Stunning Run Chase for 4s Against Hoddesdon

The pitch lived up to its appearance with enough variable bounce just to keep batsman on the toes but otherwise a bowler's graveyard with an “ice rink” outfield. The whole team stuck to their task admirably with young Jack the pick of the bowlers his medium pace and metronome accuracy sedating the Hoddesdon batsmen into a period of relative inactivity.

Skip Stu bowled his 8 overs straight (great effort) otherwise short sharp bursts of bowling was the order of the day, rotation was not restricted to bowling, in a 4s first, we circulated through 3 keepers. The youngsters: Freddie Cordani, Benji Celano and Jack Buse and the more seasoned campaigners of Stu Mac, Pete Amos, James Davis and George Rideout and all dug deep in the heat and were well backed up in the field.

Recognition to the youngsters who found themselves experiencing some of the tougher realities of senior cricket on Saturday. Chasing leather for 260 runs (about par given the conditions) and searching for many balls in the undergrowth meant it took much longer than normal to bowl our 40 overs so after a quick turnaround and we were off again.

Steve Page and Nick Horton put on 100 for the first wicket in 15 overs, including a very rare Horton 6 (a desperate act of self-preservation over the short boundary), Horton then played three shots at one ball and ultimately selected the wrong one for 44. James Davis joined Page in knocking of the lion’s share of the runs both scoring 90+, including Davis showing Horton what a proper 6 looks like, the ball hitting the oak tree ¾ of the way up and rebounding into the copse undergrowth (continuing the theme of the first innings). With shadows lengthening Page fell agonisingly just shy of his century and it was left to Oran Riddle and Davis to hit the winning runs. Top focus and energy from both Davis and Page to hit 90+ second innings chasing 260.

A great team effort in restricting opposition to 260 in the midday sun and then still having the energy to chase down the total with 5 overs to spare. The 4s season has begun.

Written by Nick Horton