Rubbish fielding but a win nonetheless

BRAMSHAW vs EAST ANTON – NOMANSLAND GREEN

Pre-Season Friendly | 40 Overs | Bramshaw won by 113 runs | 25th April

Bramshaw 289-7 (40 overs) beat East Anton 176 all out (33.2 overs)

Written by Bailey Loveless

Jack Booth, Joe Coombs, Stu Stickland, Max Hedges (+), Tom Arnold, Kaush Patel, William Ridley, George Hayes, Ajay Digwa**, Thomas Meades, Ewan Tanner, Bailey Loveless (c)

** Bramshaw Debut

With only one pre-season game on the card due to the previous fixture having been washed out. With half the club apparently fair-weather Saints who’d rather be at Wembley availability was only enough to get one side out. In the end put out a mixed but capable side featuring a blend of first, second and third teamers, alongside two Redlynch ringers, one of whom bore a striking resemblance to a former Prime Minister. With 12 men we were well stocked, which worked out nicely with some of the bigger units taking a well-earned 10 overs off the field each.

Kudos to Steve for taking some photos and JB and Kev for getting the ground into shape for the season.

The toss was settled with a Polish zloty kindly donated by Kaush Patel, fresh from a trip to Krakow. The less said about the lack of a Spanish euro, the better. If you know, you know. I won the toss and chose to bat first on a sunny day.

Jack Booth and Joe Coombs opened the batting and gave us a flying start, taking us through the first ten overs without loss. Booth caught the eye with some crisp cut shots before his partnership with Coombs was ended in the 13th over when he was brilliantly caught at square leg for 46 off 45 balls by a screaming one-handed diving catch. Coombs continued to play his shots before departing for 43 off 46 balls.

Stu Stickland and Max Hedges batted sensibly through to drinks, with us well placed on 128-2. Both fell shortly after the interval, Stickland for 11 and Hedges for 8 bringing Tom Arnold and Kaush Patel together at a key moment. Arnold played beautifully, timing the ball with ease, while Patel contributed in his own inimitable style, the odd top-edged six included. Arnold retired not out on a stunning 52 off just 30 balls, while Patel spent considerable time between 45 and 50, his personal milestone clearly within sight before eventually retiring on 50 off 37.

Will Ridley came in looking assured before chipping one to mid-off for 17. New signing Ajay Digwa then announced himself in style, driving elegantly through the covers and launching one memorably into the Wall Memorial, before being run out for 20 off 11 balls. George Hayes chipped in with 12 not out as we closed on 289-7, a strong total, though at the Green, no score is ever truly safe.

Opening the bowling were Thomas Meades, with Will Ridley known fondly as The Hog operating up the hill. Meades was sharp from the off, having clearly found a yard of extra pace over the winter, removing both openers and would have had more had Booth clung onto his chances in the field. Ridley took a little longer to find his rhythm but got his reward when he bowled their number three with a peach of a delivery, full and straight, stumps rattled leaving East Anton at 32-3.

Ewan Tanner and Ajay Digwa came on as first change, both bowling with reasonable control, but their batsmen had settled and were hitting through the line. Ajay created some good opportunities and nearly clung on to a stunning caught and bowled. They reached 120 off 16 overs and, as skipper, I don’t get nervous but I was starting to get a little shaky at their run rate.

I brought myself on alongside George Hayes, looking to force a breakthrough, and it worked. Between us we took 4 wickets in the spell to really apply the brakes. A catch was dropped during this period, the culprit being Tom Arnold, my own cousin. It won’t be forgotten. It will almost certainly be mentioned in a best man speech.

Jack Booth was introduced at the death and was desperately unlucky not to take a wicket, beating the bat consistently throughout his three overs. I came back on at the end to close the innings out alongside Thomas Meades.

To finish the game a sharp stumping from Max Hedges removing their skipper, who had batted well for 53, to wrap up a 113-run victory. The spin trio of Patel, Hayes and I did the damage, 7-26 from 10 overs between us strangled the innings and helped seal victory.

After a well-earned victory we turned our attention to putting the square fence back up, a considerably more efficient operation than Thursday’s training session, which had very nearly prompted JB to call this game off. With that done, it was off to the Lamb for a few cold ones whilst Will scranned a burger using a knife and a fork, before heading to the social club with the Redlynch ringers. Talk of a 2030 Resdshaw/Bramlynch merger were raised and immediately firmly put down by Tanner Snr.

All in all a great game, East Anton were a great bunch and we wish them well for the season ahead. It was great to get some runs and wickets in the tank before the league season starts next Saturday.

Thanks to East Anton for scoring and you can see their work here:

Bramshaw CC