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Great Waltham Cricket Club

Scorecard

Gt Totham v Great Waltham Cricket Club 1st XI on Sat 18 Jul 2020 at 1 p.m.
Great Waltham Cricket Club Won by 4 wickets

Match report Cricket finally returned despite the best effort of the government to delay us and it was (almost) everything we’d been waiting for. With last week’s knock around fresh in our minds we travelled to the ‘Postage Stamp’ of Essex grounds, Great Totham. Normally for an early season game the bowlers would be licking their lips over green seamers and slow outfields but starting in July gave new found confidence to the real heroes of the team, the batsmen.

Desperate to win the toss on a small ground, flat pitch and with sunshine overhead, I promptly lost and Waltham would be spending their first 40 overs of the season bowling. We also spent most of the first 10 overs chasing the ball to the boundary, fortunately it wasn’t far to go so we just trotted after it. Cooper, despite being ‘dropped’ twice seemed in imperious form as he battered his way to 96. Going at 8 an over for the first 10 left the captain wondering why on earth he hadn’t called tails at the toss. Fortunately, a couple of mainstays from the previous years, shook their pre-season slumber and picked up a couple of tidy wickets. Josh bowling the other opener before Tucks removed both numbers 3 & 4 who were looking to emulate the aggressive nature of Cooper at the other end.

Joe’s introduction was met by a full toss being swatted for yet another boundary before his infamous slower ball caught Pook on the top of the thigh. Fortunately, it was on its way down and the umpire adjudged it to be hitting the stumps and we had our 4th wicket. Totham were very much in the process of doing a ‘New England’ as they had advanced to 174-4 off just 24 overs and we sensed that another couple of wickets could restrict them to something below par. After masterfully deceiving the Totham batsmen into thinking that I could not field, letting things go through me, diving over the top of balls, dropped catch (later on) etc, I suddenly pounced upon the chance for a run out with the aid of Tucks and Matty, catching the Totham batsmen in an indecisive state. Cooper was gone and we were back in the hunt.

Minus my dropped catch we were tidy from then on, until the close of the innings, bowling out Totham for an under par 247 in 37.2 overs, the final 5 wickets all bowled. A ‘you miss – I hit’ sort of situation. Ollie picked up 2 returning and the impressive Rhys also picking up a wicket at the end. Eating our own tea was somewhat of a novelty I don’t wish to repeat past this season and changing outside I’m not sure will be to Chappy’s liking when he returns but we were quietly confident of being able to chase this middling target down.

Keeping it in the family seems to be a Waltham tradition as for years we’ve had Ollie and Josh open the bowling. Now we have the Blooms opening the batting. With plenty of understanding between the two of them we raced along in the first 10 overs. Gary’s use of the crease was superb, flicking and pulling the ball to the gaps in the field complimenting Dan’s orthodox style with dreamy cover drives and speedy hands. Bit of a shame when it all had to come to an end as Gary lost his concentration after hitting too many boundaries and was caught at point trying to cut it over him. I brought some unnecessary acceleration to the innings before throwing it away leaving Dan with the 1s latest addition to the batting ranks, Harrison, after 15 overs.
With the scoring rate not being an issue and the prospect of the lower order hitters (if anyone needs reminding, here’s the scorecard from when Ollie last played here https://gwcc.hitscricket.com/scorecard/fixtureID_633902/1st-XI-v-Great-Totham-1st-XI-01-Sep-2018.aspx), both Dan and Harrison looked content to knock the bad balls away and keep the score moving. 2 overs after launching a six over the trees Harrison was caught playing across the line to a straight one and had to depart for 12. After playing so beautifully for his 73 Dan was next out, flat swivel pull hooking to the only fielder on the boundary. Any more height and it would have cleared him easily but alas.

Si, mentally preparing for his Spanish holiday / quarantine, was keen to get the game over with but after hitting one Richardson, he couldn’t connect with a second, suddenly leaving us 5 down and when Reedy missed a straight one we were very much in danger of making this chase much more difficult than it should have been. Normally I would say Ollie and Josh don’t quite have the same complimenting skill sets when they’re batting as when they’re bowling but despite some iffy moments they seemed intent on proving me wrong. A partnership of 54 in just over 6 and a half overs saw us through to the finish line. Ollie’s innings was considerably more sedate this time around but equally as important, whilst Josh was more brawn down the other end, propelling us to a well-deserved opening victory.

This has the been the opening game story time, stay tuned as we’ll soon have the Gary Bloom show (spoilers) against Waltham Wanderers.

Gt Totham Batting

Player name		Runs
extras TOTAL :	4nb 10w 4b 2lb for 10 wickets	20 247 (37.2 overs)
Cooper	run out Tucker	95
Mutton	b J. Fitzwater	11
Davis	b L. Tucker	24
S. Bowen	ct S. Harris b L.Tucker	22
Pook	lbw J. Reed	6
Chadwick	b O. Fitzwater	38
Hewer	b J. Reed	2
Banyard	b O. Fitzwater	9
Allen	Not Out	11
Quartermaine	b R. Chapman	7
J. Bowen	b O. Fitzwater	1