Horsham Trinity 181-7 (49) – 28 points

East Preston 149 all out (43.3) – 6 points

There are two possible reasons for the skipper deciding to field on a scorchingly hot afternoon. One is that he thought it gave EP the best chance of winning the game, and the other is that he is a sadist. You be the judge!

From last week, Joel was missing to attend his son Loius’ birthday party and Josh Carter was left at EP to captain the 2s, so Leon and Simon Hotchkiss were brought in. Sean had injured himself the previous evening at nets (one of only three first team players to attend) and was not fit to bowl.

As against Portslade, Darryl took the new ball and bowled a tight spell without much luck but did get a wicket when Tom C took a good catch at short third man (23-1). In Joel’s absence, Jack partnered Darryl and immediately settled down into a very Joel-like rhythm, getting good away swing and regularly beating the bat. When he did find the edge, twice in one over, the catches were grounded by Sean and Andy at 1^st and 3^rd slips, but Horsham were unable to accelerate. Tom Chamberlain, fully fit after last week’s hamstring scare, replaced Jack but was not able to get the same movement.

The fourth seamer gave the skipper a quandary as Joel and Sean would normally have been expected to bowl 15 to 20 overs between them, but Tom R bowled with excellent control and conceded just 18 in his first spell, 10 of them in his 7^th over.

Miggins had a twirl from the southern end and looked to be troubling the opposition, with Simon taking a good low catch at square leg (83-2), and the return of Darryl brought two more quick wickets with the snail-paced opener being caught by Tom R at cover (84-3) and the next batsman nicking his first ball to Sean at slip (84-4) in the 31^st over. That seemed to be the cue for Horsham to try to up the rate, with Miggins conceding 18 from an over, mostly to the short straight boundary, and Andy had to resort to the all-seam attack once again.

Jack bowled another economical 5-over spell to concede just 24 from 10 all afternoon, Tom C had a few more overs, and Tom R and Darryl were left to complete the innings. Tom had one catch dropped by Sean, but did bowl top scorer White just after he had passed his 50 (154-5), and Darryl bowled the number 6 (154-6) leaving EP well placed to keep the score to manageable proportions with just five overs left.

Then came a moment of controversy: Smutt threw down the stumps after taking a delivery from Tom R and appealed for the stumping only to see that the opposition umpire at square leg was looking the other way. This led Andy to inform the umpire (and the opposition captain at the tea break) that he felt it was “incompetence” and unacceptable in a first team game. What really mattered was that this would have given EP another two bonus points.

Darryl bowled Robinson to get his maiden first team Michelle (166-7) and a few late hits took the innings to what Andy felt was a manageable 181-7, although 181-8 would have been more deserved. 

Jack and Sean set off at a reasonable pace until Jack was LBW playing across a full straight delivery (31-1). Smutt also played across a straight one and, without the intervention of his pads, was bowled (40-2). Sean, already suffering from the previous night’s bruised foot, then pulled up lame with another injury which meant that Jack was called upon to act as a runner, and this was clearly a situation with which none of the batsmen, fielders or apparently the umpires were familiar, with Andy having to advise the batsmen from the sidelines where they should be standing. The problem was ended by Sean’s dismissal (48-3).

Darryl was looking comfortable, if not particularly fluent, and Tom R tried to keep the scoreboard moving until he fell victim to cramp and needed Jack’s runner services again – Jack spent more time at the crease for other batters than he did for himself. Tom eventually skied one to the cheery Nigel Smith (100-4); Gary gave a thin edge to the keeper (112-5); and Leon’s optimistic calling led him to being run out for a duck (120-6). Darryl skied another (136-7); Andy, batting in shades as he couldn’t find his specs, was bowled for one (138-8); and Miggins hit the first ball from the part-time spinner straight to cover (148-9), leaving Tom C to nurse Simon through the last 17 balls for a draw. Tom’s curious call for a single off the first ball of the 44^th over left Simon to play out more deliveries than he would have wanted and he fell for a duck, pushing a catch into the close field (149ao).

A disappointing result, but positives again from the controlled bowling performance, especially Darryl’s wickets, and tidy spells from Jack and Tom R. The batting needs a bit of work and, dare I say it, some net practice, and we need to start holding a few more catches but we can be optimistic for the coming weeks.