Barnards Green cricket Club Match
Reports.
5th June 2004 Ending in a winning
dr Barnards Green Singles v aw for Barnard Barnards Green Singles v Brintons
s Green |
|
Barnards Green 2nd XI vs Martley This
was a strange game, with the Green at times lethargic and unable to take
advantage of very favourable conditions. They won the vital toss on a humid
day after recent rain, with the track showing plenty of early life. They saw
the opposition lose two bowlers to injury. After half their own innings they
seemed ideally placed, with eight wickets in hand and a manageable run rate.
But, being the Green, they flirted with peril before scrambling home. They did not start well. Stu Fletcher suffered
a series of streaky edges, and once again had no luck through his first
spell. Sam Spencer had less idea of direction, and keeper Perkins and both
batsmen were alert for the bad ball. As soon as Spencer showed more
consistency he bowled Rushgrove (10), but then Baker and Smith batted with
sensible aggression. Chris Hill’s first task was to slow
the scoring and defend the short boundary on the pavilion side. He bowled 11
overs for 23 and the pressure told. Smith was sharply run out by Hacking’s
return to the keeper, and Baker swiped over a straight ball after making a
good 55. Hine and Pethybridge rebuilt
the innings without scoring swiftly, so that Martley stood at 132-3 with ten
overs left. Hill returned to the outfield. Spencer
took some punishment but had Hine safely caught by Rob Lewis. At the other
end, after Brown had experimented with spin for a few overs, Jon Lewis
produced a promising if wayward spell. His 5 overs cost only 16, and then
Fletcher bowled both Pethybridge and Bradley in his second spell. But Massey
(a bright 23 no) took Martley to 199. This score looked all the better after
Jon Lewis half-prodded and was bowled in the course of four opening maidens.
Hacking (11) showed his normal aggression before he too was bowled, playing
back unwisely at Pethybridge. The Green owed much to Brian Hancock, who had
clearly benefited from last week’s innings and was now slowly recovering his
form. Rob Lewis, with more runs under his belt this year, helped him in a
useful stand of 80 at four per over. Martley tried a full range of medium
pace, with some swing from Rudd and van Tongeren to complement a long steady
spell from Pethybridge, but the Green were having the best of the pitch and
their veterans were now well set. The trouble was that they were too well
set, often refusing or not seeking the extra run or the easy single. So the
halfway drinks arrived with just over 100 needed. Freeman soon joined Hancock when Lewis
(23), facing the variable but threatening van Tongeren, prodded forward and across
and departed lbw. Unfortunately for the Green and the spectators, the ball
was softer now and occasionally staying low. With the batsmen mis-timing
their shots and unable to dominate, and the bowling too loose to apply
pressure, the match dawdled for half an hour. At first sight the Green still
seemed comfortable needing 50 with ten overs left, but seasoned observers
knew the warning signs and were not disappointed. First Hancock, who had played solidly
for 79 and offered only one real chance, prodded an easy catch back to Smith.
Freeman was also caught, for a scratchy but important 26. The classic
situation of two fresh batsmen, a newly confident fielding side, and a
run-rate that suddenly seemed more challenging, sent waves of doubt through
the Green support. Hill started almost too positively as he skied van
Tongeren just over the cover fielders, and Middleton followed suit but edged
high to deep gully. 30-odd were still needed, and Martley knew they had a
chance. The match shifted decisively when Smith,
fielding a fierce drive from Hill, split the webbing of his hand and had to
be replaced mid-over by Rudd. Massey was already off the field with a muscle
strain, so Martley could no longer cover the gaps despite excellent outfield
work from Baker. Hill continued to score freely and Brown, well aware of the
limited batting to come, took a brave albeit legside approach and scooped a
half-volley square for four. Finally Hill, more correct than his
skipper but still favouring leg, crashed three fours off Rudd to win the game
with two overs in hand. So the satisfied crowd saw a minor Green collapse and
a breathless finish in the last half hour. Martley 199-6 (45 overs; K Baker 55; S Spencer 2-45, S Fletcher
2-59) Barnards Green 203-6 (43 overs; B Hancock 79, C Hill 35 no) Barnards Green won by 6
wickets Thanks to the match sponsors
Inline Engineering. |
Barnards Green 3rd XI vs Kidderminster Victoria On Saturday Kidderminster Victoria
visited the Newlands ground and the Green were not too disappointed to have
lost the toss and been requested to field. Unfortunately, the ball seemed
destined not to go to hand and several boundries were found over the top of
the slip/gully area. However, Graham Spiers and Rich Brown soon
