Ley Hill 2nds vs Prestwood, 2nd July 2005

Will Holman

Ley Hill's Seconds returned from a calamitous batting performance to defeat Prestwood by a margin of 26 runs. This was an incredible fight-back against the side that led our division at the start of play. In the pubs and bars of Ley Hill this is being labelled, with barely any exaggeration, "the greatest comeback since Lazarus".

Although Paul Humphreys (left) quickly put runs on the board, opener Will Holman was out second ball, fooled by the gigantic run up of what turned out to be a slow-medium trundler. What was required now was some steady batting to build a decent score against a depleted Prestwood side. Unfortunately, Chris Jones and Jamie Morris quickly fell, also for ducks, to leave the Hill at an abject 11 for 3. Graham Harrison came in and produced a grizzly 14 alongside Paul Humphreys (24); most importantly, these two provided a foundation of sorts for the innings. Kevin Phillips, Jake Wells and Iain Stewart all chipped in with valuable runs, with each looking well-accomplished - before their stints at the wicket ended abruptly. Falling from 94 for 7 to 100 all out seemed like the final insult.

Defending 100 was never going to be easy, and so it seemed as the Prestwood openers, quality batsmen both, put on a quick-fire 43-run partnership to leave Hill fielders dreaming only of early beers in the bar. Jake Wells - significantly, one of two players under the legal drinking age - had other ideas, quickly dismissing the opening pair and leaving Prestwood's batting order looking badly exposed. But skipper Iain Stewart can only have dreamed of the sequence of events that was to follow. Prestwood's only two batsmen of any merit seemed to be the opening pair, and getting rid of the remainder was like taking sporting pageants from the French. It was Graham Harrison and Brian Puddephatt who did the damage, allowing no batsman to get beyond six runs and taking the last seven wickets for just 30 runs. Their relentlessly tight, probing bowling was exactly what was required.

The Hill's valiant fighters got their early drinks after all, and those drinks were all the tastier for the 25-point haul we had just taken from the league leaders. All Ley Hillians involved will rue a shocking batting performance but will feel great pride after such an audacious, ballsy recovery.

Ley Hill won by 26 runs
Ley Hill: 100 all out (Humphreys 24)
Prestwood: 74 all out (Harrison 4 for 18, Puddephatt 3 for 5, Wells 2 for 30)

Man of the Match: Graham Harrison and Brian Puddephatt took seven wickets between them, but Jake Wells was the biggest star, removing the opening pair and contributing some valuable runs
Clown of the Match: Your reporter, whose duck started the batting collapse

Click here for the scorecard