Cricket round-up,, season finale

Cricket Round-up

Hales finished off their Alliance Division One campaign at relegation-threatened Sheringham. Mathematically, Hales could go down too and were able to field a strong team as some players chose to play cricket rather than football.

Hales skipper Steve Rowe won the toss and asked Sheringham to bat first on a damp wicket. Rob Andersen and Matthew Lovick kept things tight early on and Sheringham had only 15 runs on the board when they lost their first wicket in the ninth over when Andersen enticed opener M Spillett to edge a drive to Chris Hlengani at third slip.

Dexter Smith, who top scored for the home side with 33, tried to pick up the pace but was bowled by Rowe in the 24th over with the score still only on 68.

Tight bowling from Hlengani, 1-11 off 13 overs, helped tremendously as Hales restricted Sheringham to 152-7 off their 50 overs. Andersen picked up one more wicket and Matthew Lovick got three.

Hales' reply started disastrously with four batsmen back in the pavilion by the ninth over with the score on 24.

It was fair to say that three of them were because of controversial lbw decisions but when the rain came at 64-6 Hales were the most relieved.

Sheringham were keen to get back on once the rain stopped as they scented victory.

Hales had little chance of winning the game. Although there were 26 overs left of their innings they would have to score 88 runs in 55 minutes as play would not be allowed to continuepast 8pm.

Bearing in mind this was a low-scoring game and Hales were six wickets down, that was a tall order.

However, Sheringham's task of securing four wickets for victory looked much more promising as the players took the field again and for the first few overs after the resumption the home side were very keen in the field.

However, despite being six wickets down, Hales had a former opening partnership at the wicket in Chris Andersen and, making his first appearance of the season due to injury, Dave Harmer.

They batted with composure, putting away the bad ball and running well, and when bad light caused the umpires to finally call a halt with 20 minutes left to play, these two had put on 41 runs.

Hales and Sheringham therefore got five match points each for an abandonment plus five bonus points for the home side and three for Hales. This result did mean that Sheringham were relegated.

The Sprake and Kingsley man of the match goes to Dave Harmer who showed what Hales what they had been missing all season, not only his technical ability but his confidence that lifted the whole team.

HALES PRESIDENT'S GAME: Sir Nicholas Bacon set the seal on a landmark Hales season with victory in the annual president's match on Sunday.

He skippered his team to a 17-run win over a Hales side as the first season on the club's new ground drew to a close.

Wielding his vintage Gray Nicholls Steel Spring bat with great authority Sir Nicholas top-scored with an unbeaten 36 as a side including his four sons Hickman, Edmund, Nathaniel and Tom and cousin former England one-day cricketer Mathew Fleming posted a 152-6 total.

In a match reduced to 22 overs per side because of rain, Hales replied with 135-7, featuring a hard-hit unbeaten 26 from South African overseas player Chris Hlenghani and 25 from Steve Claxton.

Man of the match adjudicator and umpire David Pearce praised Sir Nicholas for his batting and wicket-keeping but said he had been narrowly pipped to the award by Hlenghani for his stylish knock.

Club chairman Pete Dye praised first- team skipper Steve Rowe and the players for a highly encouraging sixth- place finish in Norfolk Alliance Division One. On behalf of everyone he thanked Sir Nicholas for his work in helping the club to establish themselves at their new ground.

Team photographs were presented to Sir Nicholas, sponsor Derek Barnard, scorer Roger Chubbock, and Hlenghani who also received a Norwich City shirt signed by Hales members.

Hlenghani said he had thoroughly enjoyed his four months at Hales and hoped to return next year.

Hales Colts ended a tough season with an encouraging performance, losing by 38 runs against Great Witchingham B. Skipper Liam Jones won the toss and invited Witchingham to bat.

They had made 67 before Jones removed both openers in an impressive spell of 2-39 spell from eight overs.

Hales then controlled the innings, with Josh Pitcher bowling his best-ever spell, taking 4-14 from five overs.

He received good support from Lewis White 2-29, as Hales bowled Witchingham out for 129, with Alfie Kaye impressive behind the stumps.

In reply, Hales lost early wickets, before Kaye and Chris Read started the recovery. Kaye went for 12, and Read who was

looking in good nick after his Spanish training camp, was joined by skipper Jones, who played his best innings to date, including a gigantic straight six into a neighbouring garden.

He fell for 20 and Read for 30, which saw the chance of victory disappear, with Hales all out for 90, a good end to the season, which at times has been tough on the young team, but their efforts and spirit has been exceptional. For next year players are needed to help strengthen the young side, if you are interested e-mail petehalescc@btinternet.com

V J Rout Man of the Match: Liam Jones/Josh Pitcher.

Gillingham agonisingly missed out on promotion from Division Eight following a two-wicket defeat away to Hingham A on Saturday.

With both the wicket and outfield damp from overnight rain Gillingham were asked to bat first against a Hingham side significantly strengthened by the inclusion of several players from the club's first team following their game being called off.

Scoring was difficult from the off with tight bowling and the wet outfield preventing any boundaries. Patrick and Stevens added 39 in 17 overs before the mounting pressure resulted in Patrick's run-out.

Stevens continued to 30 but wickets then fell at regular intervals with Fenton claiming 5-28, mainly due to pressure built by first team bowler Dicks who conceded only 16 runs from his 12 overs.

Hadingham (26) added vital runs with Wentworth (12no) in the closing overs but the total of 123-8 looked considerably below par on an improving wicket.

