Barnards Green cricket Club Match Reports.

^5thJune 2004 Ending in a winning dr Barnards Green Singles v aw for Barnard Barnards Green Singles v Brintons s Green

Barnards Green 2^nd 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 3^rd 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 1^st 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.