Sussex Martlets – 28 August 2013

Result: Draw

Match Report: On a beautiful late summer’s day, the Martlets were invited to bat by a nervous Stragglers‘ captain, whose bowling armoury lacked depth. In the event, the performance of the club’s bowlers, which relied on a four man attack, was truly manful. Rob Pollock-Hill displayed steel in mind and body, bowling unchanged from one end through the length of their innings. At the other, Leo Hadcock, James Musgrave and the ever youthful Tim Lerwill shared the bowling duties.

The match manager had received a call at the weekend from Willy Boulter, who, on one of his rare trips to the UK, offered to keep wicket. He did so in warm conditions, his performance behind the timbers worthy of a man half of his age. In spite all of these factors and with good support for the bowlers by the fielders, the Martlets batted well and compiled a good score on a fast scoring ground.

Shortly after tea, the Stragglers were 19-3. Mudho Ahmed had occupied the crease to good effect for nearly forty minutes; sadly, Hugo Hadcock and Sye Razvi didn’t fire in the face of some competitive Martlets bowling. It called for retrenchment and then the counter-attack ….…which it got, in the shape of a fourth wicket stand of 138 between James Musgrave and Paddy Savage. Their contrasting styles, the former elegant and powerful, the latter punchy and employing lots of bottom hand, saw the Stragglers to a position of safety but never really with a genuine prospect of challenging our opponents’ score. That said, an explosive knock of 32 by Leo Hadcock compelled the Martlets bowlers to set ever deeper fields in the final moments of the game. However, it was Musgrave who dominated the innings, falling just five short of a century. His had been a great knock to watch. 

Team Batting First: Martlets

FOW: 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10:

Team Batting Second: Stragglers of Asia