Scorecard

Hertingfordbury CC 2nd XI v Berkhamsted III on Sat 22 Aug 2009 at 1.00
Match was Drawn

Match report KEANE IS MUSTARD (by King Louis)
If you were going to pick a match to recover from the horrors of last week you probably wouldn't choose to play the joint table toppers pushing for the title. But we welcomed back Prezzo, Simon and Matt "Bondy"Keane in his belated debut.
Berko had won most of their matches chasing so it was no surprise when having won the toss they inserted us.
Bondy & Mells got off to a lively start against young seamer Beard and left arm spinner Sudbery who was to bowl the entire innings. Loose balls were dispatched and even good ones were skilfully worked into gaps. Mells was eventually bowled by Sudbery at 27 and Simon joined Matt to add 50 during the next 15 overs. After his 6 overs Beard was replaced by another left arm tweaker Gough, and that was to be the extent of Berko's attack for the afternoon. Although not completely cutting loose we stroked the ball around with ease and a strangely quiet opposition seemed to be losing spirit that their two best (only?) bowlers were being safely negotiated.
Simon uncharacteristically danced down the track to hit Sudbery over his head for 4 and as we discussed the rarity of this shot, he was caught dabbing the next ball down to slip.
Alex hasn't had a lot of crease time of late so was disappointed to drive a gentle catch to extra cover with only 12 added. Marcus went next after calling an ill-advised second run to a seemingly slow-moving-but-perfectly-capable-of-a-decent-throw fielder.
At 98-4 I joined Bondy to add 24 before edging Sudbery behind for his 4th wicket.
Beaker in his last game of the season provided the support Matt needed and together they started nibbling into the first 4 bonus points. The remaining points were swallowed whole as the score shot from 134 in the 40th over to 200 in the 47th. Bondy batted the entire innings, unbeaten on a magnificent 125 (as opposed to his usual dull, scratchy 125s).
The next magnificence was courtesy of Jackie Carter's tea and we took the field confident of picking up some extra points.
With nothing to show so far for their efforts, a strong batting lineup (well they only had 3 bowlers) Berko would surely now set about the total, maintaining their title challenge. Er, or so we hoped.
Kevin's and Beaker's tight spells saw a cautious advance to 50 in 16 overs. Beaker's picked up only his 4th scalp of the season; surprising given how well he's bowled, but luck hasn't always been with him.
It was certainly with me when my rank full toss was smacked to mid-wicket by no.2 Graham. The Reverend absorbed the pain to hold on to the ball. I bowled no.4 Buckley for our 3rd wicket but Berko were falling behind the game.
Alex decided to take the pace off the ball (what, slower than me?) and introduced Bondy who had their curmudgeonly left hander pulling hard to square. Simon, whose chronic back problems restrict his more extreme movements, fell to his right. As we all looked to the boundary for the ball Simon stood up with it firmly planted in his right hand. The batsman trudged off in even grumpier mood than when he'd emerged.
Our guests seemed to abandon any hope for the game, league title or even batting points and so we plugged away for a few more wickets, trying Tom Harley and S. Kipper in the process. Smurf, victim of the slow track was only introduced at the end when he gained our 15th point, edging Massey to the keeper.
We're mathematically in touch with promotion but it's going to be tough. Berkhamsted having inserted us on a fine batting tracked showed a disappointing lack of ambition, their skipper later heard moaning to Alex that we didn't open the game up enough for them. If the carrot of winning the league and a day out at Wembley isn't enough then good luck to Pirton, who knocked off 209 against us in far more positive style.

Hertingfordbury CC 2nd XI Batting
200 for 5
Player Name RunsCatchesStumpingsRun outs
Andrew Melley Bowled  Sudbery 12
Matt Keane Not Out  125
Simon Harley Caught  Sudbery 29 1
Alex Preston Caught  Sudbery 6
Marcus Smith Run out  3 1
Robert Stone Caught  Sudbery 6
Peter Blencowe Not Out  14
Ross Murphy  
James Pearcey  
Thomas Harley  
Kevin Ives  

Berkhamsted III Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Berkhamsted III Batting
158 for 5
Player name Runs
Burgess Bowled  Ives 7
Graham Caught  Smith b. Stone 28
Buckley Bowled  Stone 29
Puttman Caught  Harley b.Stone 6
Hopkins Not Out  20
Massey Caught  Melley b.Murphy 19
Todd Not Out  32
   
   
   
   

Hertingfordbury CC 2nd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Kevin Ives8.022500.003.12
Peter Blencowe9.0221121.002.33
James Pearcey6.011500.002.50
Robert Stone8.0332216.004.00
Marcus Smith6.001900.003.17
Matt Keane2.00717.003.50
Thomas Harley2.001500.007.50
Alex Preston1.00600.006.00
Ross Murphy1.00313.003.00
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