Guest Reporter – Ben Heap vs Enfield

We arrived at Enfield in the sunshine which was the first time in a very long time! From the balcony the pitch was white in colour and I immediately thought it would be firm and would be good for batting on. How looks can be deceiving….

After a closer inspection it appeared the grass was white and very dry but the earth/soil was damp and soft. I still opted to bat first knowing that it could be tricky to chase on. Enfield opened the bowling with Ex Lowerhouse player Fergus Bailey and left arm spinner Simon O’Loughlin. Myself and Joe Hawke were ticking over nicely at about 3 an over, Hawkey scoring more freely than myself.

At 46 we lost our first wicket Hawkey hitting a ball that popped back to Fergus Bailey. Ockert and I kept the score board ticking over at about 4 an over. The track had started to be come uneven and it was difficult to score boundaries. The Enfield pro came into the attack sporting a lovely long sleeve shirt and bowled a mixture of spin from around the wicket.

I fell to the off spinner caught at mid off with the score at 81. Francois and The Pro took us to 136 with about 15 overs left until Francois was adjudged LBW for 22. He hit no boundaries again showing how difficult the pitch was. We lost wickets at regular intervals after this and it was the pro and Patrick Martin who gave us that final push up towards 200. We finished with 207 and in the box seat.

Joey Hawke opened up with the new ball and bowled a fantastic spell with no luck. Toxy at the other end perhaps didn’t have the same rhythm but still bowled wicket taking deliveriies and picked up 2. Francois came on after Toxy and that ultimately killed the game off. Frankie gave the Enfield pro nothing to hit and got him with one that was slightly fuller and was going on to hit middle stump.

Paddy, Ocky and Finchy all got some overs under their belts and bowled economically, picking up wickets regularly. Since the Walsden game we have put in 3 good team performances and have been fantastic in the field.

We were very poor against Walsden and didn’t do ourselves any justice what so ever. See you all Saturday!

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