Bon-on-Fire

Div 1 (Sunday 12th) at Arboretum

Holy Cross 166-9 (50 overs)
C. A. Smith 40, C, Ellis 23, S. Pickering 21
A. Knapman 3/34, S. Azhar 2/16

Eastern Regional Academy 108ao (30 overs)
G. Buchanan Smith 54.
S. Bonfield 5-20, V. Gaware 2/33, C. Ellis 2/9

full scorecard here

On a pitch that had been waterlogged the night before but was merely soft at 1pm*, Cross took advantage of some slightly wayward Academy bowling to reach a healthy 75/2 off 25-heading for a score of 180-200 ish - above par on a v tricky drying surface.

A sticky middle section followed in which the Academy bowlers bowled tighter and the Cross middle order failed to maintain their momentum saw Cross limp to 139/9 off 45. Only some good biffing from Norrie (17* off 15 balls) and 11* from Milly got us up to 166 - a competitive score on a wicket that was unlikely to suit the Academy batsmen- used to covered wickets.

So it proved, as Shannon and Vik reduced the Academy to 1/2, then 5/3 ...and then 31/7 with Cross taking their chances. The Academy batsmen playing some ambitious shots 'on the up' - given the surface. Vik's 1st wicket (lovely ball that took the top of off) was a highlight but Shannon's spell was sheer class - extracting a great deal of assistance from the surface: the Academy batsmen playing and missing 3/4/5 times an over. Crucially we also took our chances...then we stopped doing so: coupled with Buchanan-Smith's good striking (4 sixes in his innings) and some less than brilliant bowling from the bottom end....and the Academy seemed to have a sniff. This was snuffed out as CA took a good catch at long on to get rid of Buchanan-Smith, before Ziggy took another good one (off CA)-including time for a quick 'tit-rub'.

A nice note from Bill Polson: 'Thanks too to all at Holy Cross for their hospitality but particularly to the lady and gentleman who kept the scorers, coach and administrator supplied with very welcome warming tea'. So cheers to Mandy and Michael, plus Colin McGill for scoring - plus our supporters (S. Robertson, A, Quinn, C. Graham and -most boisterously-R. Worsnop).

*The early stages of the game were momentarily interrupted by a nasty accident on Ferry Road (at the junction with Boswell Drive) in which a car flipped over-Paramedics and the Fire-Brigade were quickly on the scene: one hopes that those involved are ok. This is the third nasty accident I've seen at this spot in the last 5 years or so.