Cheddar 235/4 beat Cleeve Crusaders 187/9
When the big day finally arrived for the three Cheddar debutantes, the black clouds and pouring rain seemed set to spoil their long-awaited dream. But the gods had other plans in store for Ollie Parrott, Liam Read and young Scott Franklin. The match started on time when the strong wind pushed the clouds away, and Cheddar stand-in captain, Dan Scholes elected to field after winning the toss.
Things started well when Harry Bishop took a wicket in the first over, and followed this with an excellent run-out in the 3rd over of the day. Cue the introduction of the previously unheralded Sam Hill. With 3 wickets in his first 4 balls, Hill ended with 4 wickets in his two maiden overs, setting a marker for the 8 returning regular players next week. New boys Franklin and Read grabbed a wicket each in their 2 overs, helping Cheddar to remove the Crusaders for 187/9 at the end of their 20 overs. Captain Scholes ended with 3 maidens of his 4 overs.
Bishop and Sam Balkham opened the innings. Bishop showed his metal, but Balkham was unlucky to receive a stunner from Crusader's captain C Hance. The next pair of Hill and Read did well to lose only 1 wicket, with Hill unbeaten. The middle pairing of Franklin and Parrott faced very few playable balls as the Cleeve attack proved wayward, and scoring was as difficult as the previous pair found. It was Scholes and Greg McGowan who got things moving with a sparkling albeit chancy session of 22 runs. Keeper Booker, who had an outstanding day behind the stumps managed, with the help of ever-improving Dudley Patience, to keep the score well ahead of target, and Cheddar ran out comfortable winners.
With 13 players unavailable, the team showed its depth, leaving manager and coach alike with broad smiles.
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