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Having spent most of the week giving players to higher teams and then finding replacements, Sat morning saw me having to undertake the very difficult job of having to tell someone they weren't playing after all, this following a last minute addition to the first team and the subsequent dropping of a player down all the sides. The task was made much easier by the fantastic attitude of Chris Gregory who took the news in a fantastic spirit and still came along and supported the team, well done Chris, a great attitude.

In terms of the game itself against a good Hitchin side fresh from promotion last season, I again lost the toss and were once again inserted, once we had found the wicket (not an easy task) and they had located some stumps (even harder), the game eventually got under way nearly 30 mins late. John (runs) Tunnell and Stuart (everything hurts) Bulger set about handling both the pitch and the opening bowlers and they took us to 65 in good time before the much better change bowlers set about taking our top order apart. From 65 for no wicket we crashed to 94 for 7, Tunnell 30 and Bulger 27 being the only double figures in the top 7. Mark Terry and the Skipper batting 8 and 9 steadied the ship and took the score to 116 before the skipper fell to a very sharp caught and bowled. Mark Terry then unleashed himself and took us to 141 and 2 batting points before missing a straight one when on 30. Balders and Rathers used up the overs before Jason was bowled having a swing in the last over and we were all out for 144 with 2 balls of our innings unused.

Our opening attack of Terry and Lawless would, under normal circumstances, have expected to make things difficult for Hitchin, but we hadn't allowed for a very useful Aussie making his debut. He was vicious on anything slightly short or over pitched and although he was dropped several times he made 50 out of the first 70 with 8 extras. Matt Rathbone followed on from his fine bowling performance had eventually had him caught in the very very deep by Ian Bright (I lost my house).

Proper cricket then followed and we picked up wickets on a regular basis but Hitchin were too close to winning to let it slip, they got home for the loss of 5 wickets and a gain of 7 points from our afternoon's work. Rathbone 2, Lawless 2 and Baldwin shared the wickets and John Tunnell ensured his place in next weeks team with a one handed catch off the Skipper's bowling. This was a game we could have won had we held onto early catches. Good to see Nick Dunleavy back on the cricket pitch and he showed good resistance with the bat which bodes well for next weeks game against Watton at Stone II's

Saturday 3rd May 2008

Ian Lawless reports-

For the third time in 4 years, our opening fixture was against Tewin II's who we have never beaten. In typical fashion, the team had no changes all week until Friday night, when like buses, 4 came along at once.

Nevertheless we got 11 on the field plus an Umpire in the form of injured Mickey Stiffin, and an scorer in the form of Tony Gibbs. The skipper duly lost the toss and was delighted when inserted, thereby giving us the opportunity to maximise points in the event of a draw or loss.

Openers Tunnell and Tilley made a steady start on a damp track and aided by the opposition bowling too short, they took the score to 31 before Steve hit one into the waiting hands of short leg in the 15th over. Stuart Craig and JT then put on 69 for the second wicket before Stuart was caught on the boundary for a fine 34 from only 42 balls which only included three 4's as the damp outfield made 4's hard to come by. Damian Southall was adjudged LBW by Mr Stiffin for 4 and we were now 106 for 3 in 34 overs. Debutant Anthony Langley came to the wicket and hit a 2 and two 4's from his first 3 balls, a 6 followed a few balls later and the injection of run rate was well on the way. JT passed his 50 off 121 balls and did the job his skipper had asked of him. Anthony was caught and bowled for 34 from 50 balls and Mark Terry didn't face as we closed our innings on 170 for 4 with JT 69 not out from 139 deliveries including just two 4's, well batted John and well run. 6 Batting points in the bag.

Getting a decent score batting first doesn't mean you will win the game but you certainly give yourself a decent chance of avoiding defeat. Ross Wiltshire and Mark Terry took the new ball and kept things tight, mark got us under way with a wicket in his second over, well caught by your Matt Rathbone, Tewin now 2 for 1. It was another 86 runs before we took our next wicket, the skipper having failed to make the break through turned to our talented crop of youngsters. At 88 for 1 from only 23 overs Tewin were well on the way to winning the game. Matt bowled the number 3 who had made 54 and who had been dropped several times, including by Matt himself off the skippers bowling, I got my own back however dropping him off Matt's bowling (he'll learn).

From 88 for 1, Tewin were finally bowled out for 119 with 14 balls remaining. Despite twirling his arm in the outfield for best part of 10 overs, Jason Baldwin didn't come on until the 37th over following 18 overs from Mark Terry who picked up 3 for 42. The remaining 7 wickets all went to the colts with Matt Rathbone bagging 3 for 23, debutant Tom Rogers 1 for 8 from his 4 overs, and sulky Jason Baldwin with 3 for 3 from his 16 ball spell at the death. A fine win to start the season off and selection problems for the skipper next week with all 11 available and several others becoming available.

Well done everyone, a fine team performance. No contribution from the skipper at all, other than some very shrewd bowling changes, just ask Jason!!!

Hitchin III's next week who also started with a win yesterday.

Updated: May 12, 2008 - Chris Cook