Washington Cricket Club - 40th Anniversary Year

Matthew Cragoe reporting 

Washington fell to a third defeat on Hertfordshire soil in four weeks on Sunday.  A below-par total of 116 proved impossible to defend despite some excellent bowling and resolute fielding.

For skipper Luke Mitchell it was a big disappointment:  “Another forty runs would have made it interesting, but we just didn’t give ourselves enough to bowl at’, he said afterwards.

Winning the toss was always going to be important on a pitch that had received a huge amount of rain in the previous seven days. The wicket bore a menacing, greenish hue, and when the Bush called correctly, they had no hesitation in asking the visitors to bat first. 

From the outset, the ball showed an alarming to tendency to rear from just back of a length; even slow-medium pacer Steve Cresswell got the ball head high on occasion!

Indeed it was Creswell (3-21) who made the initial inroads. Andy Speck (0) looped a catch to short fine leg in the first over, Clinton Dugmore (1) was bowled after a watchful 6 overs at the crease, and Matt Cheviott (8) followed shortly afterwards, splicing an attempted pull to square leg. 

At 25-3, Bush were cock-a-hoop, but their joy soon turned to disbelief as next-man-in, Naveed Mir (34), began batting as only he can.  In nine destructive overs he carted 3 sixes, three 4s and lost the match ball in a hedge.  Together with Sam Clarke (38) he added 40 for the fourth wicket and restored some momentum to the Washington innings.

His departure - to a smart stumping - placed the onus firmly on Clarke’s shoulders, and he rose to the challenge admirably.  He smacked one 6 and six 4s in a stay of nearly 2 hours, patiently building an innings on the treacherous surface. 

By the time he was 8^th man out, with the total at 106, Mylo Portas (5), Andy Anderson (5) and Stuart Marsh (0) had all fallen; and though Luke Mitchell (5) and Gary Malcolm (5) both flickered briefly thereafter, Bush took tea eyeing a distinctly gettable target of 117.

That they got there in the end is a matter of record.  However, for the first half of the innings, Washington’s bowlers pulled their side right back into the contest. 

Mir (2-14) and the outstanding Andrew 'Angry' Anderson (2-16) opened the attack, the latter producing a snorter to account for the dangerous Ian Duncan (18) well taken at the wicket by Dugmore.  The pressure continued to mount as Clarke (1-21) accounted for Graham Barratt (9): with 13 overs gone, Bush were tottering at 37-4.

However, when the target is so low one good partnership can change the whole balance of the match.  So it was here.  Matt Americh (31) and Aiden Goodall (33) were the home side’s saviours, adding 52 for the 5^th wicket; when Americh fell to a catch off Pendry (1-12), only 28 more were needed.

Wash kept fighting, and skipper Mitchell (1-24) picked up a well-deserved scalp, but the numbers were all in the home side’s favour by this stage.  In a curious finale, the two runs which edged the Hollies to victory came not from the bat, but from wide deliveries. 

So, no joy for Wash on their first outing of August. They will be hoping for better luck in the non-Hertfordshire parish of Barnes next weekend.