Drayton 'A' v Halvergate 'A' 10th June 2006

Halvergate 'A' 243-5 Drayton 'A' 159-4 (G. Crowe 48) Illness and non-availability reduced Drayton A to eight players. Having made countless unsuccessful phone calls to find extra players all week, what else could go wrong for skipper James Kay? Think. That's right: having to deal with a break-in and then losing the toss on the hottest day of the summer.

Well, the scarcity of fielders certainly limited scope for field placing: 3/3 was a good be for most of Halvergate's innings. The opposition batsmen were heard talking ominously about 300 as a target, so to have them at 120-4, after 29 overs was, in the context, something of a triumph. Some sensible, controlled bowling from Nigel Massingham (2-38, from his 12 overs) and Kay (1-47 from his 12) kept . Spirited fielding from Craig Knowles, whose speed over the rabbit-cratered outfield was amazing, reflected the determination of the whole side. Graham Crowe showed great bravery during his wicket keeping spell (and thanks to the Crowe family for a stylish tea!). James Reeve made excellent ground to catch a swirling ball in the deep, while Matt Bourne's throwing arm, into the breeze, from the longest boundary, was impressive. With wickets in hand and with the arrival of an intelligent teenage batsman, Halvergate accelerated in the final overs, posting 243-5.

In reply, Massingham and Knowles moved serenely to 42 in 8 overs, before a good catch and a very low bounce did for them both in 3 balls. Tony Gregory dug in (37 not out in 35 overs). With Crowe (48, with some spectacular boundaries) and Gregory together, Drayton set themselves batting points as a realistic target. At the end, Taylor and Gregory just failed to score the 14 runs off 7 balls for an extra batting point, Dayton finishing on 159-4.