1st XI Vs TBA - ECB National Cup Round 4

Buttleman won the toss and decided to bat.  

Maybe it was the previous days rain or something in the preparation of the pitch, but batting was never easy.

A rejigged top order saw Brentwood start confidently, but from 43 for 1 after 10 overs, Brentwood wickets fell regularly.  Only Oakley of the top 4 made a good contribution, falling for 36.  

Redwood and Buttleman then put on the dominant stand for the fifth wicket as they took the game to Southgate.  When Redwood fell for 34, Charlie Griffiths entered the fray.

A ripple of excitement ran around the ground, the local spectators watched quizzically.  Was it the legendary Charlie Griffiths they wondered?

Brentwood’s Lord Griffiths was in swashbuckling style, hitting a breezy 25, demanding new gloves when his palms were sweaty.  Lord G does not lavish cash on his kit, proven by his boast when he went out to bat that he had had the same pads since he was 13.  When his gloves were ferried from the field, a gleeful Westy managed to push a cricket ball through the hole in the palm.  Not sure the gloves were up to much! Lord G fell in the penultimate over.  

Skipper Buttleman had hit 45 from 53 deliveries before falling into last over.  

Jake Wickham brought a moment of hilarity to the sidelines when given strict instructions to get 5 more runs when sent out to bat in the last over.  Jake is clearly a bright lad, just finishing a degree.  However, he wanted to confirm that we needed this number of runs for a batting bonus point.  Belchamber kindly pointed out this was a cup game and batting bonus points did not matter.  Extra runs did!

Brentwood closed at 194 for 9 at the end of the 45 overs.

The local spectators approached me for clarification during the break.  Was it the famous Charlie Griffiths they wanted to know?  These Gentleman were of a certain age, and I had to point out that our Charlie Griffiths was not a 76 year old Barbadian and had not played 28 tests for the West Indies.

I also pointed out that our Matthew Bell was only 17 years old, and was not the Matthew Bell who had played 18 test for New Zealand.  Similarly they only needed to watch our Ian Bel bat to realise he was not the current England International better known for his batting than his left arm spin.

Considered opinion was that Brentwood had posted a decent score for the pitch quality but would need to bowl well.

Bowl well they did.  With aggressive fielding and strong team support Brentwood started well. 

Giving very few boundaries, and meagre runs, Buttleman and Jake Wickham bowled extremely well.  Wickham in particular beat the outside edge again and again.  He got his reward with 3 wickets for 18 runs from his 9 overs, swinging the match firmly in Brentwood’s direction.  Buttleman took one wicket off his short run up, getting through his overs quickly as the run rate climbed incessantly.

Lord Griffiths entered the fray. He wheeled away with much more vigour than is generally seen in 76 year old Barbadians, and took 4 wickets for 21 (one a great reaction catch behind by Redwood).  Lord G did suffer from 4 different injuries during the game, at one point rolling on the ground in agony reminiscent of an Italian striker.  None of his team mates expressed concern, but rolled the ball to him to get on with it.

Ian Belchamber took one wicket, and Matthew Bell took the final wicket to see Southgate fall to 89 all out. 

A strong team performance to win by 105 runs.