The Catch, the Fly, the Skip, and his Rediscover

The Catch: Stu McIntyre won the toss and did not hesitate to ask Hoddesdon to have a bat. 22 dot balls followed, the oppo skipper then clattered one through extra cover in an attempt to up the tempo only to find the left hand of Andre Rideout. Absolute "worldy" (at this level), however upon arrival back in Hertford we found out it was at least only the 4th best one handed catch of the day. (see 3s report)

Stu (2 for 13), Shiva (first bowl for 8 months) and Andre (1 for 20) restricted Hoddesdon to 48 for 3 off 20 overs. After the break to run rate upped somewhat but, Arun Pappu, Jake Stevens, George Rideout and Ed Pratt continued to take wickets regularly and had Hoddesdon 110 for 8. However late hitting (straight) from their no.8 and 10 left Hoddesdon with 146 off their 40 overs and Hertford relieved they were not higher up their batting order.

The Fly: Hertford’s reply started well with Dave Spring and Steve Page and at 57-0 Hertford to have set a good platform, however a fly interrupted Steve Page’s concentration and at just the wrong moment he lost his off stump while trying to flick the offender away. This triggered a collapse that resulted in Hertford being bowled out for 88. We could blame the pitch, shot selection or good bowling but we all knew the real culprit was that fly.

The Skip and his Rediscover: A mention to Stu Mac who in his first game as skip bowled 8 overs straight (this might be a first for him) and rediscovered the gloves as he made full use of the available skill sets to switch George Rideout from keeper to bowling following an injury to Shiva. Bowling, keeping and skippering: a top effort from our new skip!

We look forward to fly-free home game against Hamel Hempstead next week.

Author: Nick Horton