Old Brentwoods v BENFLEET CRICKET CLUB Benfleet 3rd XI on Sat 22 Jul 2006 at 1:30pm
BENFLEET CRICKET CLUB Lost 10 runs
Old Brentwoods v Benfleet IIIs
22nd July 2006
Old Brentwoods : 3004 for 4 dec.
Benfleet : 290 all out OB’s won by 10 runs Benfleet 5 points, OB’s 20 points.
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With Old B’s stranded at the bottom of the table without a win this season, we were not too concerned
that we had a weakish side, even fielding a guest (Ralph Harris, an old mate of mine who hadn’t played for 20 years!).
We were boosted at the 11th hour with Shirley Slatford being made available to us on Friday night and were hopeful of a win.
The sun continues to shine in this long hot summer and winning the toss and batting seemed to be the order
of the day. This was the first setback in what was to be a long list of misfortune.OB’s batted first and it quickly became
clear that a big total was the order of the day.
Sean Fletcher (another 3s debutant) looked reasonably quick but had trouble keeping the ball on off-stump on the cambered
all-weather strip. The OB’s let handed skipper in particular enjoyed clipping the ball down to the fine leg boundary on several occasions. The other bowlers also had problems creating any pressure and young Rob Parmenter has the misfortune to drop
their number 2 no less than 3 times at point !
The writing was on the wall as successions of misfielding plus a further 3 missed catches saw us getting a battering against what was an obviously strongish OB batting line up. Amrish Joshi managed to get two wickets and was our most successful bowler.
But with 200 on the board after 20 odd overs it was almost a case of ‘let em score as many as they want as quickly as
possible’ – containment was both impossible today and at this point, absolutely pointless. OB’s raced through to 300 for 4 off
just 36 overs to leave everyone on the away side battered, bruised and demoralised.
Ok, so its half time, we have dropped catches, misfielded continuously and got a battering – no point dwelling on it – lets see what we can do as a response.
Taz Webster and R.Parmenter opened the innings, and with a few extras from OB’s (also struggling to get the ball on the mat) we made quite good progress. Taz then ran out Rob on a misjudged second run – Yes……no, no no ! but we had put 50 on the board. Luke Slatford came out and we were hoping his class would prove a handful at this level. After getting dropped by the wicketkeeper early on, 'Shirley' made use of his extra life and started to play some lovely shots, particulary off his legs. The OB’s, no doubt happy with a 300 run cushion, were quite chipper in the field and did not look too concerned as we started to rack up the runs.
Taz went for 20 odd, bringing Jacko out to join Shirley. These two settled down and started to pile on some runs, AND quickly ! Jacko scoring a meaty 42 off just 30 balls before holing out. Capt Willis joined Shirley and OB’s were now starting to sniff a hint of danger, and if these two could hang around we may have a chance of bringing off an incredible win. Unfortunately Shirley took on the spinner once too often and holed out to deep square leg for a valuable 70, but you could tell OB’s were relieved to see the back of him.
A look at the scoreboard, and at the 20 over mark, Benfleet unbelievably were in the game, with around 100 to win at around 5 an over but with 5 wickets down. The game was poised.
Shirley’s demise brought Ralph Harris out and the 2nd ball he faced caught him high up on the thigh.
A nice welcome back to cricket after 20 years and it would be interesting to see how he reacted.
He saw the over off and then started to look more comfortable, taking a few singles to keep the board ticking over. If ever a captain’s innings was needed this was it, but unfortunately on 19, a yorker proved Willis’s undoing, unable to jam the bat down (foot in the way) the timbers rattled.
Watching from the sidelines was agony, Amrish Joshi joined Ralph and ‘Reggie’ got straight into it, sweeping the spinner and accumulating nicely. OB’s were now definitely edgy as they sensed losing after scoring 300. Amrish was next to peril, edging up and back the fielder spun, circled, lost direction and then stuck a hand out to take a 1 in 50 catch ! On 270 with 6 overs to go but only a couple of wickets left, it looked like going down to the wire. As the overs ticked by the runs just started to dry a little and in the near gloom, Ralph hung on but only had Ray Barber with him for the last three overs.
Ten runs were needed for victory but to be fair to Ray, in the poor light we really needed Ralph to get the strike. Alas the spinner managed to get one to pop, and the gloved ball looped up for 1st slip to take it comfortably and the game was done. Ralph finished 27 not out and so close to glory.
After an embarrassing stint in the field, we came so close to pulling off a miracle chase, and we were a little downhearted but at least were able to leave with our heads up. A good 40 runs were lost in the field and that’s where the difference lay.
With a game in hand we were hoping to make meaningful progress up the table, and to compound the agony, the two tops sides (Hadleigh and Orsett) both lost !
AAARghh.
Next week : Home to Ongar
M.Willis
24/7/06
BENFLEET CRICKET CLUB Benfleet 3rd XI Batting
290 for 10
Old Brentwoods Bowling
Old Brentwoods Batting
300 for 4
BENFLEET CRICKET CLUB Benfleet 3rd XI Bowling