Scorecard

Hertingfordbury v Berkhamsted Cricket Club 1st XI on Sat 01 Jun 2013 at 1pm
Berkhamsted Cricket Club Won By 1 wicket

Match report It was another long jaunt over the Chilterns to Hertford where the picturesque Village ground of Hertingfordbury was waiting for us. With a church spire at one end of the ground and rolling hills the other, the game was played in an idyllic setting which reminded the author of a "Darling Buds of May" episode.

The skipper lost the toss but wasn't too disappointed to be asked to field. Obviously he was more upset to get fined for the second game in a row for losing the toss. Luckily my AS in statistics has come to my aid for the second time (the first being at a blackjack table in Vegas but that story is for another time) and I've worked out that I'm likely to owe £5 for the season in fines (20 games x 50p fine x 0.5 probability) just from tossing.

The start once again didn't quite go to plan with the ever dependable Leon going for 10 in his first over. I think I've seen Hayley's Comet more times than Leon's gone for 10 in an over. Leon didn't panic however he just moved fine leg to third man and the runs dried up. The opposition found it hard going on a slow and low wicket but we were also struggled to pick up early wickets. Nevertheless with pressure building and some unorthodox fielding positions including an 8-1 field to Leon (with the 1 being the skipper prowling the leg side with his dodgy Cilla Black) we struck when OD took a great catch at short cover. The other opener soon followed, again to a superb catch this time by Khan standing casually at square leg.

Doug had done his homework on their number 3 batsman who had been "nudging and nerderling" them in the nets. Despite his previous form the burley batsman proceeded to latch onto anything short and dispatch to the boundary. With the sudden change in the batsman's technique the skipper decided to set a trap and pushed Doug deep on the mid-wicket boundary. Leon dropped the ball short, the loose pull shot came and we had done him like a kipper. Although that was what everyone thought as the ball sailed down Doug's throat. Unfortunately it was regurgitated back onto the outfield and cash, mortgages and other valuable items were lost to an Indian bookmaker.

In any case once we got their number three out, the rest of the batting line up took to the crease like a fish on a bicycle. Somehow they managed to reach 179/7 from their 53 overs. Plaudits go to Leon who the skipper had flogged like a war horse, bowling him for 27 consecutive overs recording figures of 4/61. I bet you can't work out where the 5th wicket could have come from.

Tea was superb. Homemade bread sandwiches with cherry cake and rocky road.

Another new opening partnership of Jonny and the returning Joycey led the Berkhamsted assault on 180. After looking solid Jonny nicked off which brought Ollie to the crease. Now I'm not saying the opposition bowling was weak but the opening bowler produced a 10 ball over to start our innings off with. His second over wasn't much better. A change in bowling saw an off-spinner come on and bowled a plethora of full tosses and long hops. To be fair the other opener was bowling steadily but that didn't stop Joycey batting like a god.

Basically we were cursing it. The opposition were down to 10 men after their last minute fill in had to leave for work and 30 points were all but ours........

If only it was that simple. Joycey lost concentration and got bowled. Ollie was undone by a long hop that kept low. Jez and Doug came together and made it look easy as they pushed the score on. With 30 still required, Jez ran Doug out and then got himself out one short of a well earned fifty.

No panic yet as we still had 4 wickets in hand with the captain at the crease ready to steer the ship home. Nerves started to jangle when Khan was stumped and become positively unbearable when Seb was run out. Shah came and went and suddenly we were 9 down and still required 10 runs to win with only 3 overs left as Leon limped out to the middle.

David Lloyd calls it "showing your mettle", in Mexico they say "tener cojones", all I know is the skipper wrestled the win back from the jaws of defeat. The winning runs were greeting by a loud but ultimately relieved roar from the travelling fans.

It was a win and we played some great cricket at times but lapses in concentration almost cost us dearly against a much inferior team. Next week we must stay focused for the entire match.

Man of the match goes to Leon who bowled a superb spell of 27 overs. No doubt he won't be able to walk properly till he is next available in July.

DWS

Hertingfordbury Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 9w 1b 8lb 
for 7 wickets
19
179 (53.0 overs)		     
Neil Darby ct  S Kan b L O'Dair 37 91 5 40.66
William Harley ct  L O'Dair b L Roberts 28 74 3 37.84
Edward Palmer b  L Roberts 51 63 8 80.95
Peter Ryder ct  J O'Neill b L O'Dair 2 13 15.38
Rhys Hobbs ct  S Shah b L Roberts 6 27 22.22
Scott Brambling Not Out  24 32 4 75.00
Alex Preston run out  (J O'Neill) 1 2 50.0
Alex Wyman st  b L Roberts 1 3 33.33
John Bryden Not Out  10 16 1 62.50
Simon Nicholls  
Ross Hamilton  

Berkhamsted Cricket Club 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Leon Roberts27.0861415.252.26
Syed Shah5.012400.004.80
Sebastian Smith12.014500.003.75
Andrew Joyce2.001300.006.50
Luke O'Dair7.0127213.503.86

Berkhamsted Cricket Club 1st XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
4nb 5w 5b 7lb 
for 9 wickets
21
183		        
Andrew Joyce b  S Brambling 36 44 7 81.82
Jonathan Harvey ct  N Darby b S Brambling 2 9 22.22
Ollie Chinneck b  W Harley 23 35 3 65.71
Luke O'Dair b  S Brambling 6 21 28.57 1
Jez O'Neill ct  S Nicholls b S Brambling 49 66 5 74.24 1 1 1
Douglas Foster run out  (R Hobbs) 14 43 1 32.56
David Smith Not Out  25 39 4 64.10
Sajid Kan st  b S Brambling 6 6 1 100 1
Sebastian Smith run out  (S Brambling) 0 5 0
Syed Shah lbw  W Harley 0 2 0 1
Leon Roberts Not Out  1 1 100

Hertingfordbury Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Scott Brambling22.5861512.202.67
Ross Hamilton8.014700.005.88
John Bryden6.003000.005.00
William Harley8.0033216.504.13

  • Umpire :
    Richard Wiggs
  • Scorer :
    Sarah