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The green travelled to Belbroughton with an under strength team due to work
commitments and withdrawals from the firsts and thirds.They arrived at the
picturesque ground to be confronted with a heavy downfall which saturated
the already wet pitch.The game was reduced to 38 overs per side and after
losing the toss the green were asked to bat first.The opening partnership of
Jason Brewer who was coaxed out of retirement once again and James Scullion
moved the score along to 18 before Brewer was caught for 15, Tim Clarke
joined Scullion and was quickly into his stride timing the ball confidently,
they had taken the total to 61 when scullion was caught for a patient 14.Tom
Clack seemed in fine form until he was runout for 21 ,the green still seemed
well placed at 113 for 3 after 23 overs. The rain returned an early tea was
taken and seven overs lost from Belbroughtons innings.The demise of Tim
Clarke to an exceptional catch for a fine 61, this started the greens
collapse, they went from 123 for 4 , finally reaching 145 allout off their
allotted 38 overs, John Raybould bowled 13 overs taking 6 for 40 he used his
experience and was too wily for the greens middle and lower order.
Belbroughtons inning was now shortened to 31 overs ,Spencer and Scullion snr
opened the bowling and after 13 overs belbroughton were 38 without loss and
struggling to keep up with the run rate, they were replaced by Brookes and
Metcalfe who also kept the runs to a minimum, Matt Brookes had the dangerous
McKenzie smartly caught by Clack, then had Hadley stumped by the youthful
Glendenning, Metcalfe bowled Tom Raybould, leaving Belbroughton 86 for 3
after 23 overs, the match was evenly poised Belbroughton needing 118 to
secure the winning draw with 8 overs remaining.Metcalfe then rolled back the
years clean bowling Pennington and Boardman for ducks, having Floy smartly
stumped by Glendenning, Belbroughton 113 for 6 with four overs left, this
brought N. Ross to the wicket and he proceeded to ruin a very tight game by
smashing the ball to the leg side boundary on numerous occasions, they
passed the winning draw target of 118 , then needing 16 from the last over
to secure the win he hit 16 off the first 4 balls to finish on 27no ,leaving
belbroughton victors by 3 wickets.Steve Metcalfe finished with figures of 5
for 12 off 6 overs a fine effort .The greens first loss of the season was
due to a lack of application in their batting a lesson which needs to be
learnt if they want to make any sort of a challenge for the league.
The Green gained 4 points and Belbroughton 20.
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Full match report to follow.
Highlights: - Robbie Lewis 75
Andy Wheeler 67 ( 64 in boundaries ).
Excellent extended spell of seam bowling from Adam Price.
Winning Draw for The Green.
BGCC 1st XI vs Belbroughton
Despite a heavy lunchtime shower which added a
slick sheen to another immaculate wicket at North End Lane the eagerly
awaited clash between 2 sides at opposite ends of the league table started
on time with the home side electing to field first.
With overseas start Andrew Hoogstraaten still injured the new ball was
entrusted to the experienced Tim Williams who settled into a fantastic
rhythm backed up by Kevin Downes who again got great carry to ‘keeper Binks.
The flow of runs was curtailed from an early stage due to tight bowling and
excellent fielding from the home side with both bowlers removing an opener a
piece, Downes in trademark style with the off stump cart wheeling out of the
ground.
As the overs ticked by the scoring rate barely reached 2 runs per over and
Belbroughton knew that some lusty blows would be necessary to set a
challenging total on a ground where a par score is 250 plus.
Williams finished an excellent spell of bowling completing 19 overs and
taking 2-31 when he was replaced by the slow right armer Chris Smedley. At
the North End Lane end young spinner Andy Ford was again showing his class
on his way to a five wicket haul.
The only Belbroughton batter to get the better of the attack was Gary Day
who was circumspect as wickets fell around him. As the end of the innings
approached however he began to open his shoulders to reach a well deserved
hundred with a towering six of Smedley who finished with less than pretty
figures of 1-48 off 6 overs.
Day became another Ford victim however when he was deceived in the flight by
a big spinning off break and played on for a quite brilliant 112. The
remaining batters managed to nurdle the ball to reach a total of 173-9, Ford
finishing with 5-58.
A light shower at the tea interval threatened to add some spice to the pitch
and early indications were that Farmer would prove a handful for the Green’s
opening pair of Williams Snr and Golder. This optimism was short lived and
several short pitched deliveries to Golder seemed to awaken a sleeping
dragon.
With both batsmen keeping an eye on the dark clouds over the Malvern Hills
Golder decided to go into overdrive to leave the rain with no chance of
arriving to spoil the home sides’ party. He was harsh on all bowlers as he
cut, pulled and drove his way to a magnificent hundred, his second of the
season and first at home. The only blip on the Green’s copybook was the
unfortunate dismissal of Williams who was brilliantly stumped off the
bowling of Hawk.
Youngster Paddock arrived to join Golder and played his part in a
partnership of 70 by allowing Golder plenty of strike, with just 24 overs
gone Golder dispatched the winning runs off the hapless Harris whose 2 overs
cost a staggering 29 runs.
Next week sees a double points weekend with the green traveling to Old
Swinford on Saturday and entertaining Black Country side Coombswood at North
End Lane on Monday.
Belbroughton 173-9, Day 112, Ford 5-58, Williams 2-31
Barnards Green 174-1, Golder 112*
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