After last weeks generally lacklustre performance against Pembury, Cowdrey got back to winning ways with a better display against Yalding.

After winning the toss and batting, Cowdrey hoped for a minimum of 200 on a good Swanmead track. With Hammo (The Airport Farmer), as always, relying on his excellent eye and bat speed (with definite ploughing and seeding involved), Cowdrey were off to a flyer; his fellow villager (The Writer’s Lover / The teenagers love rat) returning to the top of the order, Cowdrey looked set for a big total at 50-0 after a handful of overs. However Yalding’s bowlers responded well, sticking to their disciplines, with some excellent fielding and perhaps a few questionable shots reduced Cowdrey to 51-3 and then 82-5. Warner (Thumbprint) seemed to be stroking the ball well before playing an ugly swipe to the ever-persistent Shepherd. Poor running, bad calling and good fielding resulted in the close, debatable run-out of Roberts (a poor mans Appsy) before Jonesy and Southwart (The back foot specialist) combined well to build a bit of a comeback. However Jonesy again dragged on a wide half volley (3 of 3 dismissals!), GM (the fly slip) battled well as Yalding continued to pressure and squeeze Cowdrey. As is the Cowdrey way, wickets fell in bunches and Yalding bowled well and cleaned up the tail to earn 5 points and 3 overs extra. The only bright spot was Southwart, admittedly scratching a little and riding his luck but had someone managed to stay with him for a decent length of time, 200 would not have been out of the question. A total of 170, while defendable, would require early wickets and lots of pressure to make it as difficult as possible, a good track still beckoned for a Yalding side that have been struggling for runs thus far.

For the first time this season, Cowdrey actually turned up to field. An excellent opening spell from Rob Fenwick (The Talented Fenners) deserved more wickets but the fact that there was only one scoring shot from his 6 overs, coming off a thick outside edge in his final over tells its own story. The lack of runs at one end and the intensity generally in the field really turned the screw. Both openers fell to a very pumped up Jonesy (tour name Farck! / Bagga Bones), both playing the hook shot, one skied, well taken by Needham, and the other appearing to top-edge to the keeper, actually unlucky to have it come off his helmet, the Yalding umpire raising his finger. GM (child catcher) at his usual fly slip, reacted sharply to take a good catch from Fenwick. Cowdrey really turned the pressure on the batsmen with a real team performance, making the batsman play out of their comfort zones, but they still put away the bad ball, especially as Jones, Sully (Café / Buffet / Stella (reassuringly expensive)) and Smythe (Run Machine) lost their lines. Sullivan replaced Fenwick and as usual threw a few pies, well put away before settling in and bowling brilliantly. The odd poor bowl was never far away, but the jagging ball did for Walker with an excellent delivery between bat and pad, possibly with a thin inside edge, Ratcliff caught by the keeper standing up, both having been disciplined in the face of the opening spells and plenty of pressure from the field. With the breakthrough, wickets continued to fall at both ends, with Cowdrey’s fielding finally matching their age and ability, Smythe with 2 and Sullivan getting a deserved 5 for 16, backed up by excellent catching by Needham (Junior Pencils / The Variation / Stock Ball), Hammo and Southwart, and a good delivery leaving Fazal plum in front, earning Sully a five wicket haul, wheedling a match ball from the ever miserly Director of Cricket.

Perhaps Cowdrey’s season can now begin proper, putting pressure on the opposition, bowling with intensity and discipline, fielding with skill and intelligence and making the batsmen fight for every run. A good performance but plenty of room for improvement with a tough challenge ahead next week, still many team members yet to turn up this year and to make opportunities count.