KCC v E&WH

On an overcast day at the Brake it was the 2nd 11's turn to get there 2017 season underway. Oliver in true captaincy fashion lost the toss and we were asked to Bowl .. lets face it we would all do the same at the brake with such great batting tracks :) also with KCC only having 8 players on time for the start of the match who wouldn't opt to bat and take advantage (would this become a factor in the end result? you decide)

So we opened up with the duo at opposite ends of our age spectrum with young Kamran and the not so young Launchbury , both bowled superbly considering the player shortages.They created a number of chances that unfortunately didn't result in any wickets in those first 14 overs. Kamran had two very hard caught and bowled chances along with the skipper dropping an absolute dolly... would this be the day of catches win matches ? if so we failed considerably with nearly double figures of missed chances.
the first wicket was taken in the 15th over with Jeacock having Richards adjudged LBW .
At this stage we then decided that catches might be good to keep hold of. we were then led by the chairman taking a tough chance at long on and young Ned Pratt taking a great caught and Bowled to dismiss Hendreds skipper.
Ned making his senior league debut deserves a special mention, his bowling was the envy of all of the seniors and he bowled his leg breaks with such maturity and finished with 3 wickets for only 20 runs, and his spell really helped us peg back Hendreds onslaught.
Standout batting for hundred was opener McKenna who was One of Ned's victims for 79 . Which I would imagine would have been particularly pleasing for his dad as this was Caught by Pratt Snr bowled Pratt Jnr :) (i'm sure Ned will remind his dad of the ones he put down off his bowling :) ) other than the catches we bowled well and restricted hendred to 200 which as you will all know is a below par score at the brake and would have been considerably less with 11 fielders in the first 8 overs and taking our catches.

So an enjoyable tea was had by all and KCC set about chasing down the total confident that if we batted properly that we would be able to be victors. The run chase didn't go to plan with Pratt Snr being given out in the first over caught behind , and then Oliver batting at 3 running himself out for 10 in the 4th over so with the pressure on us and being 23 for 2 in 4 overs this was now going to be an uphill battle, Jeacock made a great start but went for one too many big shots having already hit 3 consecutive boundaries and missed a straight one for 29, Kamran was looking assured when unfortunately he got a good ball and just played down the wrong line being dismissed for 5. this had KCC in all sorts of trouble at 68 for 4 .
Raz and Saj were now together at the crease and decided that attack was the best form of defence and set about dispatching the bowlers to all parts of the ground, Raz unfortunately adjudged caught and bowled to what he believed was a bump ball for 40 was the main aggressor at this stage. Saj then took over with a 50+ partnership with Launcbury Jnr and continued where Raz had left off dealing in boundaries all over the ground. Jack batted with assuring confidence and was unlucky to not middle one for a change and was caught for 17, This Brought together Moss and Saj ..singles were not on the cards and with Moss's nemesis being brought on from the top end if was only going one way , moss went for the big shot and holed out for 4 , leaving us on 180 for 7 but with saj still going strong we were still in the hunt, now with both Siddique brothers at the crease shots were still going to be played. unfortunately saj who had batted superbly went for an uncharacteristic like defensive shot and missed a straight one for a great knock of 58. This left KCC needing 10 runs and Hendred needing 2 wickets so well and truly in the balance and with Ash and Tony at the crease the sensible bets were in our favour.
unfortunately Launchbury Snr couldn't quite match the batting of Launchbury Jnr earlier in the innings and fell for 5 leaving KCC needing 5 from the remaining 18 overs.
young Ned did a great job of defending the remaining 3 balls from Hutts over which left Ash on strike with only one thing on his mind . Baring floating inviting apple balls in proved too inviting for Ash who went to try and win it in style and at first it looked like it came off the bat well with a few team members thinking it was enough going by the noise coming from the watching benches.Unfortunately this was'nt the case and the ball went high into the sky but fell comfortably into the fielders hands at cow corner who took the catch with confidence and won the match for hendred.

A thoroughly enjoyable game to captain and it was in the balance the whole time, Neds bowling being my main highlight followed closely by the great knocks from Saj and Raz. The old adage of catches win matches is definitely correct for this game.

Can I ask on behalf of all the captains that if you have agreed to play and unless agreed otherwise by the captains that you should arrive at the time asked, Cricket isn't a rock up and play game. There is a certain amount of preparation that is required before and indeed after the game that we are ALL responsible for , so don't leave it to the same people each week and arriving late unnecessarily and without good reason is unacceptable and I can only speak for myself but it will have an impact on selection