Barnards Green cricket Club Match Reports.
June 18th 2005 |
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BGCC 2nd XI vs Bromyard |
BGCC 3rd XI vs Hewell
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On saturday the green seconds were
hosts to bromyard who are struggling near the foot of the table.Bromyard won
the toss and elected to bat,they were always struggling against the
consistent swing bowling of Ian Scullion and the extra bounce of Sam
Spencer,Scullion in particular bowled some unplayable balls and was rewarded
with figures of 5 for 10 off eight overs,Spencer only took 1 wicket but
deserved better.Lewis Hooper wrapped up the Bromyard innings by taking 2 for
2.Allout for 40 in the 18th over. Bromyard vs BGCC
1st XI Barnards Green 1st XI made the trip to Worcestershire
County League Division 2 leaders Bromyard on Saturday. On a scorching day Ed Oliver won the toss
and to the surprise of everyone asked the Green to bat first on a good
looking pitch. Gary Lewis and Rich
Williams made a solid start before Lewis was bowled by Hine. Daniel Flynn crashed 3 superb straight
boundaries before he too was bowled, this time by Saeed, with one that kept a
bit low. Kevin Golder also reached
double figures before he fell leg before to Kyte, again to a ball keeping
lower than expected. This bought
Williams and skipper Chris Smedley together.
The pair played with great confidence as they found the boundary
regularly and paced the Greens innings superbly. Both passed well deserved 50’s and started to increase the pace
before Williams was caught on the boundary for a superb 76. Tim Clarke then
joined Smedley and was unluckily run out backing up. Smedley soon followed, again going for a
big hit, perishing leg before. Adam
Binks and Paul Drinkwater then came together and the pair were able to
increase the innings’ momentum. Binks
managed to find and clear the boundary on a number of occasions in a brisk 32
and Drinkwater played some elegant shots, remaining not out at the end. The Green closed their innings on an
impressive 287, an excellent team performance, with Williams and Smedley
particularly impressive. In reply Bromyard started well with Tim Williams’ first 5 balls
costing 7 runs. However with the
final ball of the 1st over Williams beat Matt Bullocks defenses,
to bowl him and leave Bromyard 7 for 1.
Bromyard tried to kick start their innings but accurate bowling from
Williams and Chris Harrison and some superb fielding, kept runs at a
premium. Harrison then got his
reward, clean bowling Ashley Bullock, to another ball which kept low. Duncan Bell, in his first game of the
year, was then introduced to the attack.
Bowling with lively pace and sharp movement, he immediately caused the
batsmen problems. Saeed then edged a
Bell away swinger to be superbly caught, one handed, by the diving
Binks. Bell struck again soon after,
thanks to a superb catch at third slip from Kev Golder. The tumble of wickets continued as skipper
Oliver edged Flynn to Binks to leave Bromyard in disarray at 30 for 5. Williams was then re introduced as Smedley
juggled his bowlers in the searing heat.
He soon cleaned bowled Hine, when he went to leave a ball that
slightly straightened. Dave Kyte soon
followed, edging Williams to give Binks another catch at the wicket. Paul Drinkwater came into the attack and
took the Green to the brink of victory with 2 more wickets, combining his
excellent flight with accuracy. Tim
Williams returned to the attack for a 3rd spell and finished the
match, trapping the Bromyard batsman leg before, to finish with 4-22. The Green took maximum points (24) and
move 15 points clear of Bromyard at the top of the league. |
On the hotest day of the year so far, Barnards Green 3rd XI with a mix of young and experience (aka old) entertained Hewell in a must win game at Newland. With the sun blazing down and the pitch looking in excellent condition, stand in skipper Wheeler won the toss and decided to have bowl. Youngsters Scullion (2 - 50) and Beaumont (1-31) opened the bowling and although beating the bat on numberous occasions, struggled to find consistant line and length. First change bowler Tyler was replace after one over after suffering stomach upset during the over. This left the experience of Lewis, RW Brown and Price to try and tighten things up and keep the score to a chasable target. Brown was given one over for 24 then decided to retire from bowling! With Gibbons (113) and Mulland (40) starting to dominate the bowling and Wheeler looking round the field for either fit or eligable bowlers, it was in desparation that the skipper bowled and somehow picked up 4 for 34. This seem to have the desired effect with the score going from 230 for 3 at 30 overs to Hewell declaring at 282 for 9 in 