Drayton 'A' v Happisburgh 'A' 28th April 2007

Drayton 'A' 154-9 (T. Gregory 40) Happisburgh 'A' 155-6 An uneven performance from Drayton A saw them lose to newcomers Happisburgh in a strange match which finished at a chilly 8.10pm.

Happisburgh won the toss and chose to field. Drayton batsmen Nigel Massingham (24), Richard Taylor (18) and Tony Gregory managed to get themselves out when well-set. Graham Crowe (14) was unlucky to depart to a sharp catch at mid-off, having middled his shot perfectly. Gregory (40) stayed longest, mixing watchful defence with seven hard hit cuts and drives to the boundary. Other Drayton batsmen found scoring difficult against slow bowling on a dying wicket, and it was left to Warren Kedge and Ryan Pointer to add a useful 13 in an undefeated last wicket stand. With a fast outfield, 154 was going to take some defending.

Happisburgh A started cautiously against some accurate Drayton bowling from Jamie Scarff and Matt Bourne. After an early wicket for Scarff, courtesy of a catch by Neil Chamberlain, the visitors dug in and Drayton managed to put down four catchable chances. Massingham began an impressively accurate spell (12/3/23/3), which kept Happisburgh behind the asking rate. Eventually, Crowe took a fine tumbling catch to dismiss the limpet-like opener.

By now the wicket was doing plenty, and the introduction of Darren Clark resulted in plenty of air-batting. For a while batsmen missed entirely or hit boundaries. When Massingham took two wickets in 10 balls, it looked as if we were heading for tight finish. Happisburgh had other ideas, though, and a flurry of boundaries in the 42nd over saw them home.