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Post date: May 31, 2015 10:19:12 AM
Week 5 welcomed Haberton & SP to Millaton where the gathering crowd were expecting another big performance from the Bridestowe second string. Maintaining his 100% home record, skipper Lee Jutson lost the toss and visiting captain Adrian Hills looked up from his Met Office weather app' to ask the home team to set a total. Once again, volunteers to accompany Batstone were not forthcoming so Ewen was once again harangued into the undesirable number 2 slot. The first few overs showed little threat with openers Broomfield and Bugell both offering plenty of balls to hit. Ewen, confused by his perception of 'proper batting', failed to take the initiative, padding four balls tamely back to the bowlers. This proved costly as Broomfield used the practise to find his line and length and also in what proved to be a theme for the home innings, starting making the most of a poor wicket and found Ewen's middle stump with a shooter that barely bounced and went under the bat, 10-1. Matt Dennis, making his Saturday Bridestowe debut, was next in and got an identical ball first up, no chance of demonstrating his credentials proven at 'the other' mighty BCC, he was back on his way with the score 10-2. Things went from bad to worse as on a day where it was a brave man to predict how a ball would bounce, Steve Batstone was adjudged lbw, front foot with a stride in with the score on 21. Corey Holliday was joined at the crease by Tim Shaw, his batting flip-flops replaced by a pair of new boots, resplendent and glittering in the gloom. With Corey Holliday showing some skill and poise with some nice strokes and 'new shoes', Shaw at the other, it was time to re-build but Shaw got another Broomfield special early on and went the same way as Ewen and Dennis. Holliday tried to respond but only succeeded in clubbing one to Ansell at mid off, 23-5 and panic spread through the home side. Kieran Lee once again let his inexperience get the better of him and was bowled by Broomfield playing a very ambitious shot and didn't trouble the scorers. Jutson was unlucky, trying to play late to combat the unpredictable wicket, he defended a ball that spun back onto his stumps without scoring. The mercurial Griffiths was showing resistance at the other end and his backfoot pulls and cuts proved very effective but he was quickly running out of partners and with the possibility of an embarrassing total, all the pressure was on him. Returning veteran, Phil Down made a useful contribution, taking Griffiths lead by smashing anything loose off the back foot but mistimed one to the waiting Ansell at mid off for 5. Griffiths was ultimately bowled by the returning Chillcott with a full bunger but along with Dave Jopling and Joey Turner, displayed the best batting of the home side and between them made it into the lower regions of respectability by getting the score to 82.
With only 33 overs used, there was plenty of time before tea for Bridestowe to try another Houdini-esque escape act. With a side stacked in bowling there was some debate about who to open with and whilst there were some concerns about sudden fatigue syndrome impacting Joey Turner if he had to stand in the field for too long, skipper Jutson decided to stick with the the established recipe of pace and guile with Shaw and himself taking the fresh cherry. H&SP had a good blend of youth and experience and it was the latter that came to the crease to mount the reply with skipper Hills and Brian Chillcott. It was business as usual with the openers not able to score freely from the Jutson and Shaw combination. Shaw was racking up impressive pace and a combination of that and the sparkling new boots proved too much for Hills as an absolute jaffer pinged the off stump bail from a ball that did everything and gave Shaw his first wicket upon his return to Millaton. A couple of overs later, Shaw struck again in similar fashion and with the total on 13, the home side began to think the unthinkable and worked hard to defend the low total. Kieran Lee exemplified the good fielding, making the batsman aware of his athleticism and strong arm. Opener Chillcott was dealing with the wicket and bowling well, forcing a change of strategy from home skipper Jutson who took himself off and tried the other paceman Turner from the road end. This experiment failed with Joey struggling with the slope and the wind up the hill and led to the opening of the Griffiths magic box of tricks from the unpopular road end. Meanwhile, at the other end, Shaw was still steaming in and with the total on 40, the confident Chillcott looped a drive to Steve 'the caged leopard' Batstone who pounced on the catch at gully to much celebration. Griffiths removed the sticky and experienced Broomfield and at 57-6, the belief in the home side was palpable. Dave Jopling now on at the road end struggled in the gusty conditions to find his usual control and rhythm and was relatively expensive in the context of the game but had already made a significant contribution with the bat. With Broomfield at the wicket having taken 6 with the ball, the call to action from the skipper was 'let's spoil his day lads!', but it was not to be. Despite an impressive single maiden over from Phil Down and another wicket from Joey Turner who bowled well from the much sought after grandstand end, bowlers Broomfield and Bungell saw H&SP home in 33 overs. At the inquest at HQ (White Hart), the team decided that there was not much that could have been done differently other than showing more concentration when batting as in the event, another 20 runs could well have made the difference.
Another game played in good sprits against a serious cricket side. Despite the disappointing loss, the second team retain their table topping position by a point and will hope for a better wicket for the visit of the rampaging Cullompton next week who are on the back of a 300+ declaration performance in week 5 and will need to show much more dedication if they are to compete against what is clearly a very strong batting side.
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