It was the inaugural fixture between Shoreham and Matfield Green and most of the side turned up with only 5 minutes to spare thanks to lateness, a lack of petrol and dodgy directions. Captain Barrett lost the toss and Shoreham were put into bat which very rarely happens… and we were about to be reminded why. The opening partnership of Ray Trick and Bob Sims put on 17 before Bob was bowled without scoring by the opener Wright. Wright tore through the Shoreham batting taking 5 wickets for only 14 runs including a triple wicket maiden. Ray finished on 64 and the only other telling contributions were made by Mr Extras who got 20 and Pat who got 4 and a broken toe for his troubles. Shoreham finished on 102 all out after 27.4 overs and were out fielding again before tea.

A lesser team may have been disheartened having put on such a low total but the Sunday side took it in their stride and the sprit was quite jovial in the field. Nigel Jeffrey (8-0-27-0) opened the bowling with Ray (5-0-29-2) and each did their part in keeping the run rate down as well as teaming up to dislodge opener Gilbert bowled Trick caught Jeffrey. Brad Sims was the honorary wicketkeeper for the day but had to leave the field with a suspected broken finger after a fast paced Jeffrey delivery. George Rivett (2-0-8-1) and Greg Taylor (1-0-4-0) took over proceedings and kept the rate low. Kumar (1-0-20-0) and Pat (0.3-0-4-0) finished off the innings with a flourish as Matfield Green reached the total with a good 20 overs to spare and 7 wickets in hand. However, the ground had very good links to the pub which was only a 2 minute walk away. So, the team moved to the pub to nurse their various injuries and for the 4 ducks of the day to drink from the duck cup!

NB Bob’s Duck was mentioned in the report because there was no picture of him!

- George

Posted on Sunday, 4th July, 2010 in Friendly Match Reports.