Drayton v Caister 3rd May 2008

Drayton 186-8 Caister 166-9 In their first Norfolk League Division Two game since 2002, Drayton entertained Caister who had only lost one game en route to the Division Three title in 2007. On a damp pitch, Caister won the toss and unsurprisingly asked Drayton to bat. Caister's captain Tim Sims bowled an impressive opening spell (8-2-15-0) in which he moved the ball consistently off the pitch to trouble both Drayton's opening batsman. Whilst, scoring was slow, neither of Drayton's openers lost their wickets in the first 15 overs and as a result a solid platform was built. Andy Hawes eventually fell just prior to drinks - bowled via bat and pad for 20 with the score on 54. Paul Eggett joined Philip Wright and the pair set about upping the tempo - Eggett with some fine running between the wickets and Wright looking for the bigger shots. Wright fell to Chris Tennant for 48, and Eggett also fell to the nagging Tennant for 21. This set the stage for Michael Mario-Ghae to launch a typically blistering assault on the Caister bowlers. Having played himself in with a single off his first ball, the big Nigerian then hit two sixes and a four from his next three balls as the scoreboard started to tick over rapidly. The fun was quickly brought to a halt as Mario-Ghae fell for 26 - one of four batsman dismissed with the score on 134.

If Caister thought they were through the Drayton batting they were wrong, Lee Cornfield and Phil Soanes added 50 in 40 balls to help Drayton to a final total of 186-8, Soanes hitting 38 not out including 4 fours and a six.

Caister's reply was given a fine start by Simon Kerrison and Richard Stokes (who was a thorn in Drayton's side from his days with Acle). Kerrison in particular playing some stylish and powerful shots to get the scoreboard ticking over. However, as so often in the past couple of seasons, Phil Soanes struck in his first over - his flight and guile inducing a rush of blood from Kerrison who was bowled for 38 with the score on 58 in the 16th over. The introduction from the Drayton High Road end of the left arm medium pace of Gary Smith helped to strangle the Caister batsman - as just 20 runs were added in 9 overs, to increase the run rate. James Kerrison perished to Soanes in exactly the same way his brother had fallen, but at 82-2, Caister were still set fair with Stokes at the crease. Brown and Sims both fell quickly trying to hit Soanes out of the attack, meaning with the score at 96-4 it was very much game on.

Drayton had to wait until the 39th over before picking up their fifth wicket, and with Stokes falling for 65, the run rate mounting rapidly, and with Cornfield and Mario-Ghae returning for their second spells, Caister were unable to continue their challenge until the end - the Lifeboatmen eventually finishing on 166-9. Pick of the Drayton bowlers were Soanes with 4-35 and Smith who took 2-48. This was also a much improved fielding performance compared to 2007 - with special praise in that respect going to the Reeve brothers, Robert and James. Credit should also go to James Kay for all his hard work preparing the pitch which played impressively despite the recent spate of wet weather.