George’s Marvellous Medicine

Highlights: O Johnson 3 for 23, C Fidler 1 for 21, Liveing 60, Garraway 53

Full scorecard here

On arrival at the Meadow, Letchworth found a different team to the one they beat long ago in cold, grey May; a team in the habit of winning and hungry for success.

After the visiting captain, Matt Bridge, called the toss incorrectly, Northchurch would be able put their bowl-first strategy into action for the first time in three weeks. But with the pitch another week harder and Letchworth’s batsmen proven to be competent, discipline would be critical.

Steven McGruffalo and OJ got the Black and Ambers off to a strong start, with Letchworth only managing three per over, however, the home team knew that they would need early wickets to keep the total down below 300.

Pushing the ball fuller to look for the breakthrough, McGiffin had opener Manning caught behind for two but boundaries also began to flow. A burst from quick-man Bullet Johnson confirmed that pace off the ball would probably be key.

Entering the attack from the pavilion end, Tom Garraway was unlucky to have number three Harris dropped twice in two overs, while OJ was back to his best from the rec end, moving the ball up the hill away from the right handers.

After 20 overs, the run rate had not increased and, having been starved of the strike, veteran opener Julian Wase gave OJ his first wicket when forcing a shot to bring up his fifty and accelerate for his team. While OJ had been taking a blow after his miserly opening spell of 5-4-3-0, the very impressive Charles Fidler continued to restrict Letchworth to a glacial pace to keep the pressure on with a superb burst of 4-2-4-0.

OJ struck twice more in a period in which he took three for 17 to rip out the Letchworth middle order. First removing Jonny Harris with a thin edge to keeper Matt Suckling, standing up to the stumps, then danger man David Albon, who drove to Lee Johnson at short cover for five (thankfully 150 fewer than he managed against us in the first round).

When Romit Patel replaced OJ from the rec end, he was in the wickets immediately, forcing a thick outside edge to McGiffin at backward point, to leave the visitors struggling on 119 for five after 36 overs. Captain Bridge then developed a partnership with number seven Michael Turner and the pair steadily added 55 in ten overs.

It was not Garraway's day with the ball as he saw another catch go down, this time the beneficiary was Bridge, who would go on to top score in the match. Another burst from the Bullet was economical but in-penetrative on the very flat pitch. It was Fidler who eventually broke the partnership when, coming down the hill, he had the left-handed Bridge trapped LBW for 63.

Turner, with support from a hard-swinging Munsen, was only able to add 30 in the last seven overs and was run out with three balls to spare trying to scramble a suicidal second. Munsen’s six off the last ball of the innings took the visitors to maximum batting points but was not enough to shift any momentum Letchworth’s way going into tea.

In reply, Calum Lindsay and George Liveing took guard, intent on knocking the runs off between them, however, their plan was soon undone by a Munsen Yorker which castled Lindsay for four.

Garraway joined Liveing and the pair took a giant, greedy bite out the match with a blistering second wicket century stand from just 84 balls, Liveing the more aggressive and brutal on anything short from the Letchworth seamers. The introduction of third medium pacer, Harris, was akin to asking the poor lad to assault a machine-gun nest with a sharpened twig, and runs-required clicked down at an alarming rate of acceleration.

Perhaps too late, spin was introduced and and the game instantly changed gear. Trying to get going again after adjusting to the pace, Liveing was the first of the pair to be dismissed, offering a less-than-simple return catch to Dave Albon, who stuck out his right paw and plucked the ball out of thin air to send the opener on his way for a glorious run-a-ball 60.

Obviously keen to continue a conversation started in the middle, Garraway hurriedly got himself out to a Graham Bishton hand grenade and followed his erstwhile partner back to the pavilion for a fluent 53.

The Letchworth tweakers were then able to build a period which, by a stretch of the imagination, could sort of be described as pressure on the batsmen, with new men Matt Suckling and McGiffin both on nought and having to do all the work to get the ball away.

Tragically, Suckling succumbed just when starting to look in and chipped wrist-spinner Bishton to Barry Holden for five. But with only 65 more to defend in 20 overs, Letchworth looked unlikely to have the bowling stocks to blow Northchurch away.

McGiffin dug in to form a partnership with Hobley and they happily ticked along at fives until Hobley unleashed to take 20 from Albon's thirteenth over and finish off the chase with 60 balls and six wickets to spare. Three huge straight sixes from the senior pro were the toast of the near-capacity Meadow crowd, but especially pleased the Aussie, who recovered to the pavilion stranded on a jug-avoiding 49 and £££ better off as a result.

With the campaign for the title still very much on track, the Northchurch boys will look forward to an away trip to Met Police Bushey next week.