curtis was still finding the boundary driving Preece for two glorious fours; the bowler reacted by coming around the wicket and produce an unplayable off cutter to take off stump and Curtis went for 26. Griffiths was benefiting from Preece’s miserly spell as the middle succumbed to the bowling. Matthew Brookes then played an innings of great maturity and intelligence. Very watchful in defence he shielded Churchill from the dangerous Preece but scored regularly to see the scoreboard creep towards 150. The pair added 35 runs until Preece did for Churchill and Clarke could only briefly stay at the crease becoming Preece’s fifth victim with Brookes stranded on 29. Preece with 5 – 34 had ripped out the heart of the batting but the 157 total was more than defendable given the bowling and the conditions. After another fine tea provided by young Hannah Freeman, remarkable given the amount of time she spent doing her hair and make up was eaten and after a team huddle the Green were fired up and ready to go.Cleobury scored freely as the bowlers served up a feast of half volleys and long hops. Churchill then had Williams caught behind. The erratic Churchill was replace by Metcalfe who mixed the unplayable with the unreachable. White was diving all over the place and Brown was diving for cover. Cleobury continued untroubled and Freeman brought on Clarke who had the batsmen struggling for runs. Several excellent shouts for LBW went unrewarded and then Metcalfe cleaned up Jones for 13. Clarke then trapped Shorter for 34 and the Green were back in the game. The aggressive Griffiths then blasted Clarke out of the attack but Metcalfe struck with a caught and bowled to Cleobury 90 for 4. Metcalfe finished with 2 for 46 (only 20 came off the bat) and Sanders took up the challenge. Freeman rotated the bowling at the pavilion end with Churchill and Brookes returning without success. Player of the day Preece mixed stoic defence with some expansive driving. Griffiths was then undone by a superb Sanders delivery for 36 but his side was only twenty runs shy of victory. Preece saw his side home by five wickets as the bowling failed to find the required line and length leaving the ‘Singles’ somewhat disconsolate after a miserable performance with both bat and ball.Ratters took the news rather well, claiming to be in the restaurant eating and drinking fine foods and beers after a day on the beach and was now watching the test match highlights. |
Pedmore vs BGCC 2nd XI
The green travelled to Pedmore hoping to continue their recent run of victories,included in the side were seven teenagers plus a green legend from the past Dave Creese coaxed out of retirement to cover holiday commitments amongst the greens four teams.After losing the toss and being asked to take first knock on a very green and damp wicket,the opening pair of Jason Brewer and Jon Lewis struggled against the experienced Andy Denton who used the conditions well.Lewis was first to go for 12 with the total on 21 after 10 overs.This brought Liam Paddock to the crease this pair gradually moved the score along to 60, untill Brewer was caught off the bowling of Denton for a patient 23 ,a fine effort for the team in facing most of the 15 overs bowled by the nagging Denton.Paddock then began to flourish even with the loss of Rogers,Harris and Creese in quick succession.He reached his half century and with the help of Lewis Hooper took the score to 150 ,until Hooper was caught going for a hit over the infield.When Paddock was caught for a fine 81 ,it was left to Phil Spencer to hit a quickfire 56no including six sixes and four fours,the greens innings finished on 221 for 9 ,a reasonable effort considering they were inserted on a bowler friendly wicket.In reply Pedmore scored quickly but lost early wickets to the opening bowling combination of Sam spencer and Phil Harris they had moved on to 46 for three after 10 overs when Lewis Hooper was introduced .Although not bowling as well as he had before his enforced absence due to injury,he still managed to entice the Pedmore batsmen to play false shots.Backed up by some breath taking catching and fielding by the green youngsters he proceeded to take six wickets for 43 runs in an eleven over spell.Tom Clack bowled another tight five over spell although he was wicketless his control and movement deserved some reward.Dave Creese rolled back the years and bowled his usual nagging line and lenght once again enticing a batsman to play down the wrong line .Only Pedmores skipper Maley showed any real resistance and was left 43no when the innings closed on 149 .Another 24 points which will make next weeks game against local rivals Malvern even more important as only 1 point devides the two teams. |
BGCC 1st XI vs Pedmore
Barnards Green 1st XI entertained Pedmore in a WCL division 2 clash on Saturday. Green skipper Chris Smedley lost the toss and was asked to bat on a hard looking track. Mark Hooper and Kevin Golder perished early on, both caught in the infield. This left the Green in trouble at 15 for 2. The in form Smedley and Daniel Flynn then joined forces and played with great determination. The pair managed to play chanceless innings’ but still keeping the run rate at around 4 runs per over. After 25 overs the score had moved on to 102 for 2. After drinks the pair managed kick on and steadily increase the run rate. Flynn was then caught on the boundary for an excellent 74. The remaining Green batsmen all struggled to find fluent form but were all able to make contributions. Smedley remained undefeated throughout and completed a well deserved century in the last over. Bell was bowled off the final ball to leave the Green 242 all out in 50 overs.
In reply Pedmore were soon in trouble when Tim Williams had the opener caught at the wicket by Adam Binks before a run had been scored. Chris Harrison applied more pressure with 2 leg before dismissals and Williams bowled Cooke to leave Pedmore reeling at 33 for 4 off 16 overs. Skelding and skipper Porter played solid knocks but never looked like maintaining the required run rate. Duncan Bell was then rewarded for a hard working spell with the wicket of Skelding, leg before for 48. Leg spinner Jez Clarke, extracting sharp turn then trapped Porter and Musk in quick succession with balls that went straight on. When Clarke grabbed a further wicket, caught by Drinkwater at deep square leg from a well flighted delivery Pedmore were in huge trouble at 77 for 8. However, the dangerous Hipkiss struck some massive blows and managed to get Pedmore to 150 and gain some vital bonus points. Chris Harrison and Tim Williams returned to the attack to remove the final 2 batsmen, assisted by good catches from Tim Clarke and Duncan Bell. Pedmore were bowled out for 156 and the Green recorded their first win in 4 games and took maximum 24 points. This excellent team performance indicates a return to form for the Green and tomorrow they travel to local rivals, Malvern looking to further boost their promotion hopes. Thanks to match day sponsor David Whyman Map Sales. |