Hertford 1s vs Bishop's Stortford - Match report

For the second week in succession Hertford were frustrated by the rain in their attempts to elevate themselves out of the bottom 2 in the Premier Division. With rain forecast from mid-afternoon onwards Hertford knew that should the forecast be accurate there would be little they could do to force a result, as they travelled to under-performing Bishop's Stortford.

The best opportunity to pick up the win in the shortened game would have been to bowl first so when they were asked to bat upon losing the toss, Hertford's hopes faded a little. This did not deter the Hertford batsman as they produced one of their most impressive performances of the season, albeit cut short by the rain which eventually did fall.

Openers Will Ray and Ian Harris put on an outstanding opening partnership of 157, displaying great patience and skill, rotating the strike on a consistent basis, and showing the occasional flair to keep the scoreboard moving. This kind of platform would have normally given Hertford scope to push the score on to somewhere in the region of 300, but with the loss of overs due to rain, and the eventual curtailment of their innings, Hertford were restricted to 218-2; Richard Leather scoring a brisk 32 and Will Ray unfortunately ending on 97*, three short of a thoroughly deserved century.

With heavy rain for the rest of the day, the captains and umpires agreed to abandon the game, both sides taking home 10 points, which was insufficient reward for Hertford's efforts with the bat.

by Richard Leather

Scorecard here >