28th July 2007- Match reports.
BGCC 2nd XI vs Belbroughton.	Hanley Castle & Upton 2nds vs BGCC 4th XI
The Green entertained Belbroughton on a bright sunny day, the wicket was exceptionally dry considering the amount of rain in the past fortnight, although unsurprisingly there were several damp patches on the outfied.The home side won the toss to make it two out of thirteen and asked the visitors to make first use of the wicket. Opening bowlers Ian Scullion and Matt Brookes bowled a tight line with the swinging ball, and were unlucky not to of made early breakthroughs as they both had numerous good  LBW shouts turned down by the impartial visiting umpires.After ten overs Belbroughton had only managed to score 10 runs three of which were extras when Brookes bowled Hawker for 2,Higgins and Williamson then decided to put bat to ball in an effort to break the strangle hold which the opening bowlers had exerted,Higgins was bowled by Brookes for 33,Spencer snr had Williamson caught for 39 leaving the visitor 95 for 3 after 25 overs,Spencer had Whittlestone caught then had opposing skipper Tom Raybould dropped before he had got of the mark, he then went onto take advantage of the letoff and make the top score of the innings of 54 until Jez Clarke had him well stumped by Mark Perkins , Ian Scullion returned to the attack only to pull up injured ,his over was completed by Phil Spencer who bowled Hadley for 11, this made the score 185 for 6 in the 45th over, Clarke took two further wickets to finish with 3 for 39, leaving Spencer to clean up the last two wickets to finish with 5 for 49 , with the visitors posting a total of 204. The Greens reply got off to the worst possible start when Keith Middleton was caught behind off the bowling of John Raybould for 0, this brought Jez Clarke in to join Jon Lewis this pairing began to rebuild the innings , scoring was not easy against the experienced Raybould and the youthful Hawker and Whittaker, with the score on 72 in the 23rd over Clarke was well caught at long off for 34,Lewis Hooper made only 2 when he too was caught behind off Raybould,Cyril Dean joined Lewis and proceeded to score freely until Lewis was bowled swinging across the line to the returning Hawker, Raybould had Dean caught for 24 leaving the Green 117 for 5 in the 38th over,Matt Brookes had made 20 when he was out caught going for a big shot, this left Spencer and Robin  Longmore to try and score at 8 an over for the remaining eight overs, Spencer was caught for 18 and Longmore caught for 21 leaving the green 169 for 8 ,this left Scullion and Perkins to bat out the remaining 10 balls to hold on for a losing draw. John Raybould bowled 25 overs unchanged to return figures of 4 for 59, he was responsible in making sure the green were always struggling to reach their target.Who knows what would of happened had the green held their catches or if one of their batsmen had gone on to make a substantial score.The Green gained 8 points and Belbroughton 15. Many thanks go to matchday sponsors "KENDALL WADLEY ACCOUNTANTS"	Having spent most of the week begging for good weather, Barnards Green fourths travelled the short journey to Hanley Castle for this Crusader Worcestershire County League Division 4 South, 2^nd XI clash. With the sun out on a damp and drying pitch and the outfield being lush due to Hanley being unable to get a boat on the outfield earlier in the week, let alone the tractor and mower, was the coin toss going to be as important as 2 weeks before when the Green played Canon Frome?  Yet again skipper Wheeler lost the toss and as in the reverse fixture earlier in the summer, the Green was asked to bat first. John Wheeler and Lewis opened the innings, with very contrasting styles of batting and levels of aggression; this was always going to be an interesting start to the innings. With Wheeler Snr soon perishing to one of the only catches taken all day, Harry Pleass, playing his first game of the season joined Lewis to continue a steady and watchful approach to the bowling. Following some very attractive shots and very sensible batting, Pleass was bowled for 14; Chris Horne then came and went inside 6 overs for 8.   At this point, 20 overs gone and the score on 66 for 3, Hanley were the happier of the 2 teams. However with Andy Wheeler and Rob Lewis still at the crease, the Green knew that a score above and beyond 150/160 would be possible and would certainly be needed on a track that was drying and becoming easier to bat on.  The first ball delivered to Wheeler was chest high and dispatched high and long into the next field, this set the tone for the rest of the innings! The 2 batters played very sensibly with good deliveries and dispatched every bad ball bowled. With both men bringing up their fifties in the 30^th over, and the score on 140 a much larger total was on the cards than predicted 10 overs earlier. Rob Lewis pulled a thigh muscle and Pleass came in as a runner, however this only spurred the 2 on to hit more boundaries and push the running between the wickets as the ball slowed in the outfield.  Wheeler hit his 10^th of 12 sixes and brought up his first century of the season, although luck was on his side with 3 definite catches being dropped and 4 more changes being given where the ball just made it over the fielders head! Hanley finally hung on to a catch in the 43^rd over, as Wheeler was caught at gully for 123 and ending a partnership of 169. Bradley and Brewer had little chance to show their true potential with the bat, but ably supported Robbie Lewis through to 73 not out, his third not out of the season as an opener! The innings closed on 242 for 5 off 45 overs  Hanley bowlers toiled away and were all punished with anything over pitched or short, however Owen Lewis, showed great potential for the future and was unlucky not to get more reward than his 0 for 52 off 6 overs showed. Pick of the bowlers was M Amott who returned with figures of 4 for 47 off 14 overs.  After tea, with the clouds appearing over the Malvern Hills, the Green were keen to make early breakthroughs and avoid the disappointment suffered in the return fixture when Hanley finished 8 down and managed to save the draw. With the score on 28 for 0 off 10 overs, Hanley certainly had set their sights on saving the draw. Ian Alley then bowled the daddy of all overs and removed opener Dolphine for 12 and then next ball skipper Robinson for 0. With Sam Bradley bowling an excellent swinging spell of 5 overs for only 9 runs, Dave Price was introduced at the school end and promptly decided to take control of the game. His changes of pace and flight were too much for the Hanley batsmen and he finished with season best figures of 5 for 15 off 9 overs.   With Ian Alley having bowled 11 overs, 3 for 26 and the clouds starting to spit rain a change was required, this came in the form of 13 year old Jack Cullity, playing only his second senior game he bowled with pace and swing, a great prospect for the future! With 2 balls remaining in his 4 over spell, Cullity was asked to be a hero and win the game, this he did! First having Amott caught by Price, then pulling off a remarkable one handed catch off his own bowling to dismiss Mitchell and complete the win for the Green. Hanley were bowled out for 71 from 29 overs. Special mention goes to Alex Bako, who arrived at the ground expecting to score for Barnards Green and ended up playing when one of the players failed to arrive.  The Green gained a maximum of 24 points for the win and move back to third in the table with the League leaders, Old Elizabethans being welcomed to Newland on Saturday 4^th August. Thanks go to the club sponsors Link Tools, Julian Hall Garden Services, Clarke Roxburgh and Tansell Garages who help the club continue to develop the best facilities in the area and produce some very talented juniors.