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BGCC 2nd XI vs
Pershore
The green seconds
entertained local rivals Pershore on an unexpected hot saturday afternoon,
once again the green lost the toss and were asked to make first use of a
rain affected wicket.Last weeks batting hero James Scullion was brought back
to earth when wicket keeper Taylor took a diving catch in front of the slips
before he had troubled the scorer.This brought Jez [the lout] Clarke in to
join Mark Hooper ,this pair soon got into their stride Clarke making the
most of anything bowled short and Hooper driving at any thing pitched
up.They had taken the score along to 97 in the 15th over when Clarke was
adjudged to be leg before when missing a straight full toss. Lewis Hooper
joined his elder brother in a partnership of 54 , before Mark became
Jessop's second victim for an elegant 67 containing 12 fours and an all run
5, Cyril Dean played onto Jessop for 3, this brought local legend Martin
Heaton to the crease on his comeback from injury and work commitments he
only scored 3 when he was clean bowled by Emsley, skipper Spencer stroked a
fine cover drive boundary then was bowled between bat and pad by Jessop for
6 , Kev Downes struck five boundaries in his brief cameo of 23,Lewis Hooper
finally was bowled by Jessop for a fine 63 containing eleven
boundaries, Spencer jnr failed to trouble the scorers, this left the
experienced Ian Scullion and GG Lendenning to add 19 for the tenth wicket
,the green were bowled out in the 48th over for 265 .For Pershore Dave
Jessop bowled his usual large quota of overs taking 5 for 70.
The visitors reply got off to a shaky start with both openers playing and
missing at the opening bowlers, in the second over Handley pushed forward
out of his crease to a swinging ball from Sculllion the ever sharp
Glendenning had the bails off in a flash and fielders and keeper celebrated
only for the square leg umpire to turn down the appeal much to the surprise
of the batsman and fielders alike. After a spell of being embarrassed
Handley went on to play an exceptional innings it was not hard to see why
the Pershore umpire was loathed to give him out.Together with young Joe
Taylor he added 148 in 34 overs before Taylor was deceived by the flight of
Spencer snr for a fine 51, Handley followed 5 overs later with the score on
188 for a fine 114 given the circumstances, he too was deceived by Spencer
snr with the help of a fine catch by the energetic Downes, James Martin
struck 28 including a monster 6 off Downes, he fell to the recalled Sam
Spencer who then bowled Stevenson without scoring , Ian Scullion returned
bowling Thompson for 11 and having Mason well stumped by the athletic
Glendenning for 1, this left Pershore 235 for 6 but they decided to play out
the final 3 overs for a draw, they ended up on 243 for 6 after 52 overs,
Jessop was undefeated on 19.The Green gained 14 points and Pershore 10.
Who knows what the outcome would of been if the game had been fairly
umpired, but it should not detract from a fine innings played by R Handley
for Pershore, and the impressive batting of the Hooper brothers for the
Green.
Many thanks go to matchday sponsors "THREE OF A KIND HAIRDRESSERS"
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Monmouth vs BGCC 1st XI
Chris Smedley’s men made the trip across
the border on Saturday to play Monmouth who fought hard for a draw when
the 2 sides met at North End Lane in May.On a picturesque ground with
river views Smedley ironically won the toss as the pitch was difficult
to read and he would have liked the home captain to make the decision.
The Green openers strode to the crease to face the opening attack of
Harris and Roberts who both found early movement and bounce,
unfortunately for both openers this movement accounted for their wickets
as first Golder and then Williams were dismissed by the impressive
Harris. Harris was replaced by Monmouth’s South African import Temple
due to injury and found slow turn immediately however Tim Clarke showed
a welcome return to form scoring quickly against the spinner but was
then his first victim well caught for 41 to leave the Green in dire
trouble at 75-6.
Wickets continued to fall with Ford, Metcalfe and Hoogstraten all
dismissed before the score had reached 3 figures, Hoogstraten
brilliantly deceived by a slower ball from McKinley who finished with
the fantastic figures of 5-46 from his 16 overs. Adam Binks was joined
by Tom Clack making his 1st Team Debut and started to painstakingly
rebuild the innings. Both batted patiently with Clack in particular
ruthless in dismissing the limited bad balls on offer.
By the close of the 50 overs Clack has made a superb 35
not out and Binks remained unbeaten on 43 to set a tricky target of 180
to win.
Missing the experienced Tim Williams the Green opened up with Matt
Brookes who immediately found swing and was rewarded with the wickets of
both Swingwood and the dangerous McKinley to finish with figures of
2-32. Unfortunately Brookes found little support from the other seamers
and the usually reliable Ford suffered with a lack of rhythm. Thanks to
brilliant run out from Hoogstraten however the Green clawed their way
back into the game.
Bye was then dismissed by Smedley for a brutal 50 with the skipper also
picking up the important wicket of Teague. At this point however
Etheridge, Head and Smith combined to edge Monmouth close to victory and
despite a direct hit run out by Hoogstraten and the wicket of Head they
got over the finish line with overs to spare to earn a well deserved 24
points.
The Green face second placed Netherton at North End Lane this weekend in
what could be their most important game of the season.
BGCC 179-8 Binks 43*, Clack 35*, Tim Clarke 41, McKinley 5-46
Monmouth 180-8 Bye 50, Smedley 3-46
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