2nd team vs Orpington - 6th June

Following a good start to the season, the 2’s headed to Orpington in confident mood.

Having one the toss and electing to bat first, Nick Waite departed early for only 2, caught at extra cover when the ball stopped enough in the wicket to cause him to play in the air.

Gus Fordham joined Glen Aukett and this pair made batting look easy, rattling the score along to 62 in 15 overs before Aukett pulled a long hop straight to mid-wicket to be dismissed for 37. This dismissal, along with changes in the bowling, sparked a collapse as the middle order failed to leave The Mote in trouble. Runs hadn’t been a problem, but lack of wickets definitely was, as the side collapsed to 116 for 5, which soon became 7 when Alan Barr and Laurence Waters were dismissed in successive overs.

Richard Gentry and Nigel Mullarkey combined to bump the total up to something at least defendable, Mullarkey making 17 and Richard Gentry finishing 28 not out, with The Mote posting 175 for 9. Having been 116-5 at the half way stage of the innings, this was a disappointing total.

In order to defend this average total, the bowling had to be excellent from the start – which sadly it wasn’t. Orpington got off to a quick start and were 40 for 0 after 10 overs. Aukett took the one and only wicket of the day, following a discussion about batting technique with the Orpington opener, the batsman lost his cool and hit a ball straight to Paul Usher at mid-on.

That unfortunately was as good as it got for The Mote bowlers. The bowlers were unable to exert pressure from both ends and ultimately just didn’t bowl well enough in the circumstances. The pitch did flatten out for the seamers and with Orpington not needing to take risks against the spinners having got off to a decent start, they just ticked the score over and hit the bad balls (which there were more than a few) to the boundary.

Orpington cantered to a 9 wicket win with 6.3 overs remaining, meaning The Mote only took 3 points from the game. An extremely disappointing result, being the team’s first loss of the season.

Overall, The Mote didn’t do any discipline well enough and will need to improve all-round this week