ON arriving at the small village ground at Himbleton, the Green found a pitch which was basically firm and dry with two large wet patches caused by water seeping under the covers which made the bounce of the ball rather unpredictable all afternoon.

HIMBLETON II v BARNARDS GREEN II

Bob Rogers opened his account with a six over fine leg but was soon dismissed for 11, followed quickly by Sherliker and Price. Alford was bowling particularly well, using the conditions to his advantage.

Skipper Dick Brown joined James Curtis and the pair batted sensibly, putting on 84 for the fourth wicket before Brown skied the ball into the covers. Curtis was now batting confidently, blocking the good balls and dispatching anything short or overpitched to the boundary. Hooper scored a couple of boundaries before being bowled by Critchlow for 13.

Keith Middleton proved an effective partner for Curtis, who was now approaching the nervous nineties. Having checked his score, he knew when he reached 99 but lacked the confidence to hit through a ball from Preece, pushing it gently into the cover fielder's hands to end an excellent innings which included 10 4s and one 6. Middleton (48no) also did an fine job to see the Green to 260-6.

In reply, Himbleton soon fell behind the scoring rate required and lost wickets regularly. Only Critchlow (35) seemed interested in threatening the Green total as Matt Brookes caused problems for all the batsmen with his swing bowling. Skipper Preece held the innings together with a dogged knock of 84no in 51 overs as the Green failed to hold all their chances.

Young Tim Price did some excellent work behind the stumps to help Brookes to take 6-49 in a spell of 16 overs. Duncan Bell (1-26) and Andy Lamb (2-25) also bowled well but were unable to dismiss the last pair as Himbleton hung on for a draw.