Eltham CC

Match Report

Match report Eltham CC Vs Belhus CC

The first match of the season. Would the sun be like it was two weeks previously and give the assembled ranks a nice tan on their return to the verdant field of dreams? Or, as two years ago, would it be cold enough to freeze the clackers off a brass monkey?

I think we all know where the clever money was on that one...but as things turned out it was reasonably warm and definitely dry, and you can't really ask for more than that in late April!

Eltham batted first, with Colin standing in as skipper in the absence of Bill (forced to work by the Post Office and West Ham) and Bulpitt (split nail). The innings was built on a series of decent partnerships rather than any individual - but solid scores from both openers and the middle order saw us through to an imposing 208. Conor Mitchell upped the pace when he got in and proved that it was posible to score boundaries on what was a very slow outfield - but he had to hit the ball very hard to do it!

When Belhus batted it became clear that they also felt that 208 was possibly out of reach. Stuart Davis, guesting in Essex as he always seems to, proved that his hands were safer than his driving by catching the opener off Toby's first over. Other notable events were that Ash - or what remains of him following a remarkable diet over the winter which has seen him halve in size - has added a fair bit of pace to both his bowling and his legs. We reckon he saved an extra 10 runs in the field and showed everyone how to do it. His bowling is definitely much quicker too. The Eltham bowling in general was sharp - Tanveer, Pad, Conor and Ash all bowled with pace and menace, with Swainy, Toby and Pradeep providing some guile too.

With 18 overs to go it looked like a draw was the most likely outcome, but once Conor had got a key wicket, the rest started tumbling. The last pair had to survive only for another 2 overs, but Ash was having none of it and bowled the last man to give Eltham a great win and start to the season.