Great Yarmouth 'A' v Drayton 'A' 4th August 2007

Great Yarmouth 'A' 181-7 Drayton 'A' 121-10 On a glorious sunny afternoon at Beaconsfield, Yarmouth paid Drayton the compliment of including K Nicholls in their team. He, like S Hak who played in the reverse fixture earlier in the season, averaged 43 for Yarmouth's first team in Division 3 last year.

When Hodds and Smith opened for Yarmouth against Jason Trett and Jamie Scarff, the wicket seemed to have some pace. Both batsmen showed that you could get full value for your shots, particularly when cutting and glancing boundaries, and Yarmouth reached 26-0 after 4 overs.

After this, Drayton bowled accurately and fielded tigerishly, keeping Yarmouth below 3 an over until the 24th over. Trett made the first breakthrough in the 5th over and Scarff bowled as accurately as he has all season. Nicholls (62) and Smith (42) both showed composure for Yarmouth, but they were held in check by Nigel Massingham's typically mean 12/3/26/3. In a good Drayton fielding performance, James Reeve's athleticism and aggression and Graham Crowe's willingness to put his body on the line both stood out. A late flourish at the end from A Ellis, who scored 21 not out in five overs of frantic running, enabled Yarmouth to close on 181-7.

With the fast outfield, this seemed a reachable target. Yarmouth's Ellis bowled a hostile downwind spell of eight overs, getting regular lift and carry-through to the wicket keeper and slips standing a pitch length behind. Balls regularly bounced chest height. Crowe and Massingham played skilfully and bravely, until Crowe departed to the gentler pace of Raja. Just as he was staring to accelerate, Massingham (19, with three fours), was splendidly caught off Ellis, at ground level, by Johnston, twenty two yards back at first slip. A stand of 50 between Tony Gregory (18) and Mike Sutton (29) took Drayton to 84 after 25 overs. Five runs an over for the last 20 overs, with 8 wickets in hand seemed more manageable than the 144 in 21 required in the reverse fixture, but five Drayton wickets fell in the next 8 overs. Eventually, 11 runs were needed for the third batting point, and last pair Will Herring and Jamie Scarff managed this capably.

An uneven performance from Drayton, but Yarmouth fully deserved their win. News that Frettenham had lost again softened the blow a little.