Long Day in the Field for 3rds

Match scorecard

Getting revenge against my rival Wakehurst team from last year didn't exactly go to plan. Wanting to bowl first was always a risky decision - although it did get taken out of our hands when we lost the toss anyway - and the obvious choice of batting first was a clear winner on the day.

The same opening batsmen from last year came to the crease and put on 74 for the first wicket before Mick dismissed them both in the 13th over, one caught by Ben on the boundary and the other caught by myself at mid off. Each batsman swung the bat and on a dry field where anything through the in field was four we struggled to stay in the game. Bowling was especially tough, I thought my radar was at about 90% yet those few that I did drop short practically all went to the fence. I didn't get a chance against any lower batsmen and ended up with 0/48 off 9. Mick and Freddy consistently took lower order wickets but there was just too many runs leaked, particularly for the last wicket (30). Freddy ended up with 4, the same with Mick, with Dee and Brown getting the other 2. Wakehurst were all out for 279 off only 49 overs.

I went out to umpire the first 10 overs and it was an unexpectedly pleasant experience. The team is 50% different to last year and it seemed only a couple of the big mouths remained. After talking to a few of their players they seemed like a pretty nice bunch.

Our chase started off woefully. Cammo hit a typical couple of cut shots for 4 and then was bowled for 11. Steve scratched out a single before he was also bowled. 2/13 was a very worrying score. However, Ben came to the crease with Freddy and they steadied the ship, getting away with a couple of edges, to take us to 2/41 off 15 overs when bad light stopped play.

Next week we will require a further 239 for victory with 8 wickets in hand and 60 overs to spare. It looks a very hard task, but we do have some class to come and a very capable tail. One big knock from someone could be all we need to come close.