Barnards Green cricket Club Match Reports.

^12thJune 2004 Ending in a winning dr Barnards Green Singles v aw for Barnard Barnards Green Singles v Brintons s Green

Lye vs Barnards Green 2^nd The Green were twice in deep trouble, and fought hard through another hot afternoon to claim the winning draw. They lost the toss and, after a deceptively brisk start by Brian Hancock and Jon Lewis on a lively track, lost four wickets for 12 runs. Langford’s inswing, though not fully controlled, demolished the top order. Chris Hill (30) and Keith Middleton slowly turned the match with a dogged, crucial partnership of 80. Once he was well set, Middleton was not amused by some eccentric calls for singles, preferring to attack the cover ropes with choice drives. He continued to a fine 66no with useful late help from skipper Dick Brown (16) and Rich Birch (18no). 195 still looked well short of safety as the experienced Lye batsmen, tucking into long hops from a young Green attack, posted 53-1 after ten overs. Sidaway and Chance were entrenched and scoring steadily. Worse, Sam Spencer was unsettled bowling into the wind. Dick Brown, forced to rethink his tactics, found a highly original solution. Hill’s stamina in a 20-over spell was not a surprise. First Mantom, then Clifford (well caught by a diving Birch), and finally Beynon found that they could take no liberties. His catch off a blazing drive by Bridgewater was a startling bonus. But the main shock for Lye was that, after Spencer had switched ends, removing Chance (27) but still leaking six runs per over, Rob Lewis had seized the ball to dramatic effect. With Bridgewater out to a shot that seemed a certain boundary, Stanaway was quickly stumped. Then Sidaway (54), who could have been caught or stumped but had dragged Lye near the winning post, played on to a less than threatening Lewis delivery. Lye blocked for the draw in the last five overs. Lewis (3-32) gave way to Hooper, who bowled Homer with a delicate slower ball, but Langford and Abid rode their luck. The Green showed grit in a crisis and deservedly claimed most of the points. Barnards Green 195-7 (45 overs; K Middleton 66no, C Hill 30; M Langford 3-43) Lye 165-9 (45 overs; R Sidaway 54; R Lewis 3-32, C Hill 3-37) Winning draw for Barnards Green Barnards Green 1^st XI vs Lye. After enjoying mid week activities in Nottingham including 44 members and friends of Barnards Green enjoying the first day of the  Trent Bridge test match to celebrate the imminent marriage of 1st team member Paul Drinkwater. Barnards Green 1st Eleven entertained Lye in this Worcester Division 3 top of the table clash. Skipper Chris Smedley won the toss for the home side for the 5th consecutive week and reluctantly asked the visitors to bat first on a dry flat North End Lane track. Lye started steadily against the greens reliable opening attack of Williams and Harrison but with no early breakthrough or pace evident in the wicket Smedley quickly turned to spin. Jez Clarke (0-23), Jono Boult (5-82) & Tim Clarke (3-62) shared the work load, bowling with varying degrees of accuracy (the lye innings contained 22, 4's and 6, 6's) But with some good tight fielding Lye were restricted to 221 -8, probably 30 more than could have been but 30 less than should have been! istiaq (48) ells (44) and I.Tonks (doing just that for 45!) were Lyes main contributors. In reply Green quickly lost Jez Clarke shouldering Arms to a straight one which he later reluctantly expected may probably have been a misjudgement! Jono Boult on the back of a superb 69 managed 23 and Paul drinkwater rebuilt the innings until Boult, T Clarke (11) and Smedley unluckily ran out for the second time this season backing up at the bowlers end, all departed. With the game finely balanced veteran Rob Richards (60) strode to the wicket and with drinkwater flayed the Lye bowlers to all parts ! County Mouse Liam Paddock (7*) Hit the winning runs only after Paul Drinkwater had completed a superb Maiden First team ton finishing on 101 not out, the perfect end to a week he is sure to remember.

Barnards Green Singles vs Highley Barnards Green ‘singles’ slipped to second successive defeat as high flying Highley made short work of a competitive 245 for victory. The singles won the toss and elected to bat. Some very tight early overs delayed the Leech onslaught but by the eighth over he was into his stride smacking the ball to all parts. Curtis started to puncture the inner ring and the singles passed 50 in the eleventh over before Curtis (21) spooned a return catch. Leech quickly followed for 39. Freeman (14) and White (12) got in and got out and with Beavan’s third first baller in a row the singles were perilously placed at 95 for 3 as N Humphries four wickets had the singles on the defensive. Andy Wheeler now played a magnificent innings that belied his age. Ever watchful in defence he was selective in his shots. He and Metcalfe rebuilt the innings. The return of the opening bowlers was the signal for the onslaught. Both players found the adjoining fields as the run rate spiraled upwards. With shots all round the wicket Wheeler reached his fifty and then he let fly with a series of magnificent blows. Metcalfe joined in the fun until pulling up lame when called through for a quick single. Beavan acted as runner, allowing him more time in the middle, and Metcalfe went arial. He perished in the deep for an excellent 49 after the pair had added 133 runs, 100 coming off the previous 9 overs. The next three ball saw Wheeler reach his hundred with two sixes and a four the next ball saw him bowled but the singles had reached a respectable 244 for 7. The Highley reply was dented by two early strikes from Bell and Brookes but this brought in Stuart Humphries who proceeded to thrash the ball to all parts. Freeman tried a variety of bowlers in effort to stem the flow but to no avail. Humphries found the gaps as the ball just wouldn’t go to hand or players opted for the save rather than the catch. Wallford was giving good support as the pair added 160 runs in twenty overs. Leech finally brought about the breakthrough by dismissing Wallford for 42. Virtually every ball to Humphries was being dispatched to nearby fields, a run out of captain Wall (21) only delayed the inevitable as Humphries smashed his way to 156 not out and his side victorious by 6 wickets and 13 overs to spare. Droitwich vs Barnards Green 3^rd’s On Saturday 12^th June, Barnards Green 3rds made the short trip to Droitwich Spa to pit themselves against the high-flyers. Having won the toss and electing to field, the Green soon made inroads with Robbie Tyler bowling one of the openers. There then followed a series of incidents with batsmen not walking after getting blatant edges. The fielding team tried hard to stick to the task and was rewarded with regular wickets, but the score was running away with the ground fielding proving increasingly treacherous in the difficult conditions. With ten overs to go and the Droitwich batsmen finding the short boundaries regularly, it looked like a score of 300 plus was on the cards. But Tyler and Jamie Longmore both bowled superbly at the end to limit the home side to 252. A sound base was required for the reply and was supplied by Lee Dyment (15) and Nick Rogers before Dyment fell with score on 60 off 10 overs. Phil Harris then supported Rogers well and his innings of 17 included a perfectly timed pull over deep square for six. At the halfway stage the Green had exactly half the runs but young Nick Rogers had gone for a bludgeoning 70 to keep up his good form. Mark Perkins nudged the ball around the keep the scoreboard ticking over but still 7 runs an over were required. Bob Rogers entered the frame and showed us where Nick gets his aggressive batting from as he hit his way to 28. With 45 still wanted from the last 5 overs it was anxious times for the Green but Dave Price (30*) showed nerves of steel and with Perkins (48*) found the gaps brilliantly to see the Green home with one ball and 4 wickets to spare. The thirds, ( providing Old Hill didn’t get 24 points against Nomads ), now join the Barnards Green firsts in leading their relative divisions but still with a long way to go.