Cricket: Bray lose at the last hurdle in this one

Posted on May 29, 2012

It was a Sunday like no other; in fact it was exactly like every other Sunday. There was the obligatory 'I'm too hung-over' phone call. This week it was Matt Ringsell who claimed to have eaten something dodgy in between around 20 pints at Trent Bridge. Scott Hemming answered the call by proclaiming 'Yeah alright me old china don't mind if I do, lovely job' and so the Sunday team were off from the spiritual home of cricket, the car park at the social club and on to Haddenham.

For those of you not aware of Haddenham, it has a rather decent claim to fame as the village has served as the backdrop to several Midsomer Murders episodes.

Back to the cricket, Eaton Bray batted first with Mark Parrot and Louis Peek opening the days play. Louis Peek struggled and was on his way back to the pavilion early with a Bronze Duck. Josh Peacock joined Parrot and the 1 and 3 Batsman looked to build a nice partnership. The pitch was difficult to judge with little to no bounce, there were some short balls bowled however which got 1 to 2 inches off the floor. It was one of these shooters that was the undoing of the opener and Parrot had to settle for a score of 13, which included 3 fours and many run 1s and 2s (so who was scoring!!!). Josh was then joined by the returning Jake Barker followed by the crafty cockney Hemming but both were quickly on their way back to the pavilion. Ryan Peacock was next out at 6 and joined his younger brother, as the two steadied the ship and built a good partnership. Ryan looked to push singles whilst putting josh back on strike and he did the damage with a score of 71 before losing his wicket to a ball which never got up above his shoelaces. Ryan went on to bat for a not out score of 23 and was assisted by two pinch hitters in the form of Adam 'the big AMH' Harvey and Adam 'Holby City' Holbrook who helped push the score up. Eaton Bray went in to lunch 164-6.

Lunch was good and it was here we all missed Olly Wilson as we had to make our own cups of tea. It was in to the changing rooms for designer sunscreen, some encouraging words from the skipper and a good bit of banter.

It was hoped the Bray Bowlers could take advantage of the pitch as the Haddenham bowlers had. It was a welcome sight to see Charlie Tickle back with the Bray and he was electric on his return. The bray also benefited from the superb early season form of Harvey and Jones with great spells to really help halt the run chase from Haddenham, with notable fielding contributions from Paul Davies (including a run out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and Louis Peek along with some good work behind the stumps from Mark Parrot the Bray were certainly keeping this one close. It would take a huge effort in the field too and the Bray didn't disappoint all round but as the overs wound down Haddenham CC reached their target with just a few balls remaining. 

To wrap it up it was a disappointing and frustrating loss as the pitch, which Haddenham definately knew how to use, a short boundary and searing heat making things difficult. In truth it will be a good lesson for us all going into a long season. Lots of positives and recent weeks have proved that we are definately going in the right direction.

Over pitcher - 29/05/2012

Scorecard

• Result: Haddenham CC, Bucks - Sunday 1st XI Won by 2 wickets
• Date: Sun 27th May 2012
• Start Time: 14:00
• Ground: Haddenham Playing Fields
• Type: Friendly
• Scoring: Standard
• Toss: Friendly XI won the toss and decided to bat

Source: Eaton Bray Cricket Club