Barnards Green cricket Club Match
Reports.
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3rd July 2004 Ending in a winning
dr Barnards Green Singles v aw for Barnard Barnards Green Singles v ns s
Green |
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Avoncroft vs Barnards Green 2nd XI
Fletcher and Hill then dragged the
Green into the match, claiming a wicket each in a steady middle session, but
Avoncroft were always well placed to charge. Townsend, Taylor and Carpenter made
over 100 off the last 15 overs. Fletcher had bowled Jukes (53), long after a
good stumping appeal was refused, and with 2 for 53 from 20 overs he was back
in credit. Keeper Glendenning was blameless for the wild bowling, with yet
again over 30 extras conceded. The target of 208 looked challenging, and the
Green went uneasily to tea. Brian Hancock and Derek Goodman
(dropped first ball) forged an opening stand of 48 in 15 overs. For
Avoncroft, Rodway was wild, Irish was steady, and neither was expensive.
After Hancock was well caught by Weston, Goodman and Nick Rogers faced the
crux of the match. The Green could not win without acceleration, but could
easily collapse on a spiteful drying track. Goodman (51) opened his shoulders for
a clatter of boundaries, then chipped Weston to cover. Rogers, from the
start, had swiped to leg or driven through cover with abandon. Bowled by a no
ball, dropped at third man, he surged past 50, hit a final six, and was
stumped next ball. At 157-3 in the 32nd over, the Green seemed
favourites. Now came the collapse. Middleton, who
had wisely given Rogers the strike, played on to Weston. Hill, hoping to tap
the medium pacers for safe runs, was dismayed to find Nicol firing accurate
googlies from a tree-dark background, and he soon lost Hacking (a full toss
lobbed to mid-on) and Brown (several wafts at Irish, followed by a fatal and
vertical drive). Avoncroft dared to hope again. Glendenning, keen on revenge,
joined Hill at 187-6 and they prodded for a couple of overs of singles and
byes. All results were possible before Hill
gained the strike in the 44th over, struck Nicol for two fours,
then lofted Irish over the infield. So after their dismal early effort the
Green squeaked home with 3 balls left, thanks to sensible batting at the
death and a not very sensible, but wonderfully effective, innings by Rogers. Avoncroft
207-4 (45 overs; Jukes 53, Townsend 37; Fletcher 2-53) Barnards
Green 208-6 (44.3 overs; Rogers 73, Goodman 51; Weston 3-47) Barnards Green won
by 4 wickets
Barnards Green 1st XI vs Avoncroft Barnards Green entertained
Avoncroft at Northend Lane on Saturday.Home skipper Chris Smedley won the
toss once again and reluctantly asked the visitors to bat on yet another a
superbly prepared track. Chris Harrison (4-19) and Tim Williams (3-57 off 21
overs) immediately made inroads in to the Avoncroft batting with the help of
some good fielding in particular a top catch in the gully by old timer
Richards, with only J Bird (62) making a major score against a fine all-round
fielding and bowling performance by
the Green, they restricted Avoncroft to just 186. |
Barnards Green Singles vs Alvechurch and Hopwood Barnards Green ‘singles’ cruised to a
nine wicket win over basement side Alvechurch and Hopwood and moved into
third place in the division. In previous encounters between the
sides Barnards Green had always struggled to force the win so on winning the
toss skipper Freeman invited Alvechurch to have first use of the wicket. An
early breakthrough from Brookes was the only success as Spink and Smith
slowly built a total. Some lackluster Green fielding who proceeded to put
down three chances offered to them aided their quest. After 23 overs drinks
were taken with A&H on 84. It was the Green change bowlers that did the
trick Clarke bowling Spink for an obdurate 36 and next over Brookes judging
his catch to perfection to remove Smith for 43. The remaining batsmen all
tried to push the scoring but found Clarke’s nagging accuracy too much as he
picked up three more wickets whilst the pace of Hooper troubled everyone,
including wicketkeeper White who was often seen sprawling down the legside.
Hooper benefited from two wonder catches, a one handed grab by Leech and an
instinctive slip catch from Wheeler. The Green restricted their opponents to
169 for 8 and tucked into tea with confidence. The Green response was the usual crash
bang from Leech who soon had the fielders scattered to all parts and Curtis
utilised the deep set field to great effect as the pair raced to 35 off 6
overs. Leech went for 20 only to bring Andy Wheeler to the crease. He was
immediately on the attack smacking balls 2, 3 and 4 to the boundary. He raced
to his 50 as the Green scored at 9 an over; Curtis then scored his first
fifty of the season with another punishing cover drive. Alvechurch tried
bowler after bowler but each suffered the same fate as those before as the
Green deployed ball finders all over the County. Another huge Wheeler six
secured the win by nine wickets leaving himself on 80 not out and Curtis 53
not out. Twenty points that have seen the ‘singles’ leap into third place. Barnards Green 3rd XI vs Old Hill Saturday saw the Green 3rd
XI visit Old Hill hoping to increase their lead at the top of the table. The
team looked a bit sceptical as they eventually entered what could only be
described as a small bowl shaped arena surrounded by scrap metal merchants. The changing rooms were containers and
the toilets were across the road in the pub, which reminded a few of the more
experienced players of what things can be like in 3rd XI cricket. On winning the toss Skipper Cyril Dean
had no hesitation in fielding first on what was a damp and strange looking
“bowed” track. Rob Tyler and debutant Tim Streather
opened the bowling and found the wicket slow, low ,almost dead at one end and
even worse at the other. Keeping the ball full and straight was
called for and the Green were rewarded with regular wickets as the Old Hill
batsmen tried to hit their way out of trouble. The pick of The Green bowlers was
Emily Price who bowled a superbly controlled spell in taking 3-35 off 10
overs. Young Joe Endacott, another debutant, excelled in the field in taking
a great high catch in the deep and assisting in a run out with a pin-point
throw. From having Old Hill at 86-7 the Green
got somewhat over-confident and lost their discipline with the ball in allowing
too many 4 balls which the latter order duly accepted. Old Hill finished on
181, which was probably 60 more than they should have got, but The Green were
still mildly confident. Openers Lee Dyment and Lee Brookes got
off to a solid start in putting on 28. Cyril Dean entered the fray and was
immediately dropped but then started finding the boundry more regularly. With
Brookes at the other end struggling to read the slow, low bounce but at least
keeping his wicket intact the Green marched on keeping up with the run rate. After Brookes was given out LBW off
his box, Rob Lewis was beaten by a good ball, which brought young Tim
Streather in. Although bemused by the
pitch, Tim played straight and correct in helping the Green keep the scoreboard
ticking over. Dean eventually went for 57 in trying to hit over cover but
with the score on 128-5 and the short boundry to make use of, the Green were
still going for it. Shortly after, the Green had capitulated to 135 all out
and lost their unbeaten record. The bonus points picked up still
enabled us to top the league by 9 points over 2nd and 27 over 3rd,
but with the next two weeks being free weeks things are sure to change. |
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