made breakthroughs and with Dave Price pouching three catches in the
outfield, the last one being a great diving/tumbling effort wickets fell at
regular intervals. Jamie Longmore found his correct pace
and was handsomely rewarded with 4-35. With Spiers, Brown and Rob Tyler
getting 2 wickets each and young Phil Harris bowling a very tidy spell of 5
overs for 16, the home side settled down to an excellent tea knowing they had
to chase only 133. The top order batsmen seemed intent on
finishing the game early and the Green were soon looking shaky at 30-3 . Skipper Cyril Dean with 38 and Richard
Birch soon calmed some of the nerves and took the total up to 78. There then followed a collapse
reminiscent of an old England team as the score plummeted to 88-8. With the Captain looking on nervously
from the pavilion, the experience of Spiers and Brown, showed through. With Brown (12*) finding the gaps for
singles, Spiers (27*) hit regular boundries including a straight six which
carried the fielder into the ajoining hedgerow , the Green were home with
nearly 20 overs but only 2 wickets to spare. A superb 24 points puts us further up
the table and we now look forward to pitting ourselves against leaders
Droitwich Spa next week. Our thanks to the match day sponsors
Thomas Vale Construction, the ground team and the tea ladies for yet again an
excellant performance. Cutnall Green vs Barnards Green Singles Barnards Green made the journey to
table topping Cutnall Green and were soundly beaten by 94 runs and had to endure
another Fletcher century in the process. Things could have been so different
had Spencer’s early LBW shout against Fletcher had been answered in the
affirmative. Fletcher then plundered the bowling for 106 but he was not in
his normal free flowing style astute field placing and rotation of the
bowlers kept the run rate at manageable proportions. Cutnall cruised to 190
for the loss of two wickets but the introduction of Simon Clarke brought
about a clatter of wickets including that of Fletcher. Clarke 3 for 33 and
Metcalfe 2 for 34 ensured that the singles only had to chase 224 for victory. The singles never gave themselves a
chance with the loss of early wickets and found themselves at 40 for 5 with
Evans snaring four wickets all caught behind. They rallied briefly with the
experienced pairing of Wheeler and Spencer, the pair added 50 run with
typical hard hitting but the partnership was all too brief to threaten the
total and the singles subsided to 129 all out. Evans 5 for 53 was destroyer
in chief. Martley
vs Barnards Green 1st XI On Saturday Barnards Green 1st XI made the scenic journey to
Martley in what proved to be a battle of David and Goliath.With Muggy
Conditions and a pitch resembling that of a chocolate slab skipper Chris
smedley Strode back to the dressing room with good news.Martley were asked to
make first use of the wicket and started with caution but Left Armer Chris
Harrison soon had his first victim with a full toss on middle stump being
played across the line, the pitch this time could not be at fault.The green
started their usual fashion of applying pressure from the start but put 3
half chance catches down, J Clarke P Drinkwater and T Williams all fell
victims of what 'could have' been catches of the season, At the other end T
Williams plugged away with his usual grit and determination but with no real
luck whilst the Martley batsmen hung around in spurts, no one really
contributed to the score.Bowling changes were made with Clive Churchill
brought on at the one end offering his usual sprightly pace which in return
brought him figures of 4- 23 and later the valued man of the match award and
Leg Spinner Jez Clarke at the other end offering a new aspect to the game who
also got little reward for a varied spell of bounce and turn. Churchill then
played a part in a run out which saw Martley look right in to the tail for
respite but only encourage skipper Smedley to bring opener Chris Harrison
back on (4-23) to mop up the not so slightly wagging Martley tail. Martley
closed their innings on 133 which included over 30 extras something the Green
will hope to be improving on this week. In return K Golder and J Clarke Confidently Set about knocking
the total off, and successfully saw the opening bowlers come and go before J
Clarke (9) again fell to a half volley which he couldn't resist trying to hit
over the top, Kiwi Jono Boult came in and the pair worked the ball around
impressively, a good rotation of bowlers from the martley skipper was all he
could offer, but when golder fell in the 27th over for a quality 68 the game was
all but over T Clarke (0*) offered support whilst Boult continued to make hay
hitting the winning runs (38*) taking the green safely home just two wickets
down for their 4th win on the trot thus keeping there 9 point advantage over
Harbourne at the top of the league. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|