31st MAY 2015

WHCC v Beaumont CC

Walsall Health beat Beaumont CC by 65 runs

A game of firsts marked by ‘The Elf’ getting back to winning ways bouncing back from a 3 game losing streak.

Rob Hewlitt, captaining a game for the first time, could claim that the first victory of the day was to beat the elements and the match actually going ahead.

Super Andy Gorton visited the ground Sunday Morning to inspect the pitch, and declared it playable, however, on arrival to Aldridge that afternoon, he was soon to learn that he had inspected the top pitch and our match was to take place on the bottom one.

The Skipper lost the toss and we were put in to bat. Which was fortunate as an M6 incident had caused Matt Wright to take a tour of Bloxwich and the surrounding areas in a quest to avoid the grid lock!

Andy Gorton and Ian Chuck opened the batting and they felt their way through some tough conditions. The Gort just beginning to play some formidable shots was unlucky to be caught by their tallest fielder in the right place at the right time, juggling a catching effort, finally gathering it at the third attempt.

Fell came to the middle and put on a magnificent 37 with a well rounded batting display with well crafted shots and smashed boundaries. While Chuck constructed a determined 27 building a platform that we have lacked in previous matches.

Nathan Reeves hit a quick fire six, however, he was not happy with his own performance, and not since Nathan Martin threw his bat in a tree have we seen such petulance and anger after a dismissal hoofing his helmet in a hedge. I’m sure more Mickey taking will be pending on this incident in future weeks.

So the inning was consolidated and an above par total set of 165 with Skipper Rob swashbuckling his way to 49 Not Out while Fitz supported with 20 Not Out. The running between the wickets aggressive and clinical.
Booming boundaries and back to back running 3’s the education professionals taught a lesson in batting.

TEA – WHCC – 165 was set for Beaumont to chase.

Nathan Martin and Tom Davies opened the bowling. And it wasn’t long before the Alice-band wearing bowler bagged his first wicket as a fine edge was taken sharply by Gary Fitzpatrick. Although not amongst the wickets (insert ginger based nickname here) Tom also had an excellent spell. And has been very consistent this season so far.
Nathan added to his wicket tally rinsing and repeating the method.

Fitz also got the most casual of run outs after utter confusion amongst the Beaumont Batsman, Chris Hall with a composed and accurate throw, straight into the gloves of the wicket keep, giving him all the time in the world to remove the bails.

‪#‎SpinToWin‬ may have been seen a few times this season in pre and post game posts and although Wright failed to take a scalp for the first time this season, JP & Ian Chuck would not let the spinners Union down, taking 2 wickets each.
Presenting the skipper with 2 carbon copy catches from Chucky. While The Gort took an amazing full stretch diving catch to his left of The King of Spain’s majestic spinning motion.

Tom Davies sitting in the field for both teams today, brave fielding close and also stopping a key boundary*. With all his effort, fielding for the opposition, umpiring, bowling and fielding for us, he would have been ‘spitting’ mad if we had not won today!

There are something things that you can rely on in life. The sun rises in the morning then sets at night. Water is wet and ice is cold.
And Iron Man, Chris Hall, the premium strike bowler, is going to tie down an end and get the oppositions best batsman. In recent weeks one good display has taken victories away from us and Hall was not in the mood to let that happen again. A sharp head height catch from Matt Wright after Hall’s solid spell sent him on his way.

Nathan Reeves was a pocket Dynamo in the field. High energy and all action, brave and bold. While 6 time! yes 6 time! Fielder of the year Rich Fell was everywhere. And when a spooned shot when vertical, and you hear the cry ‘Rich’s’ then someone is normally walking back to the pavilion. But not today. The moon may have been in the 7th apex and Jupiter rising somewhere over Uranus, but we may see Hayley’s comet before seeing The Elf’s talismanic man in the field drop another catch.

Without the full compliment Beaumont managed 90 runs. So let’s recap our firsts

First game as skipper for Rob
First time a helmet kicked into a hedge
First wickets of the season for Nathan Martin
First time Rich Fell missed a catch
First win in May.

Batting		Runs
Gorton, A	c Johnson b Grainger	8
Chuck, I	c Billed b Harris	27
Reeves, N	b Johnson	6
Fell, R	c Hodson b Hall	37
Hewlitt, R	Not out	49
Fitzpatrick, G	Not out	20
Preece, J	DNB
Hall, C	DNB
Davies, T	DNB
Martin, N	DNB
Wright, M	DNB
Extras		18
Walsall Health		165

Bowling	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Martin, N	6	3	11	2
Davies, T	6	1	21	0
Hall, C	6	0	14	1
Wright, M	3	0	20	0
Chuck, I	4	2	11	2
Preece, J	24	0	5	2
Fell, R	1	0	6	0

 

AOB
Great to see Angharad at the game today. Prepared to play if we were short of numbers and welcome back to the team during your visit from New Zealand.

MAN OF THE MATCH
& TOP BATSMAN
Rob Hewlitt with a real Captains performance 49no. Leading by example in the field after wielding his valerian bat to immense effect!

TOP BOWLER
Hall got the danger man and JP & Chuck weighed in with 2 wickets, but this week Nathan Martin was amazing. The power of the Alice-band was epic!

TOP FIELDER
How can you look past Super Andy Gorton. With a full stretch diving catch The Gort can just do it all! *While for the opposition it was Tom Davies preventing a skipper Dayboo 50 for Rob!

RACHEL GORTON’S – POP SCENE
Pop taste testing was conducted by the beverage beauty, ensuring quality control and the right strength was sent out for the parched participants. While the cold, wind and occasional rain stifled the summer fashion, Rachel has been doing well with a detox program. Further information can be found via her facebook page but worth checking out if you need to get your bikini body ready!

DAI WATCH
On best behaviour with the return of his daughter and a debater whether Mrs Preece would be happy about him having a bag of scratchings. Still frozen in the scoring box, keeping up the Welsh answer to Compo look by wearing odd gloves!

Written by Mathew Wright