Barnards Green cricket Club Match Reports.

Barnards Green 2^nd XI Vs Belbroughton	Belbroughton
	vs Barnards Green 3^rd XI
Barnards Green seconds won a thrilling encounter against their Belbroughton counterparts with victory coming in the final over and three wickets to spare. Skipper Brown elected to field in this forty over match and was reliant on the few whom could turn their arm over. Stuart Fletcher embarked on a marathon 17 over spell. Only Farmer (28) showed any intent until Freeman brilliantly snapped him up in the gully. Beavan (2-41) and Fletcher (4-58) ripped out the middle order as Belbroughton were perilously placed at 85 for 6. Higgins finally found an ally in Perks and the pair added 102 runs in 10 overs, Higgens went for 64 whilst Perks continued to pepper the boundary boards. Attwood however elected for the arial route as Jelly and Sherliker were put to the sword in the final four overs as 63 runs were scored. Perks remained on 84 not out whilst Attwood fell for 27. The Green were now staring at a victory target of 249 when for most of the afternoon 170 seemed more likely. Faced with a scoring rate of six an over throughout a positive start was the order of the day. Chris Genever took to the task with relish as his trademark on drive fizzed regularly to the boundary whilst a sublime innings from Nick Price ensured that the Green were well up with the rate. Genever departed with the score on 84 for 32. Price continued to find the fence until Jessop took a stunning one handed catch to dismiss the opener for 63.Metcalfe played himself in while Beavan and Williams quickly departed. With ninety needed of the last 14 overs Freeman joined Metcalfe. Taking the lead Metcalfe dispatched the bad ball and the Green kept up with the required rate. Belbroughton turned to quickie Farmer. His extra pace and bounce induced an edge from Metcalfe who departed for an exquisite 56 another wicket two balls later left the match evenly poised with the Green 43 runs short seven overs and four wickets remaining. Freeman and Rogers rolled back the years with some sharp running bringing unlikely singles and putting the occasional boundary. Farmer got quicker and quicker making it difficult for the batters but the returning Attwood was put to the sword in the 39^th over that also saw the departure of Rogers run out but it meant that the Green needed four off the final over. Skipper Brown instructed Freeman that he had no desire to face the bowling. With the bar clearing to see the finale Farmer tinkered with his field. He came steaming in and opting for the short ball, Freeman rocked back and smashed the ball over gully’s head to the boundary to give the Green victory by three wickets in what had been an excellent cricket match.	Adam Price stars for Green On Saturday, a Barnards Green 3^rd XI visted Belbroughton only to discover that a miss match on fixtures pitted them against a strong opposition with 1^st XI opener Andy Kings in prime form. Batting first, Belbroughton openers Kings and Pardoe punished anything loose and scored at nearly 8 an over for much of the match with Kings scoring 193 not out and Pardoe 97. Kings was in fact dropped several times before he had scored 40 and some of the Green fielding left much to be desired. Pick of the bowlers was 13 year old Adam Price who bowled 7 overs for just 38 picking up one wicket on the way and he caused the batsmen all kinds of problems. Belbroughton declined to declare and finished their 45 overs on 340 for 2. In reply, only Nick Rogers with 57 and Robin Longmore 43 really troubled the scorers, although once again Adam Price showed how it should be done with a cameo knock at the end including a glorious off drive for 4. The Green fell well short at 183 when the final wicket fell. Main Index