Barnards Green cricket Club Match Reports.

28^th June 2003
Feckenham	Barnards Green 1^st XI
vs Barnards 3^rd XI	vs Rushwick
On saturday, Barnards Green 3rds travelled to Cookhill to play Feckenham and came away winners by 7 wickets.  Batting first, Feckenham were soon in trouble losing opener Bloomer well caught by Jonathon Lewis off Patrick Jelley who then bowled Jackson for 7.  On an undulating pitch, all the bowlers appeared to find difficulty finding a decent line apart from the pick of the bowlers Emily Price who bowled an excellent spell finishing with 2 for 20 off her 11 overs.  Jamie Longmore took an excellent return catch off his bootlaces and Rob Lewis finished off the tail end with 4 for 19 off 6 overs.  Skipper Steve Daniels carried his bat for 44 no and Feckenham finished on 124. This was never going to be enough with a strong Green batting line up and despite losing Keith Middlleton for 4 early on, Paul Yorke rode his luck a little, but crashed the ball regularly to the boundary for an unbeaten 54 supported by Jon Lewis 6, Rob Lewis 14 and Neil Hacking 15no.  Next week the Green have a tougher challenge against Belbroughton. Barnards Green Singles Vs Hewell Barnards Green singles recorded a comfortable seven wicket victory over Hewell thanks to a devastating spell of bowling by youngster Liam Paddock. Hewell won the toss and elected to bat, they made slow progress against a fine opening burst of hostile bowling by Leech and Brown. Sutton and Garside defended stoutly but runs were at a trickle. Leech bowled eight straight for only ten runs whilst Brown was equally miserly but both were rested. The evergreen “Onslow “ Spencer kept runs to a premium with his subtle variations of flight and speed. Sutton and Garside were intent on crease occupation as the overs sped by and at 92 without loss after 30 overs the Green were more than content to chase a small total. Spencer induced Garside out of his crease and White had the bails off in a flash and the opener went for 28. Freeman then introduced Liam Paddock and the match was turned on its head. First Sutton’s marathon vigil ended with an inswinger for 47 and the youngster proceeded to rip the heart out off Hewell’s batting he took three more wickets with the score on 103 before ‘regulations’ forced him to rest. His four over spell was an exhibition of controlled swing bowling, moving the ball both ways the batters were all at sea as he took four wickets at a cost of three runs whilst Spencer (2 for 37) at the other end continued to put the skids on Hewell. No other batsman could cope as Brown (1 for 21) and Spiers (1 for 33) mopped up the tail as Hewell collapsed to 113 all out. The Green reply got off to a disastrous start as Freeman chose to slap the ball straight into covers’ hands when he had the rest of the field at his mercy. Genever and Metcalfe then added fifty runs in even time to set the tone for the Green, when Metcalfe departed for an accomplished 21 White took up the mantle and was equally destructive. Genever meanwhile serenely accumulated his runs as the Green were cruising towards the target. White suddenly had his off stump removed by Smith (2 for 19) for 27 but it was too late for Hewell as the Green cruised home by seven wickets with Genever 42 not out. Main Index	Barnards Green 1^st XI took on Rushwick in Saturdays division 3 match at North End Lane. Rich Williams lost the toss and the Green were put into bat by visiting skipper Gary Watkins. The Green were in trouble very early when they lost openers Williams and Flynn before the score had reached double figures. Drinkwater and Tim Clarke soon followed with the excellent Turner finding pace and variable bounce to trouble the Green batsmen enormously. This left the Green reeling at 21 for 4. However the experience of Chris Smedley and Rob Richards came together and the pair set about repairing some of the damage. Richards in particular looked in excellent form, finding the boundary regularly with some sweet hits. The pair added 93 before Smedley played on and when Richards soon followed the Green again needed to consolidate. With the wicket making scoring quite difficult the Greens tail managed to add a further 50 with Doughty, Scullion and T. Williams all making small contributions. The Green closed on 164 all out in their 50 overs. In reply Rushwick started very well with Davies and Ingles chancing their arms and taking the score quickly up to 42 before the first wicket fell. The introduction of Flynn and then Scullion changed the match though. First Flynn picked up the wicket of Davies to a smart catch from Tim Clarke at point. Then Scullion removed the next 4 batsmen in the space of 3 overs with only 5 runs being scored, including the key wicket of Watkins to a spectacular diving catch by Tim Clarke. This left Rushwick deep in trouble at 47 for 5. Ricketts and Williams then forged a patient partnership to repair some damage but the introduction of Richards soon saw the Green get another break through when he bowled Ricketts. Williams then fell to an unplayable delivery from Scullion to leave the match tensely poised at 93 for 7. The Green picked up two further wickets and despite some hard hitting from Phillips Rushwick was content with settling for the draw. Peplow and Douglas blocked the last 6 overs to frustrate the Green. Ian Scullion was the bowling hero with 6 for 24 off 15 overs, with Rushwick closing on 137 for 9. The Green take 14 points and stay in touch with the leaders at the half way point, but will need to produce more positive results in order to push further up the table. Next week the Green entertain bottom side Alveley at North End Lane with an unchanged team. Rushwick vs Barnards Green 2^nd XI Barnards Green 2nds traveled to Ruswick seeking their 2nd successive win, After winning what turned out to be an important toss Skipper dick brown decided to take the new ball. The ever improving Duncan Bell opened the attack for the green, he bowled and excellent line and length but with no reward in his first 6 over spell (0 for 14).At the other end things were even tighter, Chris Hill started what was to be an unchanged spell. Using the conditions to his advantage, Hill bowled through the innings taking 5 for 52 after 24 overs including 9 maidens. Ruswicks batsman made the best of what turned out to be a very difficult track to bat first on, Davies scored a stubborn 31, until Hooper was introduced and dismissed him first ball catching a glove and flying through to keeper Perkins, Hooper continued and after bowling an extremely varied line and length found himself taking (4 for 12 off 7) The only other real contribution to Rushwicks total of  141 was Guy Powell who smote a useful 42. Hill  finally took Ruswicks last wicket with only two overs to go, he was well supported throughout his marathon spell by Stu Fletcher who was again unlucky not to pick up any reward for some excellent bowling ( 7 Overs 0 for 26) , and Simon Clarke who quickened up what was a slow over rate by the green, mainly down to some very intricate but sometimes effective field placing by skipper Dick Brown. With the wicket drying throughout the day Greens opening pair, Brian Hancock and Jez Clarke strode out to the wicket confident that they could finish what was so far an excellent display from the Green. With Jones and Blight opening the bowling for Ruswick, both openers started cautiously and were patient but soon started to find the middle of the bat. With a fast outfield also on their side They started to make the most of the 'Tight' gaps in the fielding ring and boundaries started flowing at both ends. With Rushwicks skipper alternating what looked to be a 'more than ample' bowling attack a small time of consolidation in places was needed but the opening pair stayed composed and the only real contest was who would reach their 50 first. Both batsman kept their heads when rushwicks best bowlers of the day came in to the attack, Champion (0 for 37 0ff 7) and Colley ( 0 for 27 off 6) but with the score by now on 80 without loss still with 34 overs remaining the damage was done. The game came to a close in the 30th over with Jez Clarke finishing on 76 (  15   4's ) and Brian Hancock 63 ( 8  4's) This completed an excellent 10 wicket victory for BGCC.