Full Fixture Information

Result Descriptiom

Won by 6 wickets

Man of the Match

James Atkinson - scintillating 137no and 3-16

Champagne Moment

Martin Cooke's catching behind the stumps

Teddy Bear Moment

Tim Lawrence's Catching (or lack of)

Full Match Report

EMCC V Froxfield

Froxfield 204-6 // EMCC 205-5

For the second week in a row there was some confusion about start times and Froxfield turned up raring and ready to go for a 1pm start whilst some of us were still peeling our quail?s eggs and icing our cakes. Not sure where or how the confusion arose, but the irony of their captain (none other than our very own Josh Haslett) getting to the pitch for an away game in his own village more than an hour earlier than he gets to any of his EMCC home games was not lost on anyone.

Last year?s game had been a first time fixture v Froxfield, or first time for many a year, and it was nice to welcome them to East Meon where surely they?d be looking for revenge for last year?s 6 wicket loss.

I won the toss and for the first time this season decided we?d have a bowl ? EMCC was full of bowlers and I thought it was time to put them through their paces. Cricket?s a family affair, and it was nice to have three pairs of father and sons playing ? perhaps a first for a Sunday?

Anyway, I opened with a pair of Rees? ? Dave striking with his first ball with a short wide one that was slapped to cover where Sticko made the catch look a bit harder than it was. Aaron struck in the next over bowling their number three with a hooping full ball and it was 16-2 at the end of the third over.

Aaron 5-0-22-1 and Dave 5-1-15-1 finished up and were replaced by Sticko and Tim L. Sticko?s spell was a familiar one with some unplayable balls that bounced and left the prodding batsman and then some slightly friendlier balls that tended to be helped to the boundary and he finished his five over spell wicketless.

Tim Lawrence was immediately into his stride bowling an excellently economic spell of 7-1-12-1 picking up their number four caught behind by our stand-in keeper M Cooke. George Atkinson replaced Sticko and didn?t quite find his radar as figures of 4-0-30-0 testify.

But at the 25 over mark they were 113-3 and James Atkinson replaced Tim and in his 2nd over had their dangerous number five ct behind 131-4.

All this time their 14-yr old opener was resolutely holding his own passing 50 (and beating his highest score of 47) and putting away the bad ball and giving no chances off anything else.

Wayne replaced George and started well before losing his line a bit and ending up with 5-0-28-0. Lakh (3-0-11-0) replaced Wayne and I replaced James (7-2-16-3). In the last over before tea, with their opener somewhere in the 90s he eventually lifted a ball down the throat of long-off where our Antipodean took the view that denying a 14-yr old a century could end up sending him into long-term therapy and never playing cricket again, so he generously fluffed his lines and allowed him to reach his 100. Well batted that man.

100 not out having opened the batting ? with his father and grandfather on the sidelines there was a celebratory feel at tea and no one (apart from me) begrudged the dropped catch.

So after 44 overs tea was taken with Froxfield 204-6.

It was going to be a big chase.

I decided to shoulder some of the responsibility and opened up with Martin against some good quality opening bowling. Another revelation was Noah Brownlee who lives in the village and came steaming in with his left-arm over ? too good for me and I was out in the 8th over with the score on 18.

That just brought James to the wicket ? off the back of two unbeaten hundreds in consecutive innings, he did what he does best and never looked like getting out as he motored to his fifty. He was generously helped 6 times (he was counting) when fielders on the boundary allowed the ball to go through them for four.

Martin batted well at the other end ? finally bowled in the 18th over for 18. And with support from Lakh, Tim L, Ollie Cooke and then George we needed 60 off the last 7 overs, 40 off the last five and 20 off the last three and then four off the last over, the first ball of which James duly thumped to the boundary to end up 137no, with 30 extras and 38 runs mustered between the other 6 batsman ? it was a virtuoso performance and enough to bring him his 4th MOTM award in a row.

Well done East Meon ? it?s currently played 20, won 12, drawn 6 and lost 2 with four matches to go.