On a day when it seemed like the weather might intervene, a struggling Menheniot side welcomed back utility player Josh Geary, returning from the southern hemisphere to add valid all-round strength and expertise to the home side, and they managed a very comfortable victory. After losing the toss, Menheniot captain Jon Strand took to the batting crease with partner Mark Goldsmith. With some tight bowling at the start from Farrow and Eldridge, Menheniot plodded to a steady 50 for no wicket from 20 overs. The tidy opening spell of bowling paid dividends for St Neot as Strand tried to attack the change bowlers and was bowled by a pinpoint in-swinging yorker from Masters for a well-crafted 12. Feeling a little under the weather from ageing back trouble, Hugh Rogers made his way to the crease. He soon, however ,got into his stride and used his experience to make batting look boyishly simple, dispatching the loose ball to the fence consistently. His score of 53, accompanied ably by Goldsmith (48), set a good platform for the capable lower middle order to create a good total. After an early running blunder Mike Maiden (33 not out) looked in good touch with the bat and built a good 6th wicket partnership with the exciting Geary, who looked the complete batsman as he rotated the strike well with his partner and drove his team to a competitive total of 224 for 5. In response, St Neot never looked like chasing the total down after losing early wickets, including star batsman Cook, to a good opening spell of bowling from young paceman Chris Davies. The middle order batted away but struggled to keep up with the rate. Special mention must go to Caden Hitchins for his opening spell of 6 overs for only 2 runs. Maiden & Rogers also bowled tidy spells, taking regular wickets, including an impressive stumping by stand-in wicketkeeper Geary to dismiss Searle off the bowling of maiden for 6. Last man Eldridge was finally run out by Geary to complete the necessaries, dismissing the visitors for 98 to complete a 126 victory for Menheniot. Victorious skipper Strand, with regards to a shaky start to the season, said "In order to move mountains, you must first start with small stones. We can use this victory as a catalyst and hopefully build on this performance."
(No prizes for guessing who wrote this!)
Division Five East.
Tintagel v Menheniot - 24 May 08
Menheniot went down by six wickets, after winning the toss, deciding to bat, and producing a very good start. Although Aaron Washer bowled with good pace and needed watching carefully, there were plenty of runs available from the other end. Richard Isbell dealt mainly in boundaries, with Troy Heffernan offering steady support at the other end. At the halfway point, they had put together a stand of 88 and the stage seemed set for a big score. However, soon after, Hefferman was well caught at short cover off a hard-hit drive and Isbell deposited a full toss into mid-wicket's grateful hands. The Menheniot innings then lost momentum and, although most batsmen got a few, wickets trickled away. Pethick was the main beneficiary of the late struggle for the 4th batting point as he picked up 4 wickets in 3 overs. After 6 overs of the Tintagel innings, the score was 11 for 3. Chris James had bowled Abbott with a leg break, but the main threat came from Subhradeep Depsarkar, who bowled quickly for this league and kept a good off-stump line. He bowled Higgs comprehensively and had Seldon caught behind by John McPherson. Other edges, and there were many of them, flew past the slips to the very short boundary. Tintagel's skipper, Dave Lane, applied himself well and, with a determined partner in Warren, the tide turned. Young Charlotte Phillips and Alfie Thornton bowled tidily and with promise but did not threaten to take wickets. Heffernan induced Lane to loft to mid-wicket, but the chance went down. Desarkar returned to flatten Warren's stumps, but Lane and Washer saw Tintagel home comfortably enough.
