Caister v Drayton 5th July 2008

Caister 202-7 Drayton 203-5 Having suffered three consecutive home defeats since their last victory, it was with, perhaps, some relief that Drayton were able to play their first away game in six weeks. The pitch at Caister's Allendale Road ground has developed something of a reputation over the last few years, and on first siting it appeared that it could potentially play one or two tricks. However, it would only be fair to report, that those tricks would only be in the mind, as the pitch played as well as any seen this season (certainly better than its near neighbour at the Beaconsfield), having both pace and bounce in equal measures.

Caister won the toss and opted to bat first, and were met with Michael Mario-Ghae and Gary Foreman at their miserly best, as they were able to crawl to only 12-0 in the first ten overs. Foreman conceding just one run in his first overs despite bowling into a fierce wind, which no other bowler in the game got the measure of. Just as Caister started to open up, Mario-Ghae had Simon Kerrison caught by Robert Reeve - a well judged catch as the wind threatened to carry the ball away from him. Foreman got his well deserved wicket in his 10th over - Paul Eggett pouching a sharp slip catch - Foreman's final figures well worth repeating 12-6-22-1. On his debut Shaun Packman bowled his assorted dibbly dobblies with an impressive measure of control - eventually conceding just 17 runs in his 8 overs - however the bowlers at the other end struggled. From 119-2 after 34 overs, Caister had set a solid base - mainly developed by the obdurate Richard Stokes who was eventually the victim of a run out of pure comedy value - for 37 (for the record Eggett again the man involved - Nigel Armitage and James Kay would also pick up run outs before the innings was out). The rest of Caister's innings was punctuated by some lusty hitting downwind by Phil Lamming - who made 76 and sensible accumulation by P. French, who finished on 32 not out.

A solid start to Drayton's reply by Andy Hawes and Philip Wright was undone, when Hawes and then Andy Denny fell victim to R. Brown in his opening over with the score on 20. Thereaster Wright, along with the ubiquitous Eggett, was forced to rebuild and build a solid platform for the stroke players in the middle order to launch a charge to victory. This was, in the main, achieved as they added 78 in 20 overs, before Eggett was snaffled at cover for 23 - and then two overs later Wright gloved a catch to the keeper having made 57. After taking two or three overs to get into their stride, James Kay (who had endured a miserable afternoon in the field - his run out notwithstanding) and Michael Mario-Ghae, started to impose themselves on the home bowling to give Drayton a sniff of victory. Caister were careful not to overpitch to the big Nigerian, however he is equally proficient against the short ball - his innings containing one enormous top edged six out of the ground over fine leg. Mario-Ghae fell for 36 in the 41st over, leaving Drayton needing 34 from 27 balls. The next three overs saw Kay and Nigel Armitage work the ball into gaps and run hard between the wickets - before Kay launched a violent attack on Caister captain Tim Sims' final over - smashing four boundaries to reduce the target to 3 off the last over. Victory was obtained with four balls to spare - Kay reaching a well deserved half century, his first for the first team. This was a much improved performance from Drayton, however credit should be extended to Caister also for playing their part in an exciting and sportingly contested fixture.