Another Step Forward in 4th XI's Steep Learning Curve

The day started well for us, despite the weather, with skipper Mike Cox winning the toss and Evie Richardson & Sam Eccles making their senior debuts. We elected to bat first, and despite losing a few early wickets Darren Spooner got in for another superb innings of 94 runs. He was ably supported by Michael Edwards who played well with both Darren, and then Ian Hampshire (38*), to post his personal best of 36, which included 5 4's. Also of note was Sam facing his first 3 balls of senior cricket at the end of the innings. We posted a competitive 188-7.

The next phase of the game didn't go so well for us. It was cold in the field with jumpers a must. Their opener came out swinging and exposed our young bowling talent. He was eventually bowled by Darren Spooner, who had another good spell of 8 overs 1-24. This created a bit of a rally with Michael Edwards taking a further 3 wickets to end on 8 overs 3-30, one of which courtesy of a good catch from Matt. Apart from the result, this was a great day for Michael. Evie Richardson and Sam & Adrian Eccles also performed well in the field with good energy and spirit, but it wasn't to be as this older and more experienced side got to our target with 7 overs to spare.

Keep the spirits up, every game is a valuable lesson and another step forward in our steep learning curve. We are 3rd in the division - a massive positive, especially given we have had nine debutants so far this season and all but 23 of the 200 overs bowled have been by players 15 and under!

- Darren Ridout, 3rd XI Vice Captain