Once again Waltham St.
fell short of the opposition’s total; once again they
had wretched luck with skipper Damon Hill added to the
growing injury list.
Hill
opted to take the field with a view of containing Woodcote.
However, the opposition’s openers were in fine form
and quickly took runs at will from the Waltham
opening attack of Harris and Lugthart. The first wicket
fell with a superb inswinging delivery from Gearing
but by this time Wooodcote had raced away to 95 for
1 in 18 overs. England followed
with another quick wicket but runs continued to flow
until the skipper returned to Harris(3-52)and Lugthart
who suddenly discovered line and length and wickets
started to tumble. Woodcote at 171 for 7 now started
to look vulnerable. But a dogged stand of forty from
Higley and Gordon allowed Woodcote to ease past 200
and end their innings on 220 -9: a score the home side
would have settled for after the first fifteen overs.
The pick of the bowling was Paul Gearing who deserved
better than his 2-28 off nine overs. A more depressing
sight for the home side was skipper Hill limping off
the field having inflamed an previous injury.
In reply Waltham
needed to get a solid start but again this was not to
be. Ashton failed to trouble the scorer and Harris was
uncharacteristically bowled for 14. At 24-2 the season’s
batting shortcomings were looking ominous. However,
an excellent partnership between Steve Farnon(59) and
Paul Gearing (42) started to flourish. Farnon was resolute
throughout playing some accomplished cover drives and
Gearing batted with his usual aggression. The partnership
was dislodged when the latter lofted a shot into the
covers and was caught. This unfortunately led to a mini-collapse
with both Sharpe and England looking
out of touch with the bat. However, spirited knocks
from Bridges(19) and Lugthart(15) brought Waltham
ever closr to the woodcote target. With their dismissal
, Hill struggled to the creae with a runner but found
it difficult to score. The tail was soon exposed with
Kumar and the stand in Treloar succumbed and Waltham
were left stranded 13 runs short.
This was another game where, with a full
side, victory was attainable. Running two of the top
sides close should not be viewed as a disaster and with
a change in fortune the poor start to the season can
be reversed.
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