This is my 3rd season with Coton and each of these has seen us set off the campaign with a thumping win. This year it was by 10 wickets having bowled out the 10 men of Cherry Hinton for 56.
On a warm, dry, spring day Chris Cooke took the new ball and delivered an accurate opening spell. It wasn’t until his fourth over that he conceded a run whilst removing one of the Cherry Hinton openers. It soon became apparent that the heavy roller that had been hired during the close season had yielded benefits. The pitch – while still low – was very consistent and the ball looked to be coming through faster then previous seasons. George opened from The Footpath End and took 3 wickets in a fine opening spell. He was only denied the need to buy a jug through good spells from each of the three change bowlers employed(*).
During the morning during the kids coaching session George and Chris had been building up their excuses of bad backs in readiness for what might happen in the afternoon. I was surprised when they didn’t turn up with notes excusing them from hard exercise in the afternoon. To his credit, both remembered to limp and run stiffly when the other fielders were watching. Alistair also spent some time cultivating an excuse connected to the new keeping gloves. In the end, he didn’t need to use his either.
Debutant Dave Simmons took a wicket in a short spell courtesy of a fine catch by Richard at mid-wicket. That Richard then managed to stay upright – much to the disappointment of his team mates – highlighted the elegance he brings to each facet of his game. “Other” Dave was soon back on track with two wickets and is well on the way to hearing the sound of a razor being sharpened. Ross twirled away through his spell beating the bat on countless times (even though on occasion he had to resort to bowling wides to do so) and was also rewarded with two wickets. Ed pulled one of these out of the air at mid-on from a well hit drive.
They were one man short, and so with nine wickets down and in under 30 overs Cherry Hinton had come and gone for 56. None of the batsmen looked like staying long and the bowlers had done their job. All the catches that went to hand stuck and there was some steady ground fielding. We retired for an excellent tea courtesy of Mr Breward.
After tea Ross and Chris opened up and knocked off the runs without too much trouble. The bowling was steady but apart from a sharp chance in the 1st over neither batsman looked like getting out. As a last desperate measure we sent a very reluctant Dave Scotcher out to umpire but he didn’t get to make any decisions in the one over that he stood. Both batsman played some good looking shots and a comfortable victory was achieved in around 15 overs.
So, on the plus side:
- We got to play after all last season’s frustrations.
- We won easily with a good all round performance.
- All the bowlers used had success and bowled economically.
- No dropped catches (and three smartly taken ones).
- Despite its appearance the pitch played well so thanks to everyone who put the work in during the winter (yes, I feel guilty).
- And on the downside:Most of the team will now have lost the benefit of attending the winter nets so don’t forget Wednesdays at 7pm.
This means we are joint top of the table at this early stage of the season and next week we are away at Waterbeach who also won their first game (against NCI). Waterbeach’s top scorer was “wides” with 31. So Ross should be right at home.
(*) This meant that your reporter didn’t get to turn his arm over. I am captain next week so this will be rectified, weather permitting.
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