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Great Waltham Cricket Club

Scorecard

Bentley 2nd XI v Great Waltham Cricket Club 1st XI on Sat 04 Jun 2016 at 1 p.m.
Great Waltham Cricket Club Lost By 40 runs.

Match report Fine margins but still not enough positives to add up to a win.

Crucial dropped catches and a ponderous run chase both proved costly as we succumbed to a 3rd successive defeat in rather tame circumstances.

Asked to bat first, Bentley were reeling at 38-3 largely thanks to a cracking opening spell from JT who fully justified the decision to hand him the new ball. With fire in his belly (and not a lot else), Tucks also chipped in with the wicket of Hammond and was unlucky to not take more from his opening spell.

Unfortunately it was the next passage of play and the 4th wicket partnership of 105 between Hardy (67) and Stimpson (51) that had a significant bearing on the final outcome of the game. Stimpson swung from the hip at most deliveries. Sadly for us, more often than not, it fell just short/over/wide (delete as applicable) of the nearest fielder. And then when it did go to hand... the chance(s) were shelled.

To our collective credit, when we did eventually hold onto one (albeit at the 2nd attempt), we pulled the game back in our favour and took considerable momentum into tea. The last 6 wickets fell for just 42 runs and although 185-9 was above par, at 143-3 Bentley II looked well set for something comfortably north of 200.

Our catching has been better this season - the stats back in up - but there were 5 'drops' in total varying from the tough to the routine to the 'Oh-My-God-How-the-hell-has-he-dropped-that?'. On another day these are held and we're suddenly chasing 140-150 max.

In reply... our run chase simply never got going.

Credit to the wily, spin bowling of Gavin Hammond (10-7-4-1). His unerring line and length can always put the brakes on a team but at the same time, we didn't even look to be positive against him. If you take his figures out of the equation, we're suddenly chasing 181 off 35 overs, creating pressure on ourselves in the process.

At the 20-over mark we were already off the pace. The change bowling was equally accurate and disciplined and when the pressure was on to up-the-tempo, wickets fell at regular junctures. Despite the circumstances, some of our dismissals were still too soft. The highlights were Clouty returning to form with an overdue half-century and Jamie Carroll (16*) batting with a maturity and positivity that we could all learn a thing or too from. When DC was still there, you still sensed we had a chance... Bentley is a small ground and you can easily have a 20+ over to change the complexion of the game.

In the end we closed on 145-9.

So to the positives:

JT's bowling.
DC returning to form with bat (and ball!).
Jamie's cameo.
10 of the 1st XI at nets last Thurs or playing for the U15's.
7 of us staying behind for a pint sharing the belief that 'we're not that far' from putting things right.
Tom Gore making his debut. He's got a bright future ahead of him.
The commitment that I've had from the squad for the first 5 games. 8 players have played 4+ games. Keeping that core together will be vital for the remainder of what can STILL be a successful season.

The negatives:
Dropped catches. No-one drops them on purpose but we can't be so profligate when the chances come our way.
The tempo of our run chase and our inability to adapt. We got in wrong from start to finish. We need to have clear targets about where we want to be at 10-20-25-30 overs... and adjust if we're falling behind.
Some very tame dismissals when the game was still in the offing.
We missed Chappy.

Let's put the negatives right on Saturday vs. Fairview...

We're not that far away.

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"He who is not courageous enough to take risks, achieves nothing in life"
Muhammad Ali

Bentley 2nd XI Batting

Player name		Runs
extras TOTAL :	8w 4b 3lb for 9 wickets	15 185 (45.0 overs)
Beaney	b Taylor	6
Hardy	ct G Bloom b Fitzwater	67
Sprules	ct Clout b Taylor	0
Hammond	b Tucker	12
Stimpson	ct Tucker b Clout	51
Earing	ct & bowled Clout	11
Waring	ct G Bloom b Clout	6
Whelan	b Taylor	1
Walker	ct D Bloom b Harris	2
Snell	Not Out	6
Chattar	Not Out	7