Colossus Colbourne

On winning the toss, again, Wargrave decided to bat first against Great Kingshill on a slightly green but very good Wargrave track. Davies fell early for 10 to a fine delivery and catch, and fellow opener French, after doing the hard work, was bowled for 25 trying to pull one that kept a bit low. Robinson fell soon after, slashing at a short ball that he maybe should have left along, ironically, something that he strongly criticised the captain of doing the week before!

This left the team 63 for 3 after 21 overs, but M Woods and Colbourne got stuck in and nurdled their way to 132 in 38 overs. Then came the change of gear with the next 13.4 overs realising 137 runs. First, M. Woods took on the googly spinner hitting him straight for a number of fours, with Colbourne sweeping him successfully. Then, following M Woods’ departure for a crucial 61, A Woods came to the crease and, together with Colbourne, bludgeoned 92 in 8.4 overs. The team declared on269 in 50.4 overs following the wicket of A Woods, caught behind for 38. Colbourne finished on 113 not out.

With rain in the air, bowling proved tough going. Rimmer picked up two wickets late on in his first spell and Walker one, after replacing Clark. French couldn’t get into his rhythm and was expensive, while Smith didn’t get much of an opportunity with the captain looking to mix up the bowling in an effort to ‘buy’ wickets. Robinson gave the team hope with 3 wickets in a useful 6 over spell, and Davies grabbed one at the end with his leg spin, but with 3 overs lost to rain and no swing in the air, a draw was always going to be the outcome. Great Kingshill finished on 192 for 7 in their reduced 46 overs.

Although disappointing not to come away with a win in a game that Wargrave dominated once more, there were a number of positives, the main one being the batmen finally getting some runs on the board.