Archived Match Report
Second XI vs. Alveley - 30 Jul - Frome take a winning draw on a flat pitch at Alveley
Captain badger was topping up his tan this week so left in charge was vice captain S. Andrews who was keen to record his first victory in charge. Looking at the pitch before the start it soon became apparent how hard and flat it was so taking wickets might not be as easy this week. Captain Andrews lost the toss and Frome were asked to bat first.
S. Cottrell replaced captain Richards as Hughes' opening partner and seemed to relish the opportunity at being back at the top of the order. The opening over's were met with a flurry of runs on this large ground and the home teams opening bowlers struggled to find rhythm, one of them being the leagues top wicket taker. S. Cottrell played confidentially hitting regular boundaries and punishing anything lose until being caught for 32. M. Godsall took to the crease and began in similar fashion by hitting boundaries, Frome passed the drinks break for the loss of just one wicket. Good partnerships with Hughes and Cottrell and then Godsall saw the score pass 150. Then Godsall was bowled for 36. Stand in Captain Andrews took to the crease and failed to bother the scorer, and for the second week running took his frustrations out on the oppositions property by attacking the delicately arranged flower bed on his way back to the pavilion. After whipping the heads off some poor unsuspecting pansies he sat to contemplate his fielding tactics. B. Child strode to the middle with a sense of purpose to partner Hughes and both embarked on hitting big boundaries in the last 12 over's bring up a solid 100 from Hughes. The scoreboard rattled along as they scored 70 off 6 over's. Hughes was bowled for 105 and Pedro, not to be outdone, took the last few balls and hitting 2 more fours. Child 42 not out Frome 267-4 off 45 over's.
The home team openers came out playing shots to try a keep up with the run rate, and with Frome leaking boundaries off Hughes and Child bowling medium pace, Captain Andrews made the decision to take the pace off the ball, a decision that proved winning. L. Cottrell came into the attack and immediately caused the batsman problems and was unlucky not to have one of their openers LBW, after the batsman stood back in his crease and padded one away without offering a shot. The umpire adjudged it was going over the top as it hit him on the knee roll, but as the batsman was only 4ft tall it was difficult to see his point of view. C. Cottrell came into the attack and put in a supreme performance taking 6 for 24 and holding one end up for 12 over's. After some good catches and fielding from James and Mark Godsall, Pedro, and a self described "masterful" catch from B. Child, the home team seemed to give up the run chase. B. Shimwell had a tidy 5 over spell as did Pedro for 3 over's. The home team were left 214-9 and Frome just couldn't quite find that last wicket, but did superbly well to take 9 on this very flat and hard wicket.
