Cubs lose high scoring game

Once again it was great to get back on a cricket pitch, having been rained off against the same opponents last week. Great Brickhill won the toss and decided to bowl on a hot day which was a bit of a surprise. However, it looked to have paid off as Harry Gadsby fell in the first over. Cubs rebuilt in an attacking way with Dan Bailey hitting 21 and a more traditional way with Martin Middleton with 15. All the while Owen Venables was securing the other end, he would reach 123 before being bowled in the 30th over. Pete Williams came in and kept the scoring rate up as the overs ticked past 30 before becoming becalmed in the 40s, eventually finishing with 49. Tom Bailey and Ferdy Middleton played cameo roles before the youth began to take over, Matthew Sparke and Jack Gotzheim taking the last over for 26 which included one spectator trying to control a Sparke 6 with his knee, which he will be feeling for a while! We ended up on 270 which seemed like a good score and one which we felt we could defend.

Great Brickhill clearly thought otherwise and raced away to 40 off the first 3 overs. We did very well to peg it back slowly but they never fell behind the run rate so it was always going to be difficult. Jack Gotzheim bowled very well and proved that bowling bouncers at Harry in the nets does pay off as he took 2 of his 4 wickets with genuine bouncers. Oscar Middleton bowled extremely well in the middle overs and was unlucky only to get 1 wicket. The thorn in our side was their opener, Gordon, who held his side together eventually scoring 121* and timing his innings very well, he was ably assisted by their captain, Allen, who added 31 to his 4 wickets. There was some good fielding from Cubs particularly Adam Bosompen holding 2 difficult catches in the deep. In the end our extras meant that we gifted them too many runs to really build pressure.

It was an enjoyable game and notably for the future, the whole bowling attack was under 18 and they will have gained valuable experience.