Early wickets were essential to give a chance of a positive result and soon arrived with Cockings and Aldridge dismissing both openers within the first 10 overs. A further wicket each, alongside one for M Smith, reduced Hingham to 56-5 after 21 overs with the result in the balance.

With the new-ball bowlers having completed their spells, it fell to L Smith and Patrick to close out the innings and both bowled with excellent discipline to restrict scoring and claim a further three wickets leaving Hingham struggling on 99-8.

With all results still possible Hingham skipper Chilleystone (18no), supported by Thomas (7no) ultimately guided Hingham home, scoring the winning runs from

the first ball of the 45th over and resulting in Gillingham missing out on promotion by an average of just 0.01 points over the season.

Gillingham: B Patrick run out 9, A Stevens b Fenton 30, L Smith b Dicks 5, T Hoare b Fenton 11, J Aldridge c Dicks b Fenton 12, S Cable b Fenton 5, B Vickers c b Fenton 1, S Hadingham b Chilleystone 26, G Wentworth not out 12, J Cockings not out 1; extras 11. Total (8 wkts) 123. Bowling: G Motterham 12-3-25-0, C Juby 10-0-38-0, J Dicks 12-5-16-1, D Fenton 9-0-28-5, K Chilleystone 2-0-14-1.

Hingham A: J Dicks lbw Aldridge 11, C Motterham c Hoare b Cockings 8, C Juby b Cockings 17, D Fenton c Smith b Aldridge 5, S Guy c Cockings b Smith 5, D Johnson c Hoare b Patrick 22, J Anderson b Smith 14, K O'Grady b Smith 2, K Chilleystone not out 18, O Thomas not out 7; extras 15. Total (8 wkts) 124. Bowling: J Cockings 12-1-31-1, J Aldridge 12-1-27-2, M Smith 2-0-18-1, A Stevens 1-0-6-0, L Smith 10.1-4-23-2, B Patrick 7-0-15-1.

Rumburgh travelled to champions elect Ipswich in a Suffolk Cricket Alliance fixture, they were asked to field and Ipswich made a steady start to their innings.

With the score on 80-0 rain started to fall and this made bowling difficult with the wet ball, Rumburgh's bowlers stuck to their task and chipped away with vital wickets as Ipswich finally finished on 195-7 after being 115-0.

Ipswich's bowlers made life difficult for the Rumburgh batsmen and with a helping hand from the drying wicket they began to take wickets at regular intervals with James Cross the only batsmen to show any resistance as he top scored with 27.

Gary Moon was the final wicket as he somehow managed to trip over his bat whilst attempting a quick run and was run out, this just about summed up Rumburgh's day as they were well beaten by 129 runs.

Bungay A found their season ended with a whimper as they were soundly beaten by Great Melton B at UEA on the final Saturday of the season.

Put into bat on a very wet track, the visitors struggled for runs, limping to 24 off 12 overs before acting skipper Tim Porter was harshly adjudged lbw.

Rik Ferguson and Danny Mowday followed shortly after, but Carl Cudden and Jordan Barber attempted to try and lift the scoring rate, before Cudden, top-scoring with 30, slashed at one to be caught behind, and Barber picked out deep mid on.

Bungay struggled on and posted a meagre 86-8, last men Gary Masterson and Ben Cudden ensuring that the visiting side were not dismissed, as they were playing with 10 men due to late call-offs.

In reply, the hosts looked to attack from the off, but Mowday got home skipper Damien Loines to chop one on.

This brought Howard to the crease, and he took on the bowling to thrash a rapid 35 before Mowday induced a misjudgement as he found Ferguson at mid-off. Ducker and Greenslade ensured that there were no more alarms as they cruised past the victory target in the 19th over.

Loddon A finished the season on a high note with victory over Horsford C.

Skipper for the day, G Hall, won the toss and had no hesitation in asking Horsford to bat following the heavy rain of previous days.

J Curtis and R Edmonds both bowled excellent new-ball spells, making full use of the conditions. Edmonds removed Lake for one before Curtis ripped through the Horsford top order, taking a superb 5-26 from his 12 overs.

Wickets continued to fall with G Hall coming into the attack and removing C Skipper and J Snelling. The Loddon fielders maintained the pressure throughout, including tidy work from J Perry behind the stumps.

With Horsford reeling on 65-7, C Weber launched a blistering counter attack - hitting five sixes in the process.

Just as he was threatening to take the game away from Loddon, Weber was dismissed for 71 thanks to an excellent catch by D Gould off the bowling of A Wells. Wells and G Shipley ensured that few additional runs were scored as Horsford were bowled out for 150.

After the early loss of S Kimenez, G Hall and R Edmonds found runs hard to come by against some quality bowling by Weber. A Wells joined Edmonds at the crease and lifted the scoring rate with a quick-fire 30 featuring some high-class shots. Edmonds was now scoring freely, unleashing some audacious reverse sweeps.

With 10 overs to go Loddon needed a run a ball to win but victory looked possible despite the wickets of Perry and Curtis.

B Thompson was waiting in the wings to hit the winning runs but wasn't needed as an excellent cameo from C Dyer (16no) and more clean hitting from Edmonds (61no) saw Loddon A to victory with nine balls to spare.

For his economical bowling spell and perfectly paced 61no, R Edmonds just pipped J Curtis to man of the match.

Loddon A: Bowling: J Curtis 12-1-26-5, R Edmonds 8-2-16-1, G Hall 7-3-23-2, A Wells 9-0-53-2. Batting: R Edmonds 61no, A Wells 30, C Dyer 16no, Total 153-5.

Horsford C: Batting: C.Weber 71, Total 150. Bowling: C.Weber 12-4-17-3.