2's lose to Shenley

The second team were in action on Saturday at Lowfield against Shenley Village who were just below them in the league standings before the game so it was always going to be a tough match for Hoddy to win. Hoddesdon won the toss and captain Adrian Lee elected to bat first on a very good batting wicket.

The Hoddy openers Tom Fryers and Nick Gandon got off to a good start with some early runs on the board. Unfortunately Gandon tweaked his hamstring on a quick single and was forced to retire hurt early on. After this setback the skipper joined Fryers at the crease and built steadily with runs ticking over regularly. Fryers was scoring quickly with some excellent shots but eventually was bowled by left arm seamer Prajapati after some indecisive shots shortly before his exit. Unfortunately he couldn’t get reach his fifty which would have followed on from his impressive 72 last week and was out for 42. There was then a mini collapse with Lee going for 16 and Ruddle out for a duck and Hoddy were 68-3. Shaun Brown was then joined with Adam Sturdy who were both trying to rebuild the innings again. However, Sturdy was victim to a smart stumping from keeper Alexander and was out for 7. Then Rocco Cuffaro joined the crease and despite a very scratchy innings, helped steady the Hoddesdon ship with Brown. Cuffaro found it hard to score quickly and Brown was doing his best to pierce the field when he could. However, some tight bowling and good fielding from the opposition meant that runs were not coming as quick as the team would have liked. Brown was then caught behind off opening bowler Geoff Evans and departed with 29. Nick Gandon then came back to the crease following his earlier retirement with Sturdy being his runner. Cuffaro was quickly out however straight after hitting the bowler over the top for 4. The decision was at first not given by umpire Steve ‘Trigger’ Greaves which came as a bit of a surprise to be honest! However, following some suspect umpiring the square leg umpire declared that the ball had clipped the bail before hitting the keeper’s gloves and Cuffaro was forced to leave for 22. Harry Mason joined Gandon in the middle at 145-6 but Gandon was caught out at deep square leg following a 6 which he smashed previously towards the tennis courts. Mason found it difficult to score as had many of the Hoddesdon team and eventually the team were all out for 173.

After tea the Shenley batsmen came out in a very positive fashion punishing the bad balls that were all too regular throughout the game. Adam Sturdy was economical in his first spell but couldn’t get the breakthrough needed. Mahalingham wasn’t being tested by many of the bowlers but with some good bowling from leg spinner Tom Fryers and some luck with the decision from umpire Greaves, the no.1 batsman was out lbw. With the score at 71-1 Hoddy were in need of some magic from someone which could have been Cuffaro had he been put on to bowl by skipper Adrian Lee. However, Lee decided against this and bowlers were still struggling to find a wicket. Wides were also accumulating to the score with the other umpire being extremely harsh as the match went on. Eventually Fryers picked up his second wicket of the opener for 38. However, the score had raced to 115-2. The Hoddy bowlers started to get their act together and bowled tightly but Bowles battled through the pressure built by the fielding side. Mason managed to get the wicket of no.4 batsman Sidwell with a great catch from Adam Sturdy. However the score was still ticking along especially with the wides that were being bowled on a regular basis. Shenley then managed to surpass the target needed and were victorious by 7 wickets.

With the 1’s and 3’s winning again this was the second week in a row that the 2’s hadn’t won whilst the other teams had. Therefore lots will be needed to be done to work on bowling more tight and conceding less extras after a ridiculous 64 were conceded. Hopefully the team can regroup and perform like they had in the first 2 games next week away at Cockfosters.

Words by Rocco Caffaro