Wind in the willow

Playing conditions were unusual. The pitch looked good but had been under covers, overhead was overcast and there was a steady 50 mph south westerly cutting from third man to long on.

Probably hoping to lose the toss, the NCC skipper won it and opted to bat, mainly on the basis that 50 overs stood in a gale might drain the opposition’s batteries.

The pitch did play well and, despite the wind, not much went sideways. The was some difficulty in timing shots as the wind either prevented the bat coming down to meet the ball or hurried it through. George fell victim to the latter issue and chipped to extra cover.

Three big partnerships wore down the Letchworth men. Saf and Matt combined for seventy for the second wicket, with Saf latching onto anything short and Matt working into the gaps. When Saf was well held, caught and bowled by leggie Jenkins for a fine 47, Garraway joined Suckling and set about second consecutive seventy partnership. This one came in slightly quicker time, with Garraway cleverly using the wind to his advantage.

After a short rain delay, which sucked four overs out of the match, two quick wickets gave Letchworth some cause for optimism. Albon had Matt LBW for 47 before encouraging Bexon out of his crease for a stumping. However, the optimism would not last long for the home team as Garraway and his new partner, new signing Jules, put on an unbeaten 75 from 50 balls to take Northchurch to 228 in 48 overs.

Letchworth’s batting line up had some pedigree, but they would all need to fire to make the target. The task was made more challenging by a tight opening ten overs, with Darren (10-4-14-3) particularly accurate down wind. Two quick wickets were his reward for some excellent lines. A screaming catch, which flew to Liveing at gully, opened the account, before an LBW heaped all the pressure onto Letchworth.

Kilby and Harris batted brightly to alleviate some of the pressure, but the latter could not clear Garraway at extra cover when taking OJ on. From 54 for three, Letchworth then slumped to 75 for seven. Romit hit the stumps three times to remove the dangerous trio of Bridge, Pond (double centurion earlier this year) and Jenkins, while OJ and Suckling combined up the other end for a smart stumping to remove Kilby, who was beginning to flow.

Albon found a reliable partner in number eight Singh, who had bowled very nicely earlier, and the pair brought up the Letchworth 100 in the 34th over. The equation of 129 needed from 84 balls with three wickets in hand would normally mean game over, however, with Albon still in, and eyeing up a down-wind short midwicket boundary, Northchurch had to remain focussed.

When the returning James bowled Singh for six, Northchurch sensed an opportunity to close out the game, but the Letchworth chairman batted very sensibly in support of Albon, who was beginning to clear the rope at will.

A couple of big overs gave Letchworth something to cheer about, but to get over the line, Albon would need to get all of 20 per over, half of those into the wind. The innings finished 41 light, which represented a top effort from the home skipper, but confirmed how well Northchurch had played in tricky conditions.

All the Northchurch bowlers did their bit, with James and Patel doing the damage from the top end. OJ’s two for 29 into a howling gale was a particularly impressive spell that slipped under the radar and tied Letchworth up at the higher-scoring end.

The win sees Northchurch maintain a 21 point lead ahead of second place Hoddesdon and 37 points clear of Eversholt in 3rd. Next week we welcome Datchworth to the Meadow for our penultimate home fixture.