1st XI Seals League Title

After a chastening defeat to relegation battlers Bayford and Hertford, Northchurch had to bounce back. Eversholt had a good season and were early season contenders but a bit of weather and bad luck with injury took them into the final week with the dangerous freedom of having nothing to gain. Hoddesdon, one point behind Northchurch, had a tricky match at Datchworth away but had nothing to lose, having already secured promotion. The pressure was on Northchurch.

An early start in a late game meant the picturesque village green was damp. The skipper won the toss (ninth in a row!) and threw the home team into bat. Eversholt were aggressive and made the most of any loose balls. One shot too many cost Macmillan his wicket, with the safe hands of Living at first slip getting Northchurch off and running. The dangerous Barrie, fresh from a ton the previous week, looked confident as he made the bowlers bowl to his areas and tucked the ball easily to the short boundary.

Coming on first change, the recalled Charles Fidler hit some excellent areas and both he and the indefatigable James created several half chances. However, it was the introduction of the slower men that turned the tide.

Ollie Johnson saved his best performance of the season for last. His impeccable line and length was fairly unplayable and, but for a nick through the slips, the Eversholt batsmen could take him for no more than a single per over. With the run rate drastically reduced, Johnson took the big wicket of Barrie for the second time in the season, a nip backer trapping him LBW.

Romit bowled with exceptional control at the other end, producing two early maidens in his 10 high tempo overs, which had the scorers noting down dots like WW2 Morse coders. He was rewarded with two wickets in two balls to rip the heart out of the Eversholt middle order.

Khan did not wait for the umpire’s finger when he feathered behind to Suckling after playing an assured innings. The captain eyed up the short-midwicket boundary to get off the mark first ball, but could only manage a leading edge to his opposite number at gully, who was very tempted to embellish the difficulty of the ballooned dolly in this report.

Patel had no time to rest between his short overs. Fielding at midwicket like a whack-a-mole world champion, he was partly responsible for a lot of Johnson’s own dot balls and then his second wicket. Litchfield had played himself in watchfully but, bogged down by the pressure, unleashed a slog which looked cow corner bound over the fielder’s head. Romit would be presented the fielder of the year trophy some hours later, and displayed why, with a perfectly timed jumping, one-handed catch. Full disclosure: The jump might not have been perfectly timed because his feet were back on the ground by the time the catch stuck, to Romit’s own visible surprise.

Supported by the anchoring innings of opener Buzz Garrett, Eversholt’s seven and eight batted brightly and rode some luck to take the score past 200, but in the process demonstrated that there were no demons in the pitch. The returning James got his reward for another excellent spell by trapping the free flowing Shahid LBW. Three wickets in three balls then brought the inning to a close and sent the players into tea, with Northchurch needing 214 for the league title.

Liveing and Swain opened up and made a watchful but untroubled start against some accurate bowling. With only 16 on the board after eight overs, nerves in the Northchurch camp were still bubbling, however, the shackles were broken in spectacular style as the openers were hit out of the attack with consecutive overs going for 17 and 19.

The spinners bowled with control but could not produce enough movement to threaten, nor enough dot balls to generate pressure. Northchurch were ahead of the rate a began to tick along but, as they have done so well all season, the team did not get too far ahead of themselves.

When Swain popped one out the ground for six and the opening stand reached 100, the visitors dared to relax a little, however, Jules was back in the pavilion just before drinks for a well made 44. Suckling joined Liveing and picked up where he had left off against Datchworth, moving his feet beautifully and meeting the ball with a full bat face. A whizzy cut shot got him off the mark in style, and there was more to celebrate as George brought up an excellent half century at the other end.

The pair nurdled well and rarely missed out on a loose ball to set up an equation of 80 needed from the last 120 balls with nine wickets in hand. Nine became eight when George was caught at midwicket for 75, having looked nailed on for a hundred. This only brought Garraway to the crease.

With 51 needed, Suckling might have been interested in scoring the 15 more he required to bring up his own half century. However, he only had time to make another four runs, as 1st XI Player of the Year Garraway blasted 33 from just 19 balls to seal the win and, with it, the Division Three title! Hoddeson would also get home at Datchworth, meaning the winning margin was a single point.

Celebrations were initially muted, perhaps because the team had been so focussed on the task and had not indulged in imagining the result. Looking back on the season, we had had our share of tough games and one or two of those euphoric, match winning moments, which were representative of the character the team has needed to demonstrate in a competitive league. The moment of the season was undoubtedly Hobley's huge six to seal an unlikely win against Luton Town and Indians at home.

Winning the title has only been possible because of the exciting strength and depth within the club. The 1st XI fielded 21 different players throughout the season and the credit belongs to all those who played their part. Our thanks go to all the people who have support us this year. To the umpires, the scorers, the tea lady, the committee, the groundsman and the invisible people who do jobs no one knows about.