Recap

Another cracking day greeted us for the second match of the season, and with a slightly more mobile side than the previous week we were hoping for the first win of the season. A little ominously the opposition were not only all young and athletic, they also only had one pint in the pub prior to starting. As ever we lost the toss and were once again asked to field.

They started their innings confidently, and an alarming number of runs was soon posted on the board, threatening a possible total of high 200’s to 300. However, Narns bowled a very tidy first spell of his season, and George (boyband) E soon struck with the first wicket, off a carefully planned full toss! Despite this breakthrough and a fine few overs from Charlie E, it fell to Giles G to start
making proper inroads into their line-up, taking two wickets, and again bowling well.

Then the tactical masterstroke was employed by the Chairman (captain for the day) putting Matt Jervois, who was on debut, on one end and Magic Ralph the other. Matt, with his cunningly flighted deliveries and Ralph, with possibly his best spell ever for Bures, duly first stalled and then destroyed the oppo with one debut wicket for Matt and 4 for 17 for Ralph. The Chairman, as ever, picked his moment, and weighed in with a couple of wickets as well, and instead of a massive total, we found ourselves chasing a mere 207.

An excellent tea provided by Mark B and Katherine revived everyone’s spirits, and it was soon back to the fray. Unfortunately, the two openers this week, Mark B and Giles G, could not reproduce the fine form from their first outing, and they were swiftly followed by Sean R, hitting a couple of lusty blows before being caught, and Gordon T. Once James E was triggered by his loving nephew for 14, despite looking like he would make a much larger contribution, Bures were rocking at 30 odd for 5.

However, yet another twist in the tale brought father and son Erith to the crease, and they added an excellent 90+ stand, with George (52) and Charlie (41), pulling Bures from the jaws of certain defeat and placing them back on a much more even keel, with a win hovering on the horizon. Narns then played with his usual flair, but when he was out for 35, we were still 35 short of our target. Luckily, the cool head of debutant Matt J, with a fine 15 n.o. and the Chairman (12 n.o.) aided by a few extras took Bures to victory, much to the delight of the home team.

Plenty of beers were consumed at the 8 Bells, and now we look forward with anticipation and more confidence to the rest of the season.

Many thanks should also be given to Max and his team for stepping in and making the long journey from Durham to play us, we enjoyed their company. It is hard to imagine how this hard-working crew could have dragged themselves away from their studies, just to have an extremely boozy weekend and play a great game of cricket in beautiful Bures. Thanks for your sacrifice!