Moretonhampstead Cricket Club 16/16 v Bridford CC Home Bridford 126-4 Moreton 85-6

The club’s revival continues with an encouraging increase in attendance at practices and availability for games. The season’s opening fixture showed, however, that we still need to match enthusiasm with improved technique to compete seriously with teams of the calibre and experience of Bridford. Chris Back (35*) was the pick of the batsmen with some free-flowing shots, all the more remarkable without windscreen wipers for his glasses in the annoying drizzle. The bowling was generally economical, with skipper Chris Yeo and Simon Cox almost as miserly on the pitch as they are in the pub, but it lacked penetration against some aggressive batting in a short ‘slog game’. The fielding is still a ‘work in progress’ but has a very solid base in Dave Hocking’s efficient wicket-keeping and a smart run-out by Greg Abel was as skilfully executed as a piece of his ironwork.