Hertford 4s Beat Preston at Balls Park

Preston’s captain inserted Hertford on yet another green top, he must have had second thoughts as again Hertford’s openers, Lewis Harris and Rob Wood saw off the new ball with a combination of defending the good balls and picking off the full tosses. At half-way drinks Hertford’s openers had an unbeaten stand of over 100. Batting was still not easy on an uncovered damp wicket but gradually they both squeezed the accelerator as the field began to spread. Eventually Rob was out for 74 in a stand of 180. With less than 15 overs left the cavalry was sent in: Rich Eaton and James Davis. Rich selflessly teed off first ball and was caught on the longest boundary of the pitch which only resulted in James Davis taking a few overs to get going before he accelerated the innings including a “lost ball” six into the trees.

The innings ended on 224, a great effort after being inserted. Lewis Harris showed composure beyond his years in knowing what to attack and what to defend, and nearly carried hit bat. He was out in the last over for 98, a superb knock in difficult conditions.

In reply Flynn Ruskin and George Gardener produced one the best opening spells I have seen in the 4s. They took 3 wickets between them while bowling with considerable gusto, pace and accuracy. With Preston looking to regroup the squeeze was on. First change of Chris Thomson and Dave Benham combined with the usual excellence of gloveman Matt Bartlam standing up, which kept the Preston batsman pinned. They gave Preston nothing to hit for 16 overs and waited for the batsmen to make the mistake as the pressure gradually climbed. At drinks the run rate had already reached 7 per over. If Preston were looking for relief in Hertford’s final bowler they were to be disappointed as Alex Bartlam again continued the Hertford strategy of straight and full, his final figures: a stingy 14 runs off 8 overs. At the other end the opening bowlers returned and the game was effectively over as Preston played for a few batting points.

No boundaries came from a short ball, in fact it is hard to remember much short stuff, and the fielding was equally focused and sharp. Preston found it difficult to pierce the ring and when they did the boundary scouts sent the ball back over the stumps to such effect that Preston gave up on trying to take two as a boundary direct hit and a run out from Flynn Ruskin and George Gardener respectively curtailed any further ambitions in that respect. This all resulted in Preston’s innings closing on 143 in the 44th over.

The best way is end this report is with an opposition quote “at this level you usually get one bad ball an over… you gave us nothing”.

Author: Nick Horton