4th XI Come Unstuck Against Great Gaddesden

Having had a few days of sunshine, for one of the first times this year the wicket actually felt hard and looked good! After a Covid-related last minute drop out, Dave Spring found himself back in the side having been one of the stalwarts of the team in the last few years.

All-rounder Richard Eaton captained the side once again and despite losing the toss was happy to be put into bat. Graeme Riddle and Simon Jones opened up however Simon was run out after a mix up fairly early which brought Springy to the crease. He and Griddle batted cautiously against the tidy Gaddesden slow bowling, struggling to time the ball. Graeme had just started to open up, hitting consecutive fours when he was bowled by a leg side ball which hit his pads and dribbled onto the stumps. This proved to be a critical moment as then Oran Riddle and Rich Eaton both fell cheaply.

Steve Page came in and batted sensibly alongside Springy who continued to grind things out but still Hertford really found themselves struggling with a slow scoring rate against accurate bowling. Page eventually fell for 28 and then Springy for 56 as Hertford lost some late wickets, stumbling to 154-7 - which felt like 50 runs short on a decent wicket.

Hertford knew they would have to take early wickets to try and wrestle the advantage back. Openers Ahl and Gardner again bowled well but without any luck as Gaddesden made a decent start. It wasn’t until the introduction of 3rd change Ravi Francis that we picked up our first wicket as Ravi spun one through the openers defences to bowl him. Wickets did follow for Alex Bartlam (once again the pick of the Hertford bowlers) and George Gardener as well as a late second wicket for Ravi.

Even the introduction of Richard Eaton’s moon balls couldn’t burgle a wicket as Gaddesden passed the Hertford total for the loss of 4 wickets. A well deserved win for the better side on the day. 50 more runs on the day or early wickets and it could have been a very different story as it appeared that Gaddesden didn’t bat deeply.

A particular mention to Oran who kept wicket for us having not done it before and he did an exceptional job, really looking at home and taking a catch – we did miss him in the outfield though!! Next week Hertford travel to Cheshunt Rosedale looking to get back to winning ways...

Author: Richard Eaton