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Result - The Bar of England and Wales

Sat Aug 22nd The Grannies win by 8 wickets

Match report

After a night of rain the teams foregathered at the gem of a ground that is Temple Grove. The Grannies won the toss for this 35 overs contest and Stanners inserted the Bar, presumably imagining them not to have had a quiet evening in at the Griffin..... The decision seemed shrewd, as the Bar stumbled to 30 odd for 5. Shiv Haria Shah got 2 wickets, in among 1 or 2 quite misdirected deliveries, but was mercifully (to BEWCC) then taken off with figures of 4-0-13-2, never to return. Ben Hope snared the other 2 with raw (if spiked by the precipitation) pace, and, for one of them, more than a little help on the LBW front from the umpire to remove the hapless Q Newcomb. 2 of the 4 dismissals owed a good deal to the safe mitts of Will Siebert. Will himself then set to work but found his classical leg-spin unaided by the slow track. He took the fifth wicket but Charles Prior and James Hay for the Bar then made...hay. Will eventually got a second wicket, removing Hay, caught by Will's old Dad, for a rumbustiously made 64. Prior saw the innings out with 54* (his first of 2 fifties for the weekend, making his journey from Merseyside highly worthwhile). Little cameos were to follow from Tom Bell (10 and giving Will Siebert his third decent catch), James Cartwright (5) and Percival (playing for 'the other side', 9*), with a wicket apiece to Darren Almeida and Matt Siebert, and the innings closed with the Bar 199 for 8.

The Grannies launched their reply with a bang, and it was a surprise when Jamie Williams on 10 'nicked off' to Tom Bell and - even more of a surprise - the keeper accepted the chance. This was though merely the prelude to mayhem. James Caldwell hit it to all parts before being picked up for 32 at mid-wicket off a good 'un, an in-ducker from Q (on fine form and ending with 5-0-20-1). Leading the charge though was Jonny Morris, on a mission to make amends for being run out on 'only' 61 last year, having put his side in sight of victory. He was particularly unforgiving on anything not pitched up, skilfully targeting the short boundaries straight and to one side, and making a serious mess of the figures of all bowlers with the notable exception of Q and Olly Kavanagh, the Bar's very accurate opener (7-0-28-0). Supported as he was very ably, and powerfully, by Ben Hope, who finished on 22*, Jonny racked up no less than 7 sixes and 13 fours, and when victory was wrapped up, after a mere 27 overs, and with still only 2 wickets down, he was on a magnificent 115*.

After a paucity of them in recent years, this was the Grannies' second ton in the 9 games (so far) of our curtailed season. It was also our second win after a sequence of, mostly narrow, defeats. Just how many more tons and just how many more wins are there to come in the three matches which remain? Watch this space!

Match info

This match will be played at Temple Grove Cricket Ground in East Sussex. [NB. It is not being played at Sheffield Park this year]

Location
Temple Grove Cricket Ground,
Heron's Ghyll,
Uckfield,
TN22 4BX

How to get there
Off A26 main road between Uckfield & Crowborough:
From Uckfield, heading north – once at Heron’s Ghyll, look out for Catholic Church on right hand side. Sign : ‘Temple Grove House’ - Turn right into entrance of Temple Grove House, approx 50 yards past church – sign : ‘Newick Cricket Club’..
From Crowborough, heading south – after 4 miles, look out for Barns Gate Manor on right hand side. Continue on through the next couple of bends for another 500 yards. Turn left into the entrance of Temple Grove. Sign : ‘Temple Grove House’ and ‘Newick Cricket Club’