Cubs back to winning (draw) ways

On a slightly damp Saturday afternoon a strong 2nd XI side entertained Aston Rowant 4th XI at the Cublington oval. In Orchard's first game as 2nd XI skipper earlier in the season he had put these boys in to bat first and they had cruised to 300 within 45 overs. It was to his delight that he lost the toss this time as he was seriously considering sticking them in again! Instead Cublington were invited to bat on a solid looking wicket, but quite a slow and damp outfield.

KGS (formerly of 2nd XI fame, now a top spectator in the 1sts) and Orchard set about making life uncomfortable for the Rowant openers, with the score racing to 60 for 0 off the first 8 overs. This should be the point where I say 'it was a shame therefore that we were bowled out for 108' but on this occasion it all seemed to click in the batting department. Orchard and KGS shared 88 for the first wicket and when KGS departed on 50, in came Sam (2nd best captain in the club) George who expertly made use of the outside edge to score 45 of the scratchiest runs you ever did see. Opposition Bowler Humphries was caught sledging 'What are you batting with, a bloody toblerone??' as Sam guided his opponent gracefully in between bat and foot for the umpteenth time. (Soft Hands) Orchard watched one trickle onto his stumps for a good few seconds and George's innings was eventually put out of its misery bringing the dangerous duo of Dawie and Inglis to the crease. The pair put on another 100 runs in their remarkably short stints, with Inglis hitting 50 off 22 balls and earmarking himself for a stint in the 1sts... probably as a bowler knowing my luck. Some good lower order batting from the youngsters Macleod and Sparke took the total up to 277, easily our highest score of the season thus far.

With 10 bowlers and Kit taking to the field for the 2nd innings we were in a buoyant mood. Jack 'and the beanstalk' Reekes opened up with Dawie to great effect, stifling runs and beating the bat on many occasions. Wickets were hard to come by as the overs ticked along and although Reekes removed Hughes for 16, the youngster Coles batted with great maturity and was proving to be extremely competent (turns out he plays for the Sussex academy). It was 'Red Stripe' Bullock that made the breakthrough, with the extra swing proving too much and Inglis taking a fine catch at gully. After that we thought we had the game tied up, Orchard removing batsmen 3,4 and 5 with no real impact to the score. The lower middle order made it tough for us and we were forced to rotate bowlers in search of the much needed wicket with the overs ticking slowly away. Some tidy bowling from Sparke and Inglis kept the pressure up but it was a stunning ball by Reekes that saw Revell go for 42 and give the Cubs some hope. Dawie then got in on the act with a sharp caught and bowled chance leaving Aston 2 overs to bat for the draw and Cublington needing 2 wickets. Skipper decided to selfishly bowl himself, for which he will be suitably fined. A wicket on the penultimate ball left the game on edge, one wicket... one ball... could the skipper justify bowling himself........ no. although half the team heard an inside edge and half the team said the batsmen was about 3 feet away from hitting the ball, it ended a winning draw for Cublington and 21 much needed points.