Guilden Morden Away

At the beginning we were 11 men; three games into the season and still without a victory; assembling a full 30 minutes before the proposed entry to the game, sprits were high, there was even some fielding practice taking place. Wornham lost the toss and Guilden Morden put themselves into bat. Having bid farewell to two Strollers safe in the knowledge we were a team of 11, as we took to the field the penny dropped; we were in fact only a team of 10. Not to worry, Guilden were only 8.

 

Simeon Green and Steve Hards opened the bowling. Fantastically, Simeon took a wicket in the first over thanks to a catch from Paul Wastell at mid-off. In the third over there was also an almighty appeal from the entire out field, but rightly, the decision went against as it was indeed bat and pad that confused all. Simeon was all fired up and bowled with pace and commitment, however Guildens number 2 – Mr Dyer, was up for the battle and throughout the afternoon scored an impressive 103. At first change of bowler after 10 overs we were already at 60 runs for 1 wicket. Wornham and David Green bowled a spell and other than adding one wicket thanks to Nick Pain taking a great catch off the glove of the batsmen not much else was worth writing about. Step up Lucus Gallo and Amajit. Within 8 overs they claimed 5 wickets and brought the innings to a close for 194 runs. Lucus  took 3 wickets for 12 runs – very impressive by anyones standard.

 

After a quick tea, Jonty and Amajit opened the batting. Facing some of the fastest bowling I’ve seen at a village level, the partnership started well, even if a little tension could be felt in the air. Simeon took to the crease after the first wicket fell and between he and Amajit a strong partnership formed which fortunately brought the end of this opening bowling session to an end. A quick 42 from Simeon was the best performance from the Strollers. Amajit played with determination and patience to a respectable 36 – almost carrying his bat. His performance gave each new coming batsman the opportunity to play well. Alas this was not to be the case. After 26 overs the final catch was taken to dismiss the Strollers for 110.

A jolly game in all and a fare competition between two good natured sides. Best foot forward Strollers, we’ll get our form soon.