1st XI vs Old Brentwoods CC, 1st XI

Draw stops the slump

A draw against the bottom placed side saw a run of six successive defeats end for the 1st XI.

Losing the toss on a pitch where both sides wanted to bat first seemed to have a positive effect on us as openers Isaac and Digger prepared themselves for long spells with the ball. Isaac was rewarded in the eighth over by removing two batsmen in successive balls to put them on the back foot at 20-2. Unfortunately, the next 25 overs saw a partnership of 134 runs generated as the batsmen firstly dug in, then plundered runs at six and seven runs an over. It took the start of Big Al's second spell to end their potential dominance, taking two wickets in an over. At 154-4, they started throwing the bat at everything. Big Al gained another two wickets, Digger took two wickets and captain Graham came on and wondered what all the fuss was about taking two bunnies in two overs as they reached 252 all out after 47.5 overs. It was a chanceless innings, though some boundary running and positioning looked dubious.

The opening three batsmen were back on their phones within the first nine overs with the score on 16 and this seemed to put our batsmen literally on the back foot as by the time our sixth wicket had fallen, it was the 25th over and there were only 50 runs on the board! Yes, it had taken us 146 balls to get to 50. However, this seemed to galvanise Jackpot and Horse, who put on a partnership of 93 for the seventh wicket. Jackpot got to his first league 50 of the season (73 balls, 6x4's, 2x6's) before nicking one to the wicketkeeper having scored 78. Griller then joined in and he and Horse put on 58 for the eighth wicket. Horse got to his 50 from 60 balls (9x4's) and Griller hit 37 from 29 balls including two humungous sixes and took the score to 201. If this partnership had lasted another two or three overs, who knows whether an improbable victory might have occurred? It was now time to shut up shop and take the draw as Old Brentwoods were now using bowlers seven and eight to try and force a victory. Horse went on to make an unbeaten 63, his second consecutive half century plus score, which makes up for his limited bowling ability at the moment. Our innings closed with the score on 212-8, having faced only 47 of our allocated 48 overs.

Having had to make a number of changes to this week's team, it comes as no surprise that there is currently no consistency. A fully fit and available squad would not be struggling at the moment, but there is the belief we will get through this difficult period. We travel to Fives & Heronians next week. Who's available and fit?