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Phew, what a scorcher! A beautiful day greeted us at The Lee ... The best place to sit was under the trees, but the scoreboard is by the pavilion (where else ?) with no shade. Hyde Heath won the toss and, after some consideration, elected to field first. The pitch looked good, and the outfield fast, and so The Lee set off at a reasonable clip. They lost an early wicket, but John Swain was looking in ominously good form ... until in Bradley Holt's second over he miscued a rank long hop and was caught behind. At the other end Alistair Richards continued to pitch the ball up, to the great enjoyment of home skipper Alistair Flerning, who peppered the off side with some splendid strokes. Unfortunately no 5 bat, Whittle ruptured an Achilles tendon when setting off for a run; he was rushed to Stoke Mandeville, and, of course, took no further part in the match, although his place was taken by a junior sub at the end of the innings. Bradley and our Alistair now began to make inroads into the home side's batting order, which exposed a few junior members, who, although well-coached, have yet to be battle-hardened, and the home side slipped to 105 all out from 28.2 overs, of which skipper Fleming made a valiant 39. Bradley took 3 for 31 in seven overs and Alistair 4 for 36 in nine. After tea it was a different story as Henry Capper and newly-promoted in the order, Jeremy Stevens, replied for Hyde Heath at a rate of 6 an over, thus reaching the target in 17.1 overs with Henry on 46 not out (8 fours) and Jeremy recording his maiden half century for the Club in 41 minutes with 50 not out (9 fours). Stand-in captain, Nick Burgham, was naturally delighted. Result: THE LEE 105 HYDE HEATH 106-0. Hyde Heath won by ten wickets. Next Sunday: ( May 18th.) at the Common v. Great Missenden Pelicans. 2.00 start. Robin Richards May 4th - Chartridge - Home May 4th and another season starts with hope, and the desire to quickly
accustom to the difference in pace between indoor nets and the moisture-laden
great outdoors. Earlier in the week Hyde Heath experienced much heavy rain, but
up at the Common the square was now playable, and we welcomed our traditional
season-opening opponents, Chartridge C.C. The ground fielding had been fairly slick and six catches, some very sharp, were taken. The tea interval was still a long way off, but Henry Capper and Matt Sims negotiated the 15-over gap by reaching 23 for 0 wicket. Tea, with sandwiches of a particular piquancy and "light as air" sponge cakes, was, as usual, a delightful interval. I note with approval the introduction of a tea bowl ... just the right touch for a thirsty scorer! Mr.Webbe-Master visited us with his trusty camera to take some "action" pics. Back to that action ... Henry (10) and Matt (12) enhanced the meaning of the phrase "watching paint dry" as they added 36 for the first wicket in 22.3 overs on a track which appeared to be progressively more difficult, but the arrival of Richard Cousins and Nick Burgham changed the mood, and the target was reached after 27.3 overs at 56 for 2 wickets. It wasn't pretty, but it was a win nevertheless - a good enough start to the season. CHARTRIDGE 54 HYDE HEATH 56-2. Hyde Heath won by 8 wickets.
Next Sunday (May 11th.) at The Lee 2.00 p.m. start. Robin Richards |
