www.northholmwood.com

The skipper finally lost the toss and we were put in. A new opening pair of Rob 'Wet Weather' Tyers and Dave Welton got us of to a flyer, 8 from two cracking cuts by Rob in the first over. With a little rain overnight the ball just held up on a lovely looking surface and swung exaggeratingly early on making runs hard to come by. Dave got frustrated and tickled one to the keeper with the score on 29. The chairman joined Wet Weather and struggled initially but soon got in the flow until a rank long hop from the oppo's skipper was hit straight to the only leg side fielder not on the boundary for 35. Rob fell soon after for a well crafted 49 and Nobby was back in the hut after being judged LBW probably because it was such an ugly shot!! Daryl was joined by Adam and the recovery started, Dazza finding the gaps whilst Adam tucked in to any pies being offered up by the 2 leg spinners now bowling in tandem. Daryl fell for 20 leaving Morgs to scratch around whilst Adam powered on to a seasons high of 37. The Captain entered the fray with his intension of getting as many as he could by 45 overs and started wielding the bat like a massive chopper !! Morgs on the other hand was still scratching around in the hope that the ball would eventually be bowled in the arc in which his bat was swinging, unfortunately this never happened and he finally finished on 17 n.o. whilst the Captain had 12 n.o. from about 10 overs less!!!
The reply started as most have this year with the bowling being tight and accurate. Many edges flew in to gaps early on, coupled with a few exquisite drives meant a long wait for the first wicket. Eventually Morgs enticed the opener to chip one firmly to mid wicket where the Chairman hung on gleefully. Soon after came one of the drops of the season as Adam coughed up a dolly. Many heads in hands, never mind next ball Morgs cleaned the batsman out and the stick flew towards Mr Russell. The Captain then took a couple, the Chairman holding a cracker at square leg and another good catch from the evergreen Des (dob 07/07/1961) behind the sticks. The Chairman replaced Morgs up the hill and was soon bowling with Nobby who'd replaced the skipper. Nobby bowled some cracking deliveries using swing, bounce and a clever change of pace. The wickets tumbled. Des took a smart stumping of the Chairman as the tail started to wobble but even though Nobby took 4 in all it was in vein as the oppo held out for a draw.