Washington Cricket Club - 40th Anniversary Year

Peter Kloss Reporting

Washington defeated Southill Park on Saturday thanks to a quick fire 57 in only 30 balls from Brad Hitchcock.

The annual visit to Southill is one of the highlights of the Washington season. The venue is a picture postcard location, set in the grounds of a stately home, with a thatched pavilion and the manor house and gardens as a backdrop to the pitch. The ground has even featured pictorially in Wisden. Somehow the sun always seems to shine on this fixture and Saturday was no exception with 30 degree temperatures and not a cloud in the sky.

Washington's victory owed much to great batting performances from Steve Brown (83), Justin Gurney (54) and Brad Hitchcock (57), economical bowling from Dominic Butcher and Peter Kloss, and a catch by Steve Brown.

Hitchcock's innings was particularly pleasing as this was the first half century for the club from this wicketkeeper-batsmen and loyal club member. The innings was all the more notable as he only faced 30 balls for his 57, and his quick runs at the end of the Washington innings were the difference between the two sides at the end of the day.

Washington captain Justin Gurney won the toss and elected to bat. The pitch was hard but green; however the beautiful weather dictated the decision to bat. Washington struggled a little at first to reach only 69 for 4 from the first 20 overs. Southill bowled well with the young bowlers finding swing and seam movement to make things difficult for Washington. Tony Harris (10) and Aff Naseem (15) seemed to have played themselves in but then miscued shots to mid-on and cover to be caught out. David Gluckman (3) hung around for a while before being stumped trying to go for a big shot and Russell Pendry (0) was caught after only facing a few balls.

Steve Brown had come in at number three and started quietly, holding up an end as other batsmen struggled. However he then began to open up and stroke the ball to the boundary in his most correct style. He batted extremely well through 33 overs for his 83 runs and was unfortunate not to be able to go on to a century, being bowled trying to push the scoring rate. Together with Justin Gurney (54), who played equally well, a partnership of 107 was built, the second highest of the season for the Washington.

With only 9 overs to go in the innings, and the score on 175, Brad Hitchcock strode to the wicket. He started with some luck, inside edging two consecutive balls for a four and a three. However once he got the measure of the bowling he really started to middle the ball, particularly with his trademark pull through mid-wicket. Hitchcock scored 8 fours in all, at one stage hitting 3 fours in 4 balls. Hitchy was ably supported by Peter Kloss (21*) who gave him more of the strike as well as scoring runs quickly himself. Their partnership yielded 67 runs in less than 7 overs.

Hitchcock was run out in the last over as he tired in the heat. His innings of 57 seemed to be over in a flash; indeed he had only faced 30 balls – quite an achievement.

Dominic Butcher (0*) came in in the final over but was not required to face a ball.

When Washington bowled, Southill Park started cautiously, advancing to 49 for 2 from the first 16 overs. The meaty opening bowling partnership of Dave Mutton (0-39) and Dominic Butcher (0-18) did their job well. Both bowled quickly, if a little wayward at times, but the batsmen certainly found it hard to score and Washington's fielding was sharp. However the early wickets were taken by first change bowlers Eric Stoughton (2-39), and Peter Kloss (2-21) who was particularly economical in his 8 overs.

Remarkably Stoughton got both of the father and son opening pair in identical fashion – caught at gully by Butcher. Kloss clean bowled two left handers who succumbed to the in-swinging yorker. In fact the ball swung a lot on this rather humid day.

Justin Gurney (1-31) came on and bowled a solid spell as usual. However Southill batsmen Quantrell (95) was building a big innings and once he cut loose the runs really started to flow. David Gluckman (0-21) and Steve Brown (0-29) both suffered and with 10 overs to go Southill Park needed 70 runs to run, very gettable given the fast outfield. Running across in the deep Aff Naseem dropped Quantrell but then crucially in the next over, as the batsman went for another big hit from Gurney's bowling, Steve Brown caught one on the boundary. Washington were mighty relieved as the following batsmen were not of his calibre and could not keep up with the rate. Butcher came back and bowled an excellent second spell (4 overs for 3 runs) and Russell Pendry (1-15) chipped in with a couple of overs at the end, also taking a wicket stumped, deceiving the batsman in the flight.

Southill Park finished on 221 for 7, 36 runs short. In the post mortem the particularly significant factors in Washington's victory were clear – Hitchcock's runs in the final overs of the Washington innings and the catch by Steve Brown to dismiss the dangerous Quantrell.

Captain Justin Gurney said after the game “A perfect day's cricket in a perfect location. It's great that we had three 50s in our innings but Hitchy's was the most significant – we really needed those runs in the end. Brown also had a good game and that catch was crucial.”.

Man of the match: a close run thing between Steve Brown and Brad Hitchcock, but Hitchy wins it by a head

Packing the kit: the England football team who lost on penalties to Portugal in the quarter finals of the world cup, watched by most during an extended tea break

Washington: Tony Harris, Aff Naseem, Steve Brown, David Gluckman, Russell Pendry, Justin Gurney (c), Brad Hitchcock, Peter Kloss, Dominic Butcher, Dave Mutton, Eric Stoughton