1st XI V Oldswinford
In a brisk northerly breeze and cloud cover overhead, Jack Collins won the toss and chose to bat. Henry Hardings and Sam Williams provided a solid foundation, before Sam departed in the 28th over, 3 shy of 50 with 130 on the board. Ten overs later and Henry departed for a measured, 103 from 111 balls. His Dad Mark replaced him, and together with Jack put on 88 for the 3rd wicket in excellent time. Mark’s belligerence continued and he fell to the 5th ball of the last over for 101 from just 49 balls. The solid foundation had been capped with 130 runs from the last 10 overs.
Savvy struck in the first over, to make the task even harder for Oldswinford. With 52 on the board, Bruno Recordon accounted for the Australian Shenan Dias and then Jack Collins removed the middle order to leave the visitors reeling at 68 for 5. Amaan Edavalath was bowling a miserly spell into the brisk breeze, conceding just 28 runs from his 10 overs. Lucas Recordon’s brace included visiting captain Tom Slater, caught on the boundary. A catch that in the absence of a slow-motion replay merits its own paragraph:
The ball is hit through mid-wicket and dips below the lowest branch of our cedar tree. Not easy. It’s caught as the fielder is reclining over the boundary and I’ve written it off as a 6. But wait, he’s thrown it in field and saved us 5 runs. Hang on, somehow, he’s risen from the horizontal, going backwards and is now attempting to catch the ball at full stretch, going forwards…..The catch is held, at full stretch, one handed. Hats off to Amaan we look forward to seeing your next trick!
The show goes on next week when we welcome League Champions Netherton, please note it’s a 12:00 start.

2nd XI v Claverley
With only five Claverley players being present, Claverley conceded the toss and Adam Heath chose to bat first with only eight players initially able to take the field for the hosts. The consequent fielding gaps, a good batting track and a fast outfield offered an opportunity for the top order to cash in which they duly did. A fast start established a momentum which seldom let up. Extras and six penalty runs for a slow over rate saw Claverley set 335 to win, with 50s for Euan Buttle and Jackson Heath and most batsmen chipping in.
The total seemed a long way away as Charlie Clements took early wickets. A brief flurry of big hitting offered a glimmer of hope to the home side, but tight bowling and athletic fielding saw the pressure applied consistently and a huge margin of victory was secured in just the 20th over.
The key moment in the game was a fantastic ball from Idress which swung in, moved off the seam and trapped the key batsman lbw. Charlie Clements took 4-27 from 7 and all bowlers offered a threat throughout. Charlie Worrall began his journey as a slow left arm bowler with a wicket maiden. Winning inside 20 overs meant several bowlers didn’t feature - the only negative in an otherwise perfect day.

3rd XI v Hallow
A hard match to finish the season with. Winning the toss Hallow opted to bat. They got off to a fast start but were then pegged back by the fall of a couple of wickets and tight bowling by Jon Henry and Luke Hall. Hallow concluded their innings on 272/5.
In reply, Andy Heath and Adam MacLachlan got us off to a good start but once they fell in quick succession and with the wicket proving to be more difficult to bat on, the runs slowed. As the run rate increased wickets fell leaving us short by some margin.
Hallow’s ground is small and the outfield very bumpy. We fielded bravely, bowled well and in the main batted sensibly. A match played in the right spirit and as ever, with smiles on our faces.
The 3rd XI finish the season in 6th spot, a significant improvement on last season's 10th, thanks and congratulations to Tom Palmer and the squad.

Finally, there are two games at the Club today:

Legs XI welcome OEs to Ghost Meadow starting at 2pm.

On Stowe Lane, the Sefton family are gathering to play their annual match in memory of our friend and former Colwall player and official Mike Sefton. This year Mike’s family are kindly donating all proceeds of their game to the Club.
Mike was a remarkable man for many reasons, one of which was his indomitable spirit on the cricket field as he played despite being born with just one arm and one leg. Batting required him to swap a hand for a clamp, into which he put the top of the bat handle. A truly inspirational character who would, I’m sure be very proud of Colwall CC in 2024.

I know I won't be alone in raising a glass in his memory this evening.
Cheers
Rich