Brookland

Match Report

Brookland were a bit short of playing strength, when they lost the toss and were asked to field on a very bleak marsh day, with a ferociously cold wind whistling through the outfield. Middle order Straggler batsmen were obliged to stand watching opening pair of Will Hilton and Ralph Taylor, as they kept somewhat warmer by thrashing the ball to all parts and running a lot. Ralph fell for 39, and Will, unaware of his progress in an attempt to prevent skipper Neame from retiring him early, was caught on the boundary for 99, a superb knock. Flashing blades followed, with Carl Brown, Eliot Forster and Jonathan Neame picking up the pace. Eliot was obliged to pause to admire the action from the non-striker’s end, as his skipper managed to steal singles from
the final ball of a number of successive overs. At 236 for 8 at tea, the job had been well done.

Sadly the rain intervened towards the end of tea, and nine overs were bowled in increasingly unpleasant conditions before common sense prevailed.