Waverley dig in

Hindhead denied as visitors cling on for the draw...

With the season into its final month, Waverley's warriors arrived at Hindhead and immediately had to evict the local football team (who had set up for a game in the outfield). Ian Verrinder ("IV"), Nick Hales ("The Greek"), Russ Golding ("Raoul"), Simon Brewer ("KV"), Kyle Moxham ("Foxy"), Matt Du Gay ("Doogs"), Chris Beanland ("Beanie"), James Wright ("Mongo"), Peter Brewer ("Mr B"), Matt Pride ("Pride of Waverley") and Adam Carmichael ("AC") no doubt hoped that the home side would be seen off in much the same manner.

Batting first, Beanie and Doogs looked to dominate the batsmen early on and steaming in down the hill, Beanie duly delivered an economical eight over spell. Unfortunately for the skipper, that meant he was targeted by the big-hitting Lofthus at the other end. However, perseverance won the day when Raoul pouched a mis-timed shot to give Doogs his first wicket. Not to be outdone, Beanie proved the old adage that rubbish bowling gets wickets by banging in a half-tracker that eluded Harrison. When Doogs struck again, removing the dangerous Bertola and Marshall in the same over, the home side were struggling on 53-4. AC and Mr B were introduced into the attack and both strangled the run rate to great effect, restricting Hindhead to 48 runs in a combined 18 over spell (during which AC bagged the fifth wicket thanks to a sharp stumping from IV). Pride of Waverley and Foxy both bowled well as the tea interval approached, Pridey holding on to a looping catch off his own bowling in the penultimate over of the innings. However, M Jeffs had continually accumulated runs and reached a well-made half century in the final over before tea. With the milestone passed, he then put the unfortunate Foxy to the sword for the remainder of the over as Hindhead looked to boost their total. The home side duly declared at the end of the over with a score of 162-6, a total which seemed very gettable.

After tea (which definitely ranked as one of the more excellent teas of the season), IV and The Greek got the Waverley response under way. Although IV was an early casualty of the home side's bowling attack, The Greek and Raoul kept the score ticking over nicely and were keeping pace with Hindhead's first innings run rate. Even the loss of Raoul for a well-made 35 did not give the visitors cause for concern, not least because man-in-form KV was now at the crease. By the time the final 20 overs commenced, Waverley were 65-2 and looking nicely poised. However, bowling changes from the home side saw Waverley lose all momentum with the bat. KV was trapped LBW (11), with The Greek edging through to the keeper in the very next over (22). When Doogs holed out for 10, Waverley had added only 26 in ten overs with only a further ten overs remaining. Things soon took a turn for the worse as Foxy, Mongo (batting down the order due to illness), Mr B and Pride of Waverley all found themselves back in the pavilion. The upshot was that Waverley found themselves 110-9 with four overs still left to play. However, at the crease were Beanie and AC - Beanie was looking untroubled by the bowling and 'Brigadier Block' AC is used to hanging around without playing a dangerous shot. Both batsmen successfully negotiated the final four overs without much in the way of incident, Waverley securing the draw and Beanie finishing unbeaten on 18.

For his economical bowling and good batting in difficult circumstances, Beanie was awarded the Man of the Match Hat. Unfortunately he was also awarded the *Anchor Hat for repeatedly reminding the skipper about his economical bowling. Finally, the Pink T-shirt went to Pride of Waverley for rushing over to see his girlfriend during the drinks break. Will that boy never learn...