After a weekend off for the bank holiday, Walsall Health were back in action once more on what has been one of the best seasons for having games on in recent memory. Unfortunately, the team has come up second best in quite a few of these games, winning breeds winning but so often losing can do that to, here again, the team came up just short in a game they’ll walk away thinking was well within their grasp. Here is the tail of the tape from a game where so much went right for the Elf, but it came up just short.

Many things during this tough run has not been lacking, though, the team spirit between players being one of them, the majority of the team were down early, pitching in to make sure everything was ready for a good game of Sunday cricket. Goalposts down, scoreboard up, even the weather was doing it’s part, thick clouds were overhead but hardly broke as the team managed to get a full game in. Another thing that hasn’t been lacking has been the runs coming off Jack Stenson’s bat, a superb 100 in the Health’s last came was a culmination of a fine season for one of the club’s biggest characters, shortest blokes and finest batsman. Well batted Jack. In the absence of Alex Nunns and Trig, Jack has also stepped into the captain’s role and has lead the team finely and maintained a great atmosphere on match days.

This week the Elf found themselves batting first and Jack and Mac went to the crease and set a fine platform for the team to build on. The two batsman navigated the new ball and bowlers well, dashing quick singles to keep the scoreboard ticking as well as playing some fine shots to exploit a very short boundary. Both batsman have gone superbly this season and this game was no exception, it was always going to take something special to break the stand and with the score at 69, that ball with your name on it arrived for Jack Stenson who was just 2 short of another 2025 half century before he was bowled by a beauty. This bought Will Lauchlan to the crease who’s batting this season has been boom or bust, with 4 ducks but also a PB best score in the last game. Fortunately for him it was the latter in this innings, him and Mac built a another good partneship, taking the team through to 113 before Mac too was bowled with 50 in his sights for a well made and patient 37.

With Mac out, Chuck came in to bat and the two batsman kept the runs ticking nicely. The two looked set with quick runs and regularly boundaries until Chuckie was out for 16. The situation around his dismissal was less than savoury though with some dissapointing conduct from some in the opposition. Walsall Health play ‘Friendly Sunday Cricket’, always have and always will and the first word, Friendly, is just as important as the Cricket, this is a club built on good and positive atmosphere and it was credit to every player on the day that they stuck to that in testing circumstances.

Dave Hill was next to the crease and with Lauchlan in the 40s, the two looked to settle into a rythmn of pushing the field back. Lauchlan for his second game in a row though was out with the half century approaching to a Caught and Bowled. Dave Hill was out not long after for 2. From their Longdon managed to put the shackles on for the rest of the innings and the lower order was held down, contributions of 4 from Eddie, 10* from Shabir and 1* for Paul Caines meant the Elf finished up on 176-6 from their 40 overs.

The team knew it would be a tough, but not impossible, task to defend a total that was probably a good 30/40 runs off par. But this is the Health and we always try to dig in. A decisive moment came very early in the innings when the Longdon captain was put down for 0. It would be the first of a few dropped chances that ultimately saw a one-man attack sink the Health. Wickets were chipped away at regularly at the other end, not least by Paul Caines, who finished with four of them; it could have been more on another day had the catches stuck and at least we would have had a jug in defeat, but it was just one of those days.

DS was also unlucky to finish without a wicket, the usual line and length was there but the wickets just wouldn’t come. Chuckie also came away with a wicket and again on another day he would have had more, his wicket was taken with a JP classic, the Elf fielder taking a one handed catch that whistled off the bat and was a certain boundary until JP stuck a fantastic catch. Chuck was also inches away from a stunning catch of his own to get the Longdon captain in the deep that would have certinatly seen the Elf to a well deserved win, but the ball bounced just before it made it to Chuck’s hand. Despite the best bowling effort of Wyatt Hill, Shabir and JP though, the prized wicket of the Longdon captain wouldn’t come and with a score of 125 not out, he saw his team home and the Elf were left licking their wounds.

A tough result to take on a day where so much went right for the team. The Elf only have two games left in the season and it would be great to finsh 2025 in style. The next game is a home one at Carter Park on 7th September (weather permitting) if you can, please turn out to the give the lads one last push at the end of the season.