Barnards Green cricket Club Match
Reports.
12th June 2004 Ending in a winning
dr Barnards Green Singles v aw for Barnard Barnards Green Singles v Brintons
s Green |
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Lye vs Barnards Green 2nd 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 1st 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 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 3rd’s On Saturday 12th 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. |
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