North Herts League Match Report

Offley & Stopsley CC Vs Crawley Green Nomads - 15th July

No Result - Match Abandoned - Rain

The day after their magnificent thrashing of Ickleford II's in the Saracen League OSCC turned up at the Crawley Green Sports ground for another crucial showdown. This time in the North Herts League against old rivals Crawley Green Nomads for what promised to be another prickly game.

Stephen Bexfield won the toss and felt forced into batting first because of in-form Nathan Brodie's abscence at the start. Colin Keeley followed up his travelling heartaches from the previous week with another howler. So determined was he to travel the two miles to the ground that he forgot to pick up the young firebrand. This of course led to recriminations and arguments from the skipper while the offending taximan decided that perhaps a day in front of the telly would be best. The toys were thrown around for a while and then we settled down to the match.

Not a lot to write about really after another glorious summer’s day was curtailed by a monsoon. Offley batted first and reached 106-4 before play was abandoned. Dave Bridgland was lbw to a ball that nipped back and kept low while Richie Barker finally found the middle of the bat for the first time in 2007 and celebrated by picking out the mid on fielder. Nathan Brodie failed to trouble the scorers after arriving late at the ground – perhaps not ideal preparation for a big game – and Qumar was dismissed for the first time all season when he edged to slip. Mark Tattersall (31) and Steve Bexfield (20) were both going well when the rains came and Offley looked to be in a promising position before having to settle for a share of the points.

And down it the rain came, in this interminable summer of downpours, we all had a lovely tea and then when we saw Noah's Ark floating by we all gave up and went home.