Following a great victory against the Old Grumblers last week, there was high expectation that Sudbury would pose a far less challenging threat, so it may be fair to say that a certain amount of complacency had crept into a confident side. Pride, as we all know, inevitably comes before a fall, and so it nearly proved to be.
Sudbury were put in to bat by Captain Charlie E, and it wasn’t long before George E took the first wicket. But the next two batsmen proved quite resilient, and it took the debut wicket (with his second ball for Bures) by Miles Felton to make a breakthrough.
However, wickets did not fall easily after that and it took imaginative bowling changes to gradually chip away with Charlie A, Eddie M (for the second week in a row), and an unplayable ball from Rob W (his first appearance of the season) taking a wicket each. In the meantime, Guy A (a Bures player first and foremost, and now in line for a heavy fine!) batted beautifully to score a fine 50 n.o. which allowed Sudbury to notch up a competitive total of 168.
Captain Charlie loaded the top end of the Bures batting line up with some strong batsmen (on paper), but in the space of 6 overs we were reduced to 25 for 4, and not long afterwards to 50 for 6. So who was going to step up to save the day? Surely not Max Woods I hear you say, whose record to date boasted 2 innings, facing one ball and being out for 0 twice. However, today was to be different and Max, ably supported by great performances by Miles and then Edward Alexander, somehow brought us within touching distance of victory. As ever with Bures, there was yet to be a twist. Max finally perished on 98, two short of a maiden century, but nevertheless he played a superb innings. With 14 needed and Edward A and Keith at the crease, we still felt the win was within our grasp, but finally Edward succumbed having looked assured and in control (a great innings for a young lad). So now we needed 8 with our last 2 in and Rob, as yet, untested. Somehow he survived, and it was left to Keith to smack the winning boundary through mid-wicket, to the relief and great joy of the top order.
A brief stay in the Bells before the football (which England won 4-0) rounded off another great victory for the mighty Bures.