A severely depleted Waltham
St Lawrence 1st XI failed to score a much
wished for win on this cloudless sunny day at the Memorial
Ground. Having lost the toss and been put into bat the
first five overs passed without incident.
Unfortunately
at this point wickets began to tumble with alarming
regularity. By the end of the 13th over Waltham
had been reduced to a slightly concerning 29 for 6.
The only significant resistance being offered was from
Andrew Jackson (who finished on 34 not out) though he
was finding it more than a little difficult gaining
the strike and had to settle for watching team mates
come and go at the other end (including 4 ducks, one
of the golden variety for Thompson).
Rashid
Arif temporarily held up the onslaught to assist Jackson
in a partnership of 31 but this was largely an afternoon
to forget for the Waltham batsmen.
After a hearty tea Waltham
took the field requiring either substantial inspiration
or the less likely monsoon. Jackson and R. Arif again
worked well in tandem this time offering scant pickings
to the opposing batsmen. There was a brief glimmer of
hope in the second over when there was a monumental
mix up between the batsmen resulting in both ending
up at the bowlers end, Gary Aldred’s panther-like fielding
doing the rest.
After this though the upsides
were few and far between for Waltham.
Hawthorne bowled the free-scoring
Wheeler after 16 overs but by then the score was approaching
the half-century and the result seemed certain. There
was almost a last hurrah for the home side as with the
scores tied Woodcotes remaining opener edged towards
gully off Hawthorne and Malcolm Aldred just failed to
hold onto a true photographer’s dream of a diving catch.
All in all a disappointing
first loss for Waltham 1st XI and
the team will be glad to see the return of captain Paul
Gearing and a number of other key players next weekend.. |