Walsall Health beat the weather but not Beaumont.

After a couple of tough but spirited defeats in Staffordshire, the Walsall Health team were grateful to see the green, green grass of home at Carter Park. However, the blue, blue sky they’d have been hoping for, was very much lacking. Thick shades of grey and black were rolling around, weather forecasts were giving many different predictions of just how much it was going to rain and for how long. However, cricket has no time for such worries; it’s a game almost run entirely on optimism and an attitude that everything will work out in the end, just keep going. One thing that has definitely been working out this season is Alex Nunns’s tossing ability, and he did keep it going. Another win, and with the sky looking ominous and the track a shade of green, bowling was always going to be the best option.

With DS having a serious matter to attend to (gardening), the opening bowling was shared by Will Tomlinson and Josh Butler. The first couple of overs started well, with the score 14-0 after 3 overs. I say that because it’s about as good as it got. There were showers around; they didn’t last long, but a downpour was coming, and it was going to be heavy. It was in the form of runs, and they weren’t stopping anytime soon. With smart rotation of the strike, the bowlers couldn’t settle, and every bad ball was punished with aplomb. The good balls were being picked off for singles, the loose ones brutally dispatched to the ropes.

Both opening bowlers ended up wicketless, and the runs were not stopping there. Next into the attack/ firing line were Will Felton (William the third) and Samir Rehman, both on debut, both probably wondering what they had got themselves into. The bowling and the fielding continued to be solid, but the batting was exceptional; the two openers made it to drinks and 20 overs with the score well past the hundred mark and it had been almost entirely chanceless. 

After drinks, the batsman started to go even harder at the bowlers, but with that came some chances. Mac took a stunning one-handed catch behind the stumps, but to sum up the Health’s luck, his elbow hit the turf and the ball came out and away. 

Soon though, mercifully, the wicket came. Will Felton, whose pace had caused the most problems for the set batsman, found a bit of uneven bounce (hard to believe at Rushall…) and an edge and this time Mac made no mistake. The partnership at been well over 150, and there was still a third of the innings to go but the Health had an end to work with.

Jonny Preece then came on for Samir, and along with Felton, the two started to make some inroads. Will got himself another wicket to finish with 2-59, and Jonny went one better, getting himself in for three wickets after ending his 8 overs for 52. There was time in the innings for Dave Preece to get himself a wicket with some lively pace bowling despite a bad back at a worryingly young age. The last 10 overs had definitely belonged to the Elf but with a score of 267 to chase, the damage looked to have already been done. 

Nunns and Jack Stenson walked out hoping to replicate the opening onslaught they had just seen from the Beaumont batsmen. The two looked solid enough, the left-hand and right-hand combination going well before Stenson got an absolute grubber of a delivery. Jack is notorious for not being the tallest, so you’d think a low one would be a bit easier to keep out, but this ball would’ve done for everyone; it snuck under the bat and onto the stumps. This brought Will Lauchlan to the middle, but he could add nothing to the score, a punch into the leg side came of a leading edge and a smart catch meant he opened his duck trophy campaign. 

With the score 19-2, the in-form Will Tomlinson came out to support the captain. The double lefty partnership was having some success but just as they seemed to turn the screw the wickets came. Nunns was out to a bizarre full toss looping in and taking his wickets when he looked to be seeing the ball so well. Wyatt Hill was in next and was out for 3, unlucky to pick out of the only leg side fielders with a decent flick round the corner.

D. Preece was next in and unfortunately the next out for 6, he had an attacking intent and the Beaumont bowlers will have been pleased to see the back of him. Samir was next in. Tomlinson was going well at the other end and was carrying the last thin hopes of the game. With Samir still finding his flow, Tommo risked a single to keep the strike, but a communication breakdown left him well short of his ground and run out for 25. 

With hopes of the victory pretty much gone, Mac was in and with Samir set about making sure the Elf got to 3 figures or at least batted out their innings. Mac though, went full bazball. His 2nd, 3rd and 4th scoring shots were 4,6,4 off consecutive balls, decent deliveries as well. The partnership blossomed and finished on a fantastic 66 with Mac eventually out for a superb 29. Samir wasn’t finished yet, though helping himself to a huge 6 of his own, he dug in well for a 28* not out and was there at the end, a mix of good batting and maybe a good way of avoiding Will Tomlinson. Will Felton was out for 6 off the last ball of the innings, the Elf had lost but there were some real highlights to take away for the team. Opening partnership aside, it would have been a very even game. 

The Elf might have been beaten, but so had the weather, and getting the game on is always the priority; anything after that is a bonus. With a couple more home games in a row, the team will be hoping to get back to winning ways sooner rather than later.