Eastry lost the toss, which seemed to be a good one to lose, and were put into bat on a wicket that was sodden from a short but torrential rain shower half an hour before the game. Due to the heavy rain forecast for later in the day the two teams decided to play a limited overs game of 35 overs per team, with 7 overs per bowler. Toby Marriott and new comer Charlie Michaels opened the batting, and attempted to see off the new ball, which seemed to have a mind of its own, as it seamed, swung and the bounce varied erratically.
Toby Marriott was bowled for 4 after looking solid, however he received a peach of a delivery that hit the seam and swung in quickly. Ned Gleave joined Michaels at the crease put on a decent partnership, with runs flowing quickly, if not slightly unconventionally. On 30 Michaels was caught off of the bowling of Eden, Nelson’s Lillee/Jack Sparrow look a like, bringing the partnership of 64 to an end. Gleave was playing positively, looking to put the bowlers out of rhythm, however on 37 he chased the ball too much, and looped up a simple catch to the man at point. Eastry had declined from a respectable 77-1 to 83-3 with only 13 overs left, so the stand in captain Deveson tried to push on the run rate with big shots, hitting a quick fire 17 with the support of Dartnell at the other end, before Deveson drilled a straight drive over the bowlers head, which was well caught by deep mid off running round to his right. Dartnell was dismissed soon after for 14, and Tim Marriott and Pete Eastman picked up the run rate with boundary hitting, with Marriott picking up a quick 15 and Eastman accumulating a swift 19 with some nice looking shots. After a brief cameo of 10 from Jack woods in the final over Eastry eventually finished on 165-7 off of their 35 overs, which seemed to be a low, but defendable total on a wicket that had dried out rapidly in the sun and wind. Credit must be given to Duncan Cotton, who off his six overs had only 12 runs scored, and picked up 4 wickets, and had two opportunities for a hat trick.
Deveson struck early on, having Langridge caught for 2 runs by Gleave on a ball that was hit low to his right. The new batsmen Tom Christian decided offense was the best defence and surprised everyone as his second ball faced was a huge slog sweep that raced to the boundary, and then played the same shot a few balls later and sent the ball sailing over the pavilion, much to the annoyance of Deveson who went chuntering back to his marker. His reply was good however, as he trapped the batsmen in front of the stumps with a yorker, and Christian was dismissed LBW for a rapid 25.
Hill was able to get big in swing in the humid conditions and caused trouble for the batsmen, and as a result had Nelson’s dangerous opener Martin Christian caught at square leg for just 9 runs, before trapping Marc Eden in front of the stumps. Nelson were reeling at 51-6, but the game was by no means opener. Masoud Rangin and Duncan Cotton rallied the team, taking quick singles while dispatching the ball to the boundary frequently, which had the Eastry side desperate for a wicket. Ned Gleave was up to the challenge and was able to take the wicket of Rangin with an off cutter that jagged back into the batsman a long way, clattering into middle stump. The capacity Eastry crowd applauded the innings of Rangin, who had played superbly for his 37 and had put Nelson in a winning position of 103-7 with just under 10 overs remaining.
Eastry felt much more comfortable as Gleave took two more wickets in two balls, to leave him on hat trick ball against the number 11, the game’s third hat trick opportunity with Nelson’s Duncan Cotton having the opportunity twice earlier in the game. The ball was good however Shoobridge was up the the challenge and just managed to keep the ball out, much to the anguish of the Eastry players. Shoobridge and Cotton continued to score runs, and with 4 overs to go Nelson were at 146-9, needing a very getable five an over to win the match. However, in an attempt to get a run off of every ball, they chanced their luck on a ball that was hit straight to Gleave at cover, who zeroed in on the stumps and got a direct hit, running Shoobridge out by a yard. The pick of the bowlers was Gleave who after a turbulent season with the ball, picked up 4-23 off of his 7 overs, and also provided the game winning run out.

Matt Deveson – 12/08/2013

Having lost the toss Eastry were invited to bat on what looked a flat wicket.  However Eastry seemed to ignore this fact immediately, losing two quick wickets; Aaron Friend’s being a particularly ugly shot to complete his pair for the weekend. Ned Gleave joined Pete Eastman at the crease and went about the rebuild. Gleave showed some particularly impressive wristy shots. Gareth Friend then went on to join Gleave after Eastman was dismissed for his new personal best in Eastry colours. At this point the scoring accelerated rapidly with some lusty blows aimed at the pavillion and the opposite houses. Gray managed to quell the aggression by taking three quick wickets, denying Gleave his century and also claiming the scalps of Friend and Deveson. However a rapid 84 run partnership from Kenton and Hill helped secure a healthy Eastry total of 295, ultimately ensuring their ability to control the match.
In reply Boughton seemed unwilling to attempt to reach the massive total and seemed content to bat the rest of the day out. However, with the constant pressure of not scoring any runs, encroaching fielders and some lively bounce, it proved a risky tactic. Deveson managed to remove the openers, firstly by luring the attacking Richardson into one drive too many and then securing the run out of Hughes after a suicidal run. However, Boughton once again shut up shop and Eastry were pushed into placing up to 9 men in the slips in order to try and coax some attacking shots out. A mixture of slow and vicious bouncey pace failed to gain any reward until Friend finally snared Mace with a particularly violent bouncer. With overs dwindling and pace bowling failing to blast the batsmen out of the creases, Eastry turned their pace bowlers into gentle spin. What followed gave Eastry hope of a shock victory in the last few overs. Friend dislodged four batsmen in 5 balls to leave Boughton reeling. However, Gray was able to see the home side through to the end, accelerating at times to reach a chance-free 56 no. Friend claimed remarkable figures of 6-15 and everyone retreated to the pub.

Harry Kenton – 20/06/2013