11th August 2007 - The Cricket Field EP

Barns Green  - 205 for 9 - 49 overs

East Preston - 208 for 9 in 41 overs

EP were greeted by sunny skies and a dry wicket for the crucial game against the bottom club Barns Green who had started to find their feet and were going into this match unbeaten in their last 3 games.

The toss was going to be crucial and the Skipper could only just hide his delight when he won the toss and decided to field first. However EP knew that Barns Green would be a better side than when the two sides met earlier in the year and a good bowling and fielding performance was needed.

With Joel struggling with his hamstring young Darryl and the returning Coskin opened the bowling and both bowled at a lively pace where runs were hard to find for the Barns Green batters. Coskin picked up the young opener and gave the number 3 batter a torrid time especially with some good short lenght bowling - a dropped catch robbed Coskin of his second wicket. The skipper or should I say vice Skipper (Darryl had taken over running the team!) soon picked up the struggling number 3 and should have also had the other opener out caught behind but the chance was put down. Sean was now on and bowling a tight spell and he too picked up  a wicket quickly to leave Barns Green struggling 3 down and a run rate under 3 per over. With the shine off the new ball the EP spin twins came on to add more pressure and wickets continued to fall at regular intervals including the opener who Miggins bowled for 52, a great run out from Darryl and two more wickets for Miggins looked to have all but finished Barns Green off and a total around the 160 mark looked like all they would reach. Enter their number 9 batsmen who decided to hit every ball with  a baseball style heave and somehow he managed to score 43 not out and saw Barns Green to a flattering 205 for 9. A missed run out opportunity saw EP end with 8 bonus points.

The target of 206 looked perfectly gettable on the now drier and slightly slow paced pitch but EP were rocked when PP was out off the 2nd ball of the innings. A great 100 run partnership from Sean and Colin calmed the EP nerves and quietened the Barns Green fielders, Sean was striking the ball to all parts and Colin played the supporting role well. Colin was out for 40 and Sean followed fairly soon after for a classy 79 (deserved a ton!). Despite the loss of the two batters EP still looked very comfortable to score the 80 odd runs needed with 7 wickets in the bin - however losing a further 4 wickets for just 8 runs quickly changed the mood in the camp. Sam was harshly adjudged LBW, Josh bowled by a yorker, Skipper bowled by a pea roller (again!) and Joel all out to the Barns Green Skipper. Cool heads were required and enter Darryl and Gary (batted 4), they both batted superbly and set out about knocking off the runs with sensible shots and gradually the confidence returned to the home team. EP needed under 25 runs when Gary was bowled by the returning opening bowler and Miggins were out leaving Darryl to bat with Coskin at number 11. By now the EP skipper was struggling to watch but Coskin played out his deliveries well and Darryl then smashed 12 off an over to see EP home.

A great innings from Darryl who was fresh off his 100 for Sussex earlier in the week and credit must also go to Gary,Sean and Colin. A crucial win for EP and great spirit was shown by the team.

Looking back it was a game where EP should have picked up 30 points and probably knocked off the runs with fewer wickets lost but a win is a win! The result was even more crucial with Scaynes Hill taking 30 points off Clymping to leave EP still in the bottom 2 but it's tight on points. EP are 2 points behind Southwick in 7th and 5 points behind Scaynes Hill in 6th (EP have game in hand). With 3 games left EP are still in a good position to see themselves reach a top 6 finish especially with  a home game against Scaynes Hill.

A big thanks to the guys that came into the side this week.

Man of the match - tough call but Sean Rebbetts gets the nod with his classy 79 and 1 wicket.