16th August 2008 - Match Reports.
BGCC 2nd XI vs Lye	Barnards Green 4th XI v Ross
On a very wet and miserable grey day, the green entertained struggling Lye. The visitors were delayed in traffic and the home skipper claimed the toss and asked Lye to make first use of a very damp wicket. Matt Brookes struck early with the swinging ball, Lewis Hooper took 3 for 25, Spencer took 2 for 23 and Elliot Hennessey took his first second team wicket when Ashlea Brewer made a leg side stumping, only Hussain 46 and Mahmood 21 made any contribution and the visitors were all out for 110. In reply Paul Yorke was bowled first ball, this only brought the prolific James Curtis to the wicket , he together with Adam Croad took the green to within sight of victory ,then Croad was bowled for a patient 21, leaving Dave White and Curtis to see the green home with 30 overs to spare and with eight wickets in hand. James Curtis finished 67no taking his run of half centuries to 8 in the last 9 innings. A good victory with 20 points gained. Many thanks to match day sponsors "ROGER ALLPORT NURSERIES"	With rain having covered the hills for the majority of the week, the fourths are endebted to groundstaff Ratcliffe, Horne and Wheeler for even having the slightest chance of play in this Crusader Worcestershire Cricket LEague Division 4 South 2nd XI fixture With rain showers hitting the ground early morning, the pitch at the toss was green, very soft and bowler friendly looking. Having won the toss, Green skipper Brown had no hesitation in asking Ross to make first use. With a new ball and helpful conditions the Green bowlers needed to make the most, sadly a mixture of line and length meant that the Ross openers were able to get off to a solid start and give Ross an excellent base to build a big total from. Brown then turned to Ian Alley, who bowled as well as he has done all season and finished with figures of 12 overs, 2 madiens, 3 for 36. With Alley ripping through the middle order and Dave Price (1 for 46) and Wheeler (1 for 37) keeping it tight, Ross's target began to drop and at one stage they would have been happy with 200. With Dale Brookes deciding to mix some powerful straight shots with some non textbook style hacks was able to confuse the green bowlers and fielders and managed to score 55. With the Green bowlers all picking up wickets throughout the innings, Ross finished on 211 for 8 from 45 overs With rain starting to fall as the players returned to the field following another excellent tea prepared by Ian and Sarah Alley - the green openers Wheeler and Horne knew that they needed a solid and positive start to try and get as many runs on the scoreboard as quick as possible. As has been the case for the last few weeks, this they did, with 30 coming off the first 3 overs. When Horne was removed for 8 in the 3rd over, Robbie Lewis joined Wheeler and together they set about chasing down the 212 target in as short a time as possible. Wheeler brought up his fifth straight fifty in a row on a Saturday in the 9th over, however the rain was continuing to fall and getting ever heavier, the chances of the GReen facing enought overs to score the runs was ever decreasing. The umpires finally gave up the ghost at the end of the 15th over and took the players from the field, with continuous rain, the game was abandoned and both teams headed for the bar! The Green were left on 117 for 1 from 15 overs, with Lewis 29 not out and Wheeler 73 not out. Due to the speed at which the Green had scored their runs, they achieved 8 points for a winning draw, which along with their bowling points meant they took 11 points from the match. With 2 games left, the Green are secured in fourth place and can enjoy their remaining fixtures against Tenbury and Dominies