Scorecard

Great Waltham Cricket Club 1st XI v Little Waltham 1st XI on Sat 04 Aug 2012 at 1.30 p m
Great Waltham Cricket Club Won by 101 runs

Match report All good things come to those who wait... and it's been a long time coming.

The 'Indian Sign' that Little Waltham have had over us in previous encounters can now be consigned to the bin... but it was the manner of the victory as much as the win itself that made this one all the sweeter. This was as comprehensive as they come.

Asked to bat first, Atul & Sam (21) got us off to a solid start and after dispatching 'a pie' (Copywrite - Oliver Fitzwater) the Pieman quickly got his revenge as 'Shinpads' chased a wide one from James Clark and an expansive drive only resulted in a snick through to the keeper. 39-1.

Blooma and Atul then set about a sublime 2nd wicket partnership of 127 as they simply dominated an increasingly beleagured Little Waltham bowling attack. Atul departed for 56 as the introduction of Coyle & Ali briefly slowed the run rate but Gary (84) still looked imperious and continued to find the boundary with consumate ease (11 4's & 2 6's). Andy's precious and stylish knock of 27 gave us the impetus in the final few overs to push towards a solid target of 237 with even the Captain getting in on the act with a crunching drive from his 1st ball much to the delight/amazement of pretty much everyone in the ground. Thanks Coach Swan.

A lovely tea - thank you Cathy & Daisy. Half job done.

All season long we've let ourselves down with our fielding/catching. On Saturday, we were almost faultless.

All season long we've been looking for that 'spark' to bring us to life. On Saturday, it only took 2 balls.

At the end of the 1st over, Little Waltham were faltering at 0 for 2 with 'Double Ducks' for Hudson and David Coyle. Hudders went first as Atul flew/fell/dived/launched himself to his right at slip to cling on to a spectacular one-handed effort. That was the spark. Two balls later and Coyley gloved one down leg side to a leaping Blooma. He doesn't drop those. Inspired bowling. Take a bow, Josh Fitz.

Davidson went next as he drove Duggers to the safe hands of the Skipper at mid-off and great work from Lewis Tucker at mid-wicket saw Pat Howeson comfortably run out. As Little Waltham folded like a cheap deckchair, the Nasirs departed in quick succession to simple catches. I didn't catch sight of the scoreboard at the time such was the euphoria that had gripped the ground but it can't have been much more than 15-6 at one point.

Clarke came and went as he fell for the sucker punch of a Mark Chapman slower ball and Ali (19) followed him soon after as J Fitz returned the favour for his brother with a (reasonably) simple yet tumbling catch at backward square.

Pat Clark (29) and Adam Williams batted Little Waltham back to respectability but another run out c/o the bullet arm of Lewis Tucker saw the final pairing briefly threaten a batting bonus point before Tucks bagged the 10th wicket as Atul pouched the catch at gully. 136 all out.

Team effort... and not just for the players but the wives, girlfriends, Mums & Dads who have stuck with us all season. That was for you.

4 games to go against 4 of the Top 5 sides and - let's not kid ourselves - we've achieved nothing so far. All we've done is given ourselves a chance and restored a bit of individual and collective pride. We'll still need 2/3 wins to stand any chance of staying up. Starting next Saturday at Rayleigh.

We've got ourselves into this mess and it's up to us to get us out of it.

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Great Waltham Cricket Club 1st XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
3nb 12w 2b 2lb 
for 7 wickets
19
237		        
Atul Patel ct J Clark Bowled Coyle 56 7 1 2
Samuel Harris ct Hudson Bowled J Clark 21 4
Gary Bloom ct Ali Bowled J Clark 84 11 2 1
Andy Elgar ct Howeson (?) Bowled J Clark 27 2
Craig Swan run out (Howeson) 13 1
Mark Chapman ct Coyle Bowled A Nasir 2 1
Simon Richardson run out (Howeson) 8 1 1
Matt Duggan Not Out  2
Ollie Fitzwater Not Out  1 1
Lewis Tucker   2
Joshua Fitzwater   1

Little Waltham 1st XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
J Clark11.0149316.334.45
A Williams12.015200.004.33
P Clark9.005400.006.00
C Coyle7.0036136.005.14
Ali3.001100.003.67
A Nasir3.0025125.008.33

Little Waltham 1st XI Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
136 (34.3 overs)		     
M Hudson ct Patel Bowled J Fitzwater 0
B Nasir ct O Fitzwater Bowled J Fitzwater 9
D Coyle ct Bloom Bowled J Fitzwater 0
Davidson ct Richardson Bowled Duggan 6
P Howeson run out (Tucker) 0
A Nasir ct Chapman Bowled Duggan 2
J Clark b Chapman 13
Ali ct J Fitzwater Bowled O Fitzwater 19
P Clark run out (Tucker) 29
A Williams Not Out  14
C Coyle ct Patel Bowled Tucker 14

Great Waltham Cricket Club 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Joshua Fitzwater7.031735.672.43
Matt Duggan10.0126213.002.60
Mark Chapman7.0132132.004.57
Ollie Fitzwater5.0021121.004.20
Lewis Tucker3.3017117.004.86
Craig Swan2.001700.008.50