Match
reports
At last the rain that’s blighted the cricket season
thus far abated and Harpenden’s premier nomadic cricketing
outfit arrived at Bamville keen to register their first
victory on this picturesque golfcourse ground.
With temperatures approaching 80 degrees, acting skipper
Jim Handford won the toss and surprised everyone by opting
to field. However, this his soon looked to be an inspired
call, as opening bowlers Fraser Tant and Matt Penhaligan
were tight as old boots with just 20 on the board after
10 overs. Penhaligan was unlikely not to take a wicket with
his first ball, when a debutant Pete Kneale spilled a difficult
chance at square leg, but the bowler soon had his reward
by taking out the same batsman’s off stump with his
second ever delivery for the Cavs a few overs later. With
a few overs left in their lockers for later, Tant and Penhaligan
were replaced by the slow left arm of Lance Boyd-Clark and
Kneale, who kept the runs down to a minimum while prising
out regular wickets. Kneale was particularly effective,
bowling his overs straight out and registering impressive
stats of 1 for 12. “I’ve heard a lot about the
Cavs, but never thought I’d actually get the chance
to play for them. I love every minute and hope that the
skipper will invite me back – I think I’ve got
a lot to offer. I once bowled John Crawley, you know.”
It wasn’t long before the skipper brought himself
in to the attack, and with another debutant Al Domain at
the other end, runs were still hard to come by and with
just 10 overs left, the hosts had only just registered 3
figures. However, they know how to play their own pitch
well, and have historically scored slowly against the Cavs
but left themselves with wickets in hand to accelerate and
take advantage of the short boundaries square of the wickets.
Domain took a bit of punishment as the slog was on, but
showed enough promise to suggest he’ll offer the Cavs
a great deal in matches and seasons to come. Behind the
stumps, Russell Timms performed admirably to put pressure
on regular stopper Gareth Lloyd (absent on a nudist holiday
with his in-laws in Croatia), while the champagne moment
saw Todd Baines direct-hit run out from the boundary to
temporarily halt the run charge. After 40 overs, Bamville
had scored just 153 for 7 – a pale shadow of their
previous scores of 238 and 216 in this fixture.
Aaron Terrey and Baines opened the batting, but Terrey
was soon back in the hutch having been fingered by perennial
trigger-finger Jim Nicholls despite an audible inside edge
on to his pad for just 5. Baines played within himself,
and took few risks before Ellis Thorpe’s run out when
well set on 33. Boyd Clark, having scored a 50 in the fixture
last year, looked unflappable before an uncharacteristic
top edge saw him dismissed for 18. This brought Handford
to the crease, with a captain’s innings needed to
see his side home – all the more so when Baines holed
out to a rare lose shot on 33, bringing about a middle order
collapse not atypical for the Cavaliers. Timms came and
went for 1, closely followed by a second ball duck for Tant,
adding to the many he’s registered for the Cavs. “Frase
has let himself down there” commented Handford. “He
should know better than to swing across the line early doors,
and he’s opened up an end by giving away his wicket
cheaply I’ll have words with the lad.” Alex
Domain came and went for just 2, and a seemingly straightforward
target – 40 runs, 15 overs, 6 wickets in hand - was
suddenly 25 runs, 6 overs, 2 wickets in hand and Terrey
padded up again to act as a runner for the hobbling Penhaligan.
Luckily for the Cavs, Handford was ably supported by sensible
batting from Kneale (14*), and his 45* saw his side home
with a couple of overs to spare.
So, the first victory of the season has been recorded, and
the Cavs will go in to games with Slip End and Redbourn
over the next couple of weeks full of confidence.
Man of the Match: Jim Handford
Orange Cap of Shame: Fraser Tant
Champagne Moment: Todd Baines’ run-out from the boundary.
