Hazelbury Bryan vs Horningsham

1 May 2011
TCL

Hopes were high for the first league game of the 2011 campaign after a good few net sessions and a friendly victory the week before against Chilmark CC.

A sunny May Day drive through the Wiltshire & Dorset countryside took us to Hazelbury Bryan. Arriving at the ground our hopes were raised a little more at the sight of the opposition already enjoying pints of the local cider from The Antelope pub that overlooks the ground. In retrospect, this may have been a better strategy for us as a team instead of carbo loading, stretches and isotonic drinks.

The Hazelbury Bryan ground is a pastoral setting, a fine place to be on a sunny spring day. There is a slope coming straight down the track which is at such a gradient that I’m sure the local children sledge down it on snowy days in mid winter. All the potential bowlers were pondering which end to choose while James took the honour of the toss in the middle. Keeping the tradition of losing the toss in Angus’s absence, James came back from the middle with the news that we would be fielding first, which happily is the decision that he had been instructed to make if he had won the toss.

So, with a swagger Horningsham CC took the field brimming with confidence. Bill took the first over and with 5 dot balls and a lucky boundary, things looked as good as we thought. Callum took the first over from the other end, and with his first ball getting an edge, giving Tony a difficult chance at first slip, again we had high hopes.......so after 21 overs Hazelbury Bryan were 147 without loss, with openers Howes and Bettle playing confident shots all around the ground. Will Howes especially was brutal with any loose delivery.

A breakthrough finally came after the drinks break when Bettle edged James and was caught behind. But it was only with the introduction of Peter Stevens that we began to look like stemming the runs. Peter (General Manager of The Bath Arms) making his league debut for Horningsham must have wondered what he had let himself in for, but with a steely determination, the run up of a young Angus Fraser and the pace of an middle aged Derek Pringle he set about his task. 2 overs from Peter produced just 4 runs, and the pressure told in his 3rd over as Will Howes on 90 hit a drive in the air to Sam Lock, who always makes those catches stick. A tremendous knock from Will, in which he literally hit the leather off the ball, which had to be changed between innings.

After that solid foundation, the other batsmen came in and were confident in playing shots. We took 4 more wickets and they had posted a solid total of 236 for 6 from their 40 overs. Peter taking two more wickets giving him an impressive start to his Horningsham career. James took just the one, Callum took a well deserved wicket and Christie took the last wicket thanks to a catch at deep extra cover from a now limping Colin.

Tea was a hearty feast and very good, even after the initial disappointment of a few of our players who thought that the smell of steak, sausages and burgers coming from the BBQ was going to be ours.

So to the Horningsham reply. Chasing 237 was going to be a big ask. The opening partnership was David O’Connor and Paul Grugeon. Sadly due to some very tight bowling in the first 10 overs we were struggling on 23 without loss. The mountain looked even higher. David was then a victim of slight hesitation calling for a second run and was given run out by Peter at square leg. Peter having only the week before having given David out LBW was now I’m sure on the professor’s list.

Paul Grugeon went on to make a stubborn 23 before being bowled. This brought Tony and James to the middle, still with a big ask of getting to the target required. Tony was still suffering with back pain and was only going to run two if the ball had been lost down a rabbit warren, but played some great shots on the way to a very good 42. James fell after an exciting knock that included four 4’s and a 6 which resulted in a lost ball. He then fell to a catch from a thick edge steepling to square leg. Some onlookers and James himself were convinced that the ball was above waist height and should have been a no ball. Bill, the on field umpire was adamant that this was not the case and ‘it was more around the cod piece area than above the waist’.

Callum and Peter came and went quite quickly. Colin stayed out there with a 22 not out that was hardly filled with what could be described as shots of finesse. [The author is being far too modest here. His batting is like his writing - fluent and frequently humorous]. He was joined in the middle by Christie, Sam and finally Finn who all scored but the run chase was already out of reach. Horningsham made it to a total of 167 for 8 off the 40 overs falling well short of the total required. We did manage to scrape past the 160 mark which gave us some batting points at least.

So, lessons learned and we held our hand up to a great opening partnership and a solid bowling display that gave Hazelbury the win. That mixed with some sloppy fielding from us and what James still would at 8.00pm describe as a myopic umpiring decision.

Onwards and upwards then to our next match, a friendly fixture away at Hinton Charterhouse. Angus will have returned from what he claimed was a trip to Cornwall with friends but some think it slightly co-incidental that he ‘had no signal to call’ all weekend and that a certain Osama Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan. We will be asking for proof and expecting his usual ‘dont ask dont tell’ reply while wearing an ‘I LOVE LAHORE’ tee shirt.

Speak soon friends, keep the faith!

CM