4th XI Defeat Stevenage by Convincing Margin

Several of the players parked at the 1st team ground and were salivating at the chance to play on the main ground however they were disappointed as they were pointed in the direction of the second pitch in the park.

The wicket looked flat and on a hot afternoon, skipper Horton elected to bat. Hertford started well with Rob Wood continuing his fine form from the previous week and Steve Page rolling back the years with some trademark drives. Page soon fell lbw though which brought the skipper to the wicket and he and Rob made good progress before Horton was caught. After a first ball duck the previous week (caught on the boundary) Richard Eaton came in determined to be a little more circumspect however second ball lost his off stump whilst for once playing a forward defensive shot!

James Davis came in and looked assured from the off, hitting the ball all round the wicket. Rob Wood eventually fell for an excellent 50 which brought the returning Adam Marnoch to the crease. Marnoch and Davis put on a show for the characters of Stevenage who walked round the pitch enjoying a number of drinks whilst doing so! Davis eventually fell for an excellent 110 and Marnoch finished on 78no. This left Hertford finishing on an imposing 293-7.

Youngsters Ahl and Gardner started well with the ball, bowling tightly and Ahl was rewarded by a smart catch by Davis at slip (a rare catch in the slips in the 4th XI!) All of the bowlers bowed steadily and wickets started to fall but it was a flat track and if a batsman wanted to stay in it was hard to extract them! Ravi bowled a couple of beauties to claim 2 wickets but the Stevenage batsmen had decided to ‘shut up shop’ and the game sadly petered out with the last few overs slow going in the heat with the result inevitable. A couple of pitch invaders kept things interesting with one offering to have a bowl as he was a good bowler and another group deciding to have a reggae party on top of a metal container!

Another good performance from the 4ths, man of the match would go to James Davis for his excellent 100 and a slip catch.

Author: Richard Eaton