After several weeks on the road, we welcomed Hadlow 2s to The Hollies.
Despite several regulars being missing, we still had a good side, with several others left on the metaphorical bench.
All hands were needed to the pump but the pitch was got ready for a 1pm start.
Hadlow won the toss and chose to bowl.
Nigel Baker and Harry Norton opened for us. The opposition attack was decidedly decent and there were very few bad balls.
Norton used his feet well and started driving well. One fierce drive was put down by the oppo skipper, and then another.
Baker was perhaps lucky to survive one he appeared to edge behind, with an attempted square cut.
The pair progressed to 35 before Norton lost his patience and swung and missed. Bowled for 18
Robbie Fowle was in at 3. After showing early promise in his first game for the club he had disappeared for several weeks. Perhaps something to do with his career marketing porn shops (Editor’s note: that should be pawn shops, surely?). His technique is a joy to behold. Good footwork combined with a correct left elbow. An early back foot straight drive was lovely but surpassed by one he then sent to the boundary just in front of square.
Baker edged a drive to the keeper and didn’t escape the umpire’s finger this time. Gone for 14
Olly Patton looked good but bottom edged one that kept unpleasantly low. Bowled unluckily for 5
Leo Petty was sent in at number 5. His concentration is much better than it used to be.
It was tough scoring runs. At drinks we looked on for a paltry score.
The change bowlers were pretty decent too. One did for Leo Petty with two great balls. The first seamed away from him and the next swung back into his pads. Lbw for 3.
Guttsy skied one for 2. And then had a shameful strop in the dressing room. It seems he had overdone it the day before and gone to bed without his Ovaltine. Fortunately after a quick cuddle with his teddy bear he recovered his demeanour.
Salter looked in fine nick and ran well with Fowle. He scored a brisk 14 before being bowled. Keagan sadly didn’t trouble the scorers. Jack Vening appears to have morphed into a decent batsman. He played some lovely shots and ran well. The pair put on a crucial 52 before Jack was bowled for 19. Skinner was in at the death and did exactly the opposite of what was required. He missed several leg glances that should have been despatched. But he did run a few at least. He finished on 2*. Fowle was still there, unbeaten on an excellent 61. Being a good Norfolk lad he celebrated with a tea of roast turnips and munched on some straw for dessert.
We had scored 170. A decent total but we needed to be accurate and bowl well.
Slevin was surely the man for the job. It seemed not, as he started down the slope with a shocking over that lasted 10 deliveries, one of which was hit for 4.
Vening opened up the hill. He was straighter but managed a couple of no balls.
Fortunately, after receiving a deserved good kicking from their team mates, the pair suddenly started bowling really well.
Slevin’s next 8 overs only went for 5 runs.
We were fielding pretty well and almost got a great run out after a monster throw from the boundary. Slevin finally got the wicket he deserved courtesy of a catch behind the stumps by Petty. 9-5-13-1
Vening only went for 22 from his 9 excellent overs and was unlucky not to get a wicket
The first wicket was followed by two more, without any runs being added. Salter was bowling down the slope, after beating Luke at Rock Paper Scissors during tea. He clean bowled the opener.
Norton run out the other batsman and suddenly they were 45 for 3.
Keagan later clean bowled their dangerous number 4 and Hadlow seemed to be struggling at a slow 84 for 4.
The next pair though had different ideas and batted really well.
They were helped marginally by some odd umpiring of wides, with Hadlow deciding to ignore the leg side wide marker but use the line on the offside.
Keagan, 4-0-30-1, was bowling sharply but a little short at times. He was replaced by Olly Patton. When Olly flights one up outside the off, he is a glorious bowler but he bowled too many down the leg side.
By now the slightly immobile Petty had been replaced by the very immobile Skinner, who did drop an edge standing up to Patton.
Salter’s excellent 6 overs had got him 1 for 25. He was replaced by Guttsy who bowled 2 overs for 10.
Fowle, rested after his mammoth innings, bowled 3 overs at the death for 18 runs, with some decent off spin.
It wasn’t quite our day in the field. Slevin dropped a skier. Baker couldn’t hold onto a tough diving chance. Other potential opportunities didn’t quite reach the fielders.
With one run to win from the final over, the field was brought in and the ball somehow looped over the vertically unchallenged Norton.
We lost by 6 wickets but that bare statistic doesn’t do justice to an exciting game and pretty decent performance.
A few jars were shared with the opposition before several of us headed down to The Green for more beers with the Club President to celebrate his 50th