3rd XI v Bromley Common

The Heath’s 3rd XI got back to winning ways after last week’s blip in standard, We posted another above par score for the BGS wicket of 128 for 8, this was mainly due to a late order 70 runs from Mitchell (12), Sam (19) and an excellent 32 not out from Nick Parnham. This was after the opening order were dismissed by the umpire, who picked up a ‘3 for’ with George, Graham A and Darren all falling foul of dubious LBW decisions before they had chance to really get going. After tea it wasn’t a case of will we win or lose, but how many could we take out in the quest for max points. Ryan bowled a splendid opening spell of line and length, but with little luck as ball after ball passed the outside edge. But from the other end Billy H was the complete opposite as his array drag downs, full tosses & long hops picked up 3 wickets before Bromley Common had reached 20. Mitchell was first change and decided to use the Billy philosophy rather than Ryans, as he produced a full toss to mid-wicket to dismiss the stubborn opener, but to be fair his next wicket was a beauty, as he turned one almost square to clean up the Common’s 5th wicket for just 22. Bromley’s 6th wicket partnership looked to have stifled any chance of the maximum points, as the two old-timers dug in against the pace of Sam and spin of Mitchell, only the odd attacking shot and the 26 extras of wides and no-balls advancing the score. With overs running down, Steve threw the ball to part-time spinner George Monk, who immediately plumbed the no.5 leg before and proceeded to send 8 and 9 back to the hutch without scoring. With the score on 77 and still 50+ plus runs behind all that was left was for the returning Ryan to get his more than deserved wicket, clean bowling their last wicket in the final over to secure a full house of 20 points, which was more than welcome as arch rivals New Ifield had done the same against a lacklustre Hayes XI. Like most weeks the Man of the Match decision proved difficult as this was another all-round team performance, but as said before runs are harder than wickets at home so Nick P edges it with his intellectual mid-order recovery knock of 32.