A glorious warm day greeted the Martlets at Old Elizabethans as they sought a crucial win to get their season kickstarted, however, a number of the squad were nursing hangovers, mainly due to Simon Van Tongeren’s birthday.
No shock as Alex Stratford & Scott Hodgetts were late, meaning Dom Colwill got an opening slot with Ben Roberts. Disaster struck second ball as Dom missed a full one & the slow bowling of Kevin Gwynne saw Ben miss one. Two quackers & a rebuild required. Alex Basford was delivered a snorter, bowled for 2 & at 3-3 in the third over, Martley’s day was looking like it was going to be a shocker.
Scott joined Tom Vale at the crease but he nicked behind for 2 – in came James Ganderton (25) who fired a couple of fours & a delightful straight six before leaving a straight one. Vale at the other end was enjoying himself meanwhile, hitting the ball pretty well especially to the short square boundaries for maximums. Steve Hayes (2) played an unnecessary aggressive shot, skying one & Dan Johnson left a big gate for another quacker & at 114-7 the end was looking in sight.
However, Vale punished the hosts who dropped him in the 30s as he knocked the ball around to go past 50. Pete Gardner faced 16 balls for 4 runs as he tried to play his part but when he was bowled at 132-8, Vale was sat on 86no & chasing a first century in 5 years.
Olly Saunders making his 1st XI debut came to the crease & did a great job supporting Vale as he lasted 11 balls, helping the balding batter reach his three figures. While Olly only came away with a single, he helped nurdle Martley up to 150 with 1 wicket left.
Enter Stratty, fresh from his 5am bender & probably not even sure what day it was. Well, it probably suited him as the No.11 batsman played a pivotal role in the contest as he managed to survive 29 balls, as Vale swung away & farmed the strike. The plan went perfectly as Martley used up valuable overs to frustrate the hosts, until Stratty undid all his magical work by deciding to charge a spinner & not even play a decent shot. It was that remarkable that Valer had time to scream “NOOOOOO!” before the ball had even reached the dizzy batter. Stratty stumped for a wonderful 0 giving everybody a laugh – but his mad moment deprived Martley a chance to use up another 6 overs. Vale was left on 157 from 133 balls including 15 fours & 7 sixes in the total of 214, his highest-ever score for the club.
In pole position OEs needed a positive start but a filthy long hop from Dan Johnson (1-44 in 8 ) somehow prized the opening wicket as Dom kept his hands on the ball. Pete bowled the dangerous Chris Pearman & certainly felt hard done by with some LBW decisions before Gandy threw the ball to ‘part-timer’ Vale who bowled the No.4 with his second ball. At 53-3 the game was well poised but Stuart Tipper took some chances as he & Nathan Dobbins (70) ran hard, with Dobbins being dropped behind the sticks. Cruising to victory at 129-3, OEs’ Tipper tried one too many, spooning one up with Pete ‘Usain Bolt’ Gardner charging in at mid-off to take a massive grab.
From there on it was all Martley as the game completely changed. Gandy (4-32 in 15) bowled one, then got the key wicket of Dobbins (another bowled) before trapping the skipper in front in consecutive balls – no hat-trick sadly. Vale was taken off after 14 overs (2-53) with Pistol Pete (3-39 in 9.1) introduced to try & see off the job – & pow pow – that’s what he did. One bowled & then a fitting end as Olly took a magnificent diving catch in front of 1st slip (don’t even think Steve saw it!). OEs rolled for 170 in 46.1 overs & the fair few Martlets making the trip back to the club to celebrate.
Your reporter had to get this cringey photo, because, well, you have to cherish these rare moments.
Special mentions to Olly Saunders with a superb debut, along with Stratty whose dogged batting allowed Martley to get a competitive total – as well as the whole team who fielded well in the heat to earn a fantastic win & a whopping 24 points.
Another fine example of why you never throw the towel in
Tomorrow night the Evening League XI take on Worcestershire Cricket Board at Rushwick. Saturday sees the 1st XI host Stourbridge while the 2s have a bye after Cleobury Mortimer left the league. #UTM
