Hales Sunday lose out

Hales Sunday travelled to East Harling with a young side and lost by four wickets on a wet and variable wicket.

Hales won the toss and batted first with G Squire and R Mattocks opening the batting.

Only Squire managed to get the ball off the square with authority as the whole Hales batting line-up collapsed.

A combination of good bowling and inconsistent bounce from a pitch that had been under leaking covers for two days was the downfall of Hales.

Squire departed for 22 and only Harmer and Dan Andersen managed double figures as Hales were bowled out for 69 in 32 overs.

East Harling then served up their notoriously stunning tea as the chairman's wife dished up the finest teas any East Anglian cricket club has ever seen. A wonderful selection of hot and cold meats with fresh deep pan pizza and a sublime selection of home-baked cakes were the toast of the day for the young Hales team.

Tom Vale and David Harmer opened the eating as they tucked into the freshly cooked chicken legs and pizzas. Tom Vale was off to a flyer as he peppered himself with slice after slice of pizza. The more refined Harmer took a particular liking to the barbecue chicken legs.

The Hales middle order then swarmed the fresh cakes and sausage rolls whilst the tailenders looked on agonisingly. Fortunately the banquet of East Harling kept coming and the tail end really managed to wag.

With this cunning tactic East Harling had succeeded in over- feeding Hales to claim an easy victory. Harling reached their 69-run target in the 25th over for the loss of six wickets. No batsman really got going against some spirited bowling from Hales.

Harmer bowled seven maidens in a row including three wicket maidens to put East Harling under a bit of pressure early on.

Aside from that Beaumont and Kaye showed promise as the home side picked off the ones and twos needed for victory.