Match: 5th June

Match report Dedham v Elmstead Grasshoppers 5th June 2008 at Dedham Dedham (73-7) beat Elmstead Grasshoppers (72-6) by 3 wickets As Dedham entered the final overs in their pursuit of the Elmstead score of 72-6, six wickets were standing with only 5 runs required. However in keeping with the senior team, when bowling at Dedham no cause is ever lost for the opposition, and after 3 wickets fell for the addition of a wide it was with enormous relief that Oliver Williams scored the winning run in the 17th over. After a week of dreadful weather the timely arrival of the sun allowed the game to take place, for which thanks are entirely due to the effort of Roger Moss. Elmstead decided to bat first and once again Archie struck in his first over with debutant Kye taking a good catch at mid off. Bowling full and straight Archie has developed into an excellent strike bowler, albeit that he treats every wicket or long hop with the same shrug of his shoulders! With Michael Wright keeping the pressure on at the top end, and some tight fielding, the Elmstead scoring rate never rose dramatically, despite a lack of wickets. Captain Angus Lockhart juggled his bowlers well, never allowing the two Elmstead batsmen to settle, although the fielders were kept busy. Soon the boundaries started to come with both Jamie and Angus punished for bowling either too full or too short, and the pressure was released when Oliver lost his normally reliable rhythm from the top end, although he bowled much better from the church end. Dedham then began to get a bit frustrated in the field as the two Elmstead batsmen ran well between the wickets and were quick to latch onto anything loose. The turning point was the introduction of Joe Walters who started with a wide, but then clean bowled the number three batsmen for an excellent 30. From a 15 over score of 53 -2 Dedham then picked up their game wonderfully well, with Ieuan taking two wickets in his first over including a catch behind for Harry Spalding. This was followed with the reintroduction of Archie and Michael and despite a few wides, Elmstead were unable to increase their score due to the continual loss of wickets, closing on a reasonable total of 72-6. It was another impressive fielding performance, with good support for the bowlers, and excellent backing up from everyone, with the stand out performance in the field coming from Ieuan Davies. Batting remains the one major area of weakness for Dedham, with batsmen losing patience too readily in the face of accurate bowling. Twenty over cricket is still a relatively long time for a team to bat and in the face of larger totals we will have to learn how to construct an innings. Thus the chase of 73 was never going to be easy, but Dedham was given a helping hand by the Elmstead bowlers with plenty of extras. Angus and Kye opened the batting, and after Kye was caught at point in the 3rd over Jamie joined the skipper. After 6 tight overs the score was 17 with both playing well through the cover region. Angus received a seemingly harsh decision from the square leg umpire but can only have himself to blame after failing to run his bat in! Ieuan joined Jamie and immediately hit the first and only boundary of the inning with a fantastic pull shot. Both ran well between the wickets, taking the score to 37 by the 10th over. Disaster then struck with Jamie caught off a leading edge for 10, and then in a bizarre and slightly surreal passage of play Ieuan was run out as he slipped when backing up off a no-ball. Archie and Michael rebuilt the innings well, despite plenty of close escapes and near misses. As the target got closer Dedham both batsmen rather lost their heads and 68 for 4 became 70 for 6 with Archie LBW and Harry caught out first ball in an excellent over from Pushman of Elmstead. When Michael was caught with only 3 needed the cat was definitely amongst the pigeons, but a calm push through mid on by Oliver, and a very helpful wide, got Dedham over the line against a very good and well drilled Elmstead team. Congratulations once again to the boys for an excellent performance, and our thanks also extend to Mr Lockhart who foolishly offered to umpire, and to Martin Williams for scoring once again. Teas were provided by Sean Gregory Snr and Mrs Williams who also stepped in as” Dimple”, allowing the real version to celebrate her 21st birthday in peace. Felix Fitch

 

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