40. Pick of the bowlers was Neil Williams who bowled good lines and picked up 2 for 20 off 5 overs. Special mention for Sam Bradley playing in his first senior game for barnards green at the age of 13 and Dave Price playing in what he called his last game! Following an excellent tea, the Green were confident of chasing the 283 for victory and with Nick Rogers hitting 25 off the first 3 overs, things were looking good. Following a good catch to dismiss Rogers, Wheeler (52) came to the crease and tried to keep the run rate over the required 5 and half an over. With Wheeler gone and the fielding team thinking they were back on top, Brown (56) prowled to the wicket and along with Lewis (86) built a partnership that took the Green to within 20 runs with 5 overs left. The winning runs were scored by Mark Perkins and Robbie Tyler with 8 balls to spare. This was an excellent victory for the Green, and can hopefully kick start their season and avoid relegation. Thanks to match day sponsors Connaught Travel. Knighton on Teme vs BGCC Singles On the hottest match day so far Barnards Green singles were on the road to Knighton, cars with Air Con were selected as the most appropriate mode of transport and for the first time ever players were queuing to go in Sam Freeman’s car. The picturesque Knighton setting had some players posturing as they walked through the field of sheep but the downside is that for the charm and beauty there is no running water or electricity. Skipper Ratcliffe was contemplating fielding first but fortunately lost the toss but he got his wish when Knighton elected to have first use of the wicket. Matt Brookes was immediately into a good rhythm and aided by the unpredictable pitch the batters struggled to score. Churchill on the other hand had the batters sniffing the leather. Evans took on the Churchill challenge and smashed a quickfire 25 but was undone by the nagging accuracy and swing of Brookes when Beavan took the first of three catches. Spiers replaced Churchill and the runs dried to a trickle. Brookes bowled his 12 straight through conceding only 12 runs and taking one wicket. Meanwhile Steve Beavan opened the Herefordshire Branch of the Pokemon Fan Club, signing autographs and engaging in long conversations with the Knighton scorer over the spelling of his name. Spiers grabbed two wickets in quick succession and Griffiths briefly threatened to take the game away from the Green but Sanders removed his bail for 20. Number three Toms was playing the anchor role but saw wickets tumble to Spiers (3 – 35) and Sanders (3 – 33). Clarke bowled Salmon with a beauty and at 110 for 8 Knighton were struggling. Toms opened up and found support from Winstanley as the day got hotter and hotter. Ratcliffe had Freeman going third man to third man and after an exchange of words between overs Churchill was brought back into the attack. His pace was too much for the Knighton tail snaring two quick wickets leaving the Green 151 to win and Toms stranded on 46no. You are guaranteed an excellent
tea at Knighton and today an enormous, most excellent, display of baps
greeted the players. After a couple of players risked the Chemi Kazzi, whilst
others settled for sunbathing and Freeman and Ratcliffe opened the innings.
The wicket was still playing tricks with variable bounce and after Freeman
notched the first boundary with a straight driven four he was squealing like
a pig when Griffiths got one to rear from a length smashing into Freeman’s
finger forcing him to leave the field. Ratcliffe was adjudged LBW bringing
Curtis and Beavan together. The pair slowly and surely guided the team
towards the victory target. Both severe on anything short the scoreboard was
moving at four an over. Knighton rotated their bowlers without success until
the returning Griffiths got another rearing and Curtis could only glove the ball
behind and departed for a fine 33. Metcalfe found the bowlers very much to
his liking and rattled off a succession of boundaries until his leg stump was
scuttled by one that didn’t bounce for 25. Beavan was now becalmed from the
heat and struggled to score, Sanders however was keen to finish the match,
with three runs required, Knighton turned to occasional bowler Gasch and he
had Sanders caught for 12. Freeman stupidly returned to the crease, played
one ball in obvious agony and was promptly stumped next ball to give Gasch
figures of 2 for 3. White and Beavan acquired the runs required to secure the
victory, Beavan 44 not out and the Green 24 points richer. With no showers
some of the lads resorted to deodorant and despite some fine efforts no one
pulled as they trudged back through the flock and to the local hostelry for
some well earned refreshment and in Freeman’s case ice for his finger. |