Datworth shine after grey week

It was a difficult Datchworth pitch to read. Patchy grass but dry, though, with a little give under the thumb. Surely a bowl first week, so we inserted the home team to bat with no second thought.

The openers rode their luck well to see off the new ball, but just as it flattened out, Gregory was bowled by a Juicy in-swinger. Atkinson took two-dozen balls to get off the mark but did not panic and supported Luke Bennett well, who flirted dangerously with some good balls but generally put the bad one away.

The home team had not scored heavily by the time the drinks came out but they had a platform and nine wickets in hand. None of the rotating bowlers had a great deal of luck after drinks as the pitch offered very little seam, pace or spin. A flurry of runs at the end brought them a total of 245 and left Northchurch thinking that holidaying regular keeper Matt Suckling is actually quite a good bloke.

Datchworth had the better of the new ball exchanges again in the second half as they removed James and Liveing cheaply. After that, Northchurch struggled to establish a platform of their own, against some accurate bowling and spritely fielding. As thoughts turned to securing batting points, the rain began and the players came off.

Everyone except the Northchurch men thought it would be best to shake hands, but waiting for the rain to stop offered the visitors nine balls to make another three runs and earn the one bonus point that keeps them in sight of league leaders Hoddesdon, who lost for the time this season.

Well done to Datchworth, who always play well at home. Next week sees us playing at home against Dunstable 2nd XI, who sit just three points behind us in the table.

This week's report is dedicated to the memory of Grumpy Cat, who sadly passed away earlier this month, aged seven, after a short illness. RIP kitty. Also, no one really deserved their picture up.