3’s Finish Season with Loss

This issue is further compounded when you only have 10 men. This was the situation that greeted the 3’s when they lost the toss and the away skipper after some discussion with his side elected to bat first.

Despite the disadvantage the home side started well with Benham and Beardsley bowling some good lines and lengths. Benham in particular was incredibly difficult to hit off his length. After an early breakthrough though attacking shots and a quicker outfield meant runs started to flow, with a drop catch and some poor fielding also helping the batsmen’s cause. Codd rotated his bowlers and even used himself for the first time in 5 games. Alex Bartlam alongside the skipper managed to not let the batsmen get to far away from them and even though 245 is a very good score. Given the circumstances it was an good effort from the Hertford boys to stick at the task and keep going.

With a short boundary one side there was hope that runs were there to be had. However this didn’t turn out the be the case as only Steve page made batting look easy and he was the only one to double figures. A mixture of some very accurate opening bowling and then some very slow but accurate bowling in the middle overs meant Hertford never really got going, or got anywhere near the target. Eventually all out for 66.

However it should be noted that the final standings show the 3’s finishing in 5th position in the league. That represents a marked improvement on the last few years where relegation has threatened the side all year. This wasn’t the case this season, with consistent early season availability and a side who knew their roles, games that were lost last year were instead won this time around. If this side can stick together into next year I’m sure there will be more wins than losses and we should be pushing for promotion. All round a really enjoyable season to be a part of and just nice to be back playing cricket again, long may it continue!

Written by Ian Codd.