After some unscheduled off-roading en route, Palmers
arrived at Lingfield's secluded ground where a
track, with a tinge of green, made the captain's
choice at the toss not an obvious one. Fortunately
after some intensive coaching from Russ, who's
tossing record is virtually faultless thanks,
presumably, to years of practise and
experience, Hugh managed to lose for the second week
in a row. Lingfield's skipper chose to bowl.
Alex
Cornwell was given another opportunity to show the
promise which he undoubtedly holds, but was cut
short by a ball nipping back to clip the top of
his leg stump. Alex has enormous potential, it is
simply a matter of time, before this will manifest
itself into an innings of significance at this
level. Chris Green, at the other end, looked as calm
and untroubled as ever, until his rotten luck
continued with a bizarre dismissal. Nick Reason,
clearly willing to go to extraordinary lengths to
win a place in the side, seemed to have sabotaged
the bat he had loaned Chris. Half-way through a
confident on-drive the splice gave way resulting in
the blade arriving late and spooning a catch to a
short mid on.
Some
consolidation was in order, and Hugh Salter (49)
joined James Dawes (64) to build a solid 90
run partnership, some excellent running between the
wickets put pressure on the young Lingfield side,
and the basis of a competitive total was in place.
Palmers are a side packed with batting talent, and
the foundation was converted into a good total, by
selfless quick fire contributions throughout the
middle and lower order. Russ Ferrier continued the
excellent running, Steve Hogg did not disappoint his
fans by hitting a couple of his trademark lofted
drives, Stuart Burgess struck the ball lustily, and
Will Dawes found a comparison between buses and
sixes that Blowers would be proud of- having
unbelievably ended his lifelong wait by hitting a
six last week, lo and behold another one came along
this week, let the floodgates open...
This
allowed an early declaration to be made, always a
difficult decision, that hindsight normally exposes,
and which the 'told you so' brigade can pounce on.
But after a controversially curtailed tea allowed
Chris Green to put the side through some extra
fielding practise, Palmers took to the field with
confidence. Lingfield's young opener, intimidated by
the Ferns pace, jumped out the way of his first
ball, and the tone was set. Chris Green's cruel luck
continued with a couple of spilled chances in the
slips, but Ollie maintained his uncanny knack of
taking wickets by returning a deserved 3 for 24.
James Dawes took a couple of overs to settle, before
confirming his man-of-the-match performance with 4
quick wickets. Lingfield's young batsmen played with
a refreshing freedom allowed them by their skipper,
overcoming the stifling and negative effects the
format we play can sometimes lead to. This included
an impressive seventh wicket stand which Palmers
struggled to break. The skipper turned to the man in
form, Damian Thorne, who possibly dazzled by the
bright lights of his promotion to the 1st's or was
he, unaccustomed to the pre-match fielding
drills, injured while trying to impress his
team-mates? Either way he clearly could not produce
his usual beguiling deliveries, and it was left to
the returning Green, and the erstwhile Ferrier to
wrap up the tail with 8 overs left, thus sparing the
nervous last 5 over knife-edge when the result is
never certain.
The
bowling and fielding which had been so impressive
last week, never quite reached the high standard
this side has shown they are capable of. A perfect
demonstration of the importance of catching was
witnessed. Dropped chances, which had been the
scourge of last season, nearly cost Palmers the
points. In the end though, 2 tough opportunities
were taken at crucial stages to dismiss key batsmen.
Ollie Ferns bagged a hard low catch at short mid
wicket, and Steve Hogg took a good one-hander in the
gully, which rescued the 'what-if' analysis that
would have happened had the 5 missed catches cost
us. While the ground fielding was good, on a
difficult surface, epitomised by the commitment of
fielder-of-the-day Steve Hogg, the catching has not
reached the consistency demanded of by the skipper.
Maximum points however, should never be scoffed at,
and while there are aspects to work on, ultimately
this was a very satisfactory performance with plenty
to be positive about.
