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So, cricket is back! After a winter
in which cricket has been the victim of terrorist attacks on the sub-continent, in which English
cricket was made to look foolish (involvement in Stanford's Twenty20 match), brave (returning
to play two tests in India after the Mumbai shootings) and less than successful (losing a
series in the West Indies and being bowled out for 51 in Jamaica) it's time for the ordinary
club player to dust off his whites and play the game for fun.
What fun, too, for Elstead 2nd X1! Under new skipper, Olly Phillips, and vice-captain, Les
Stevenson, the team started the season with three straight wins. The first was definitely
done the hard way, with Elstead 11 for 4 chasing a total of 138 against Badshot Lea. Enter
Josh Berry who scored a controlled 77 while the late order batsmen, mainly youngsters, stuck
around and picked up a few runs each. The result was a terrific win, by one wicket with just
four balls left.
There was more the following week as Pat Murphy defied the advancing years to carry his bat
for 76 as Elstead totalled 150. A steady performance in the field saw Puttenham 2nd X1 bowled
out for 136. Pat was at it the next week, too, with 52 runs ably back up by 43 from Paul Smith
(who also took four wickets) as Elstead amassed 174 and then bowled out Chiddingfold 2nd X1
for 127.
So, 28 points on the board already! Could it continue? Well, of course, not! Tilford came
visiting and, having restricted Elstead to 154, proceeded to knock off the runs for the loss
of just two wickets with plenty of overs in hand. Still, it's a great start by the Twos and
bodes well for a decent season.
The 1st X1, on the other hand, has struggled from the off. Having restricted a strong Puttenham
side to just 154 in their first game the Ones then produced a fairly insipid batting performance
to be all out for 98. Still, there was a local battle against Thursley to look forward to.
At 61 for 8 Thursley looked in real trouble but a stand of 97 for the ninth wicket saw the
visitors amass a decent, but far from daunting, 165. Yet Elstead did their best to capitulate
in record time and were 37 for 7 at one stage. Only 50 from Sam Barker helped stave off complete
ignominy but the side were eventually bowled out for 106, with local resident, Keith Tilson,
taking six wickets.
A trip to champions, Frensham, followed and a less than happy skipper, Mark Wycherley, was
looking for a marked step up in effort. Batting first, Elstead managed to score 163, probably
not a big enough total on Frensham's small ground, and the home side showed how it should
be done by reaching 166 for the loss of just one wicket.
So, all to play for there! By the time you read this, too, the Stevens Cup will be underway.
Let's see if we can win back 'our' trophy. In the meantime you can keep abreast of results
at
www.elstead.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/results.
I'll do my best to fill in some background details.
Gordon Wycherley
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