Scorecard

Wivenhoe II v Eight Ash Green Cricket Club Two Counties 1st XI (Saturday) on Sat 24 Aug 2019 at 12.30
Match was Tied

Match report We came to celebrate Stuart Hammond's birthday, preferably with a victory, and whilst he and his devoted fan club delivered in style (great support, chaps) a match that ebbed and flowed like the sea came down to the last ball. As the light faded with every passing moment, Wivenhoe scrambled two runs to leave us with that most rare of results, a tie. Through the gloom, many players had the hangdog look associated with defeat, but in the fullness of time those extra points from the tie may prove to be critical to our promotion push.
Batting first was the logical choice after winning the toss and we went in with a new opening pairing of Porky and Ollie Mewis. Four balls in Porky was trudging disconsolately back to the pavilion, but striding in the opposite direction was Stuart with a determination to lead the team to a big score. He survived a confident leg before shout first ball, but over the next 122 balls Stuart stroked, nudged and drove his way to a splendid 120, exactly half of our final score of 240-7. Ollie M gave Stuart excellent support after that early shock as they shared a stand of 90, Ollie’s contribution being 42 before he was bowled having looked well set for a big score of his own.
In the boiling heat the Wivenhoe bowlers found more joy from the allotment end as they nibbled away at our middle order. Only Alex Hammond stayed for any length of time, his unbeaten 35 was not his most fluent effort and as Alex freely admitted, he has played better for fewer runs, but it was crucial in helping us reach what was considered a par score. Now you may think the benefit of hindsight enables me to write such prophetic words, however this was the view offered by the home team during the tea break. They had also chased down several big scores in recent weeks, so 241 to win was regarded as eminently gettable.
The Wivenhoe openers started confidently and had 43 on the board in good time before a wonderful pick up and throw from cover saw Stephen Nunn claim a run out with a direct hit. Unfortunately, that was probably the individual highlight of our fielding performance as several miss-fields and wayward throws cost runs, not to mention the five catches that were shelled. Amid the mayhem Matt Norris was his usual expert self in the field, claiming two catches and saving several runs. Oli Firmin led the bowling attack with a 15 over spell which yielded three wickets, although Oli was disappointed at the 57 runs conceded. However, he shouldn’t chastise himself as had the remainder of the attack had similar economy rates, we would have run out comfortable winners.
The quick thinking of Joe Young brought about another run-out at a time when Wivenhoe had two set batsmen (175-5 in the 34th over); even so, with MacDonald passing 50 for the hosts as he expertly manoeuvred the field, they looked favourites to claim victory. Joe then turned his arm over and claimed 2-34; there may have been another run-out but it was a close call and went against the Green. At the time it caused some disquiet, but when the toys eventually went back in the pram, we returned the game as it headed towards an exciting conclusion. Ollie M picked up two wickets of his own in a short spell, including the crucial one of MacDonald but only five runs were needed from the last over, with two wickets in hand. Joe started with a dot ball and in terrible light Stephen took a boundary catch. Joe kept his nerve such that Wivenhoe needed three to win from the final ball. They managed the two to reach 240-9 and claim a tie and whilst I would always be cheering for a win for the Green, somehow the outcome seemed just about right after a thoroughly entertaining afternoon.

Eight Ash Green Cricket Club Two Counties 1st XI (Saturday) Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 6w 8b 3lb 
for 7 wickets
18
240		        
James Parker ct Stacey b Fields 0 4 4 0
Oliver Mewis b Barry 42 83 62 7 67.74
Stuart Hammond ct Farrow b Fields 120 166 123 15 97.56
Keith-Henry Hammond ct Canavon b J Lucking 11 25 15 73.33 1
Ollie Stovell b J Lucking 8 19 12 1 66.67
Alex Hammond Not Out  35 59 45 2 77.78
Joe Young b Holyman 0 3 3 0 1
Steve Nunn ct E Lucking b Fields 3 5 3 100 1 1
Matt Norris Not Out  3 7 3 100 2
Jonathan Purser  
Oli Firmin  

Wivenhoe II Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
L Fields11.0133311.003.00
J Lucking10.0155227.505.50
J Barry15.0074174.004.93
L Holyman9.0067167.007.44

Wivenhoe II Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 3w 5b 9lb 
for 9 wickets
18
240 (45.0 overs)		     
L Homewood b Firmin 42 58 42 8 100
R Stacey run out (Nunn) 10 31 22 2 45.45
M Canavon ct Norris b Firmin 3 17 15 20.0
E Lucking ct K Hammond b Firmin 34 49 38 7 89.47
R MacDonald lbw Mewis 58 117 76 3 76.32
L Holyman run out (Young/Parker) 25 54 26 1 1 96.15
L Evers lbw Young 25 25 21 3 1 119.05
L Fields ct Nunn b Young 13 20 12 1 108.33
J Barry ct Norris b Mewis 4 4 8 50.0
P Farrow Not Out  7 13 10 70.0
J Lucking Not Out  1 2 1 100

Eight Ash Green Cricket Club Two Counties 1st XI (Saturday) Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Oli Firmin15.0257319.003.80
Jonathan Purser4.002700.006.75
Keith-Henry Hammond10.005600.005.60
Steve Nunn5.003600.007.20
Joe Young8.0034217.004.25
Oliver Mewis3.001628.005.33