Bruton vs Horningsham

6 June 2010

This was a pretty disappointing result from our point of view, but a good tough game against a decent team on one of the best looked after fields we will play on this year.

Bruton were reformed this year after a couple of years break. But any hope they would be a walk over, as we were in our first couple of seasons, did not last long and clearly most of them can play a bit.

For the first time this year we batted first, an obvious decision on a good pitch, but perhaps we would have been better chasing. The ball did not come on to Tony and David in the way they like at the start of their innings and runs came slowly. Painfully so; after 8 or 9 overs the score was 14. A change of bowling helped, as the new bowlers seemed to generate more pace and bounce and runs began to flow more easily. The score had reached 50 by the 18th over when David was bowled.

Unfortunately while the openers were building that platform, the sight of them carefully & repeatedly tapping straight balls back to mid off had done disastrous things to the mental state of the rest of the team waiting their turn to bat. Almost no one played himself in; everyone seemed in a hurry, or distracted, and one after another we got out trying to push up the run rate, none more headlessly than me. Max looked the most in control, but even he succumbed to being caught and bowled off a full toss. In the end we did not even last out our 40 overs, and our total of 115 was clearly inadequate.

We had a really good go at defending it, though, and even reduced Bruton to 12 for 3, all wickets to Callum. That included an utterly unbelievable left handed slip catch by Tony Reeves, voted even better than his right handed one at gulley at Hazelbury Bryan last year. But that was as good as it got. Bruton's captain followed up his 5 wicket haul with 81 not out, leading his team to a comprehensive and well deserved victory.

NB Bill won the toss in this game, in Angus's absence.