HCC 3rd XI v's Old Elizabethans 3rd XI

Hoddesdon’s 3rd XI opened up their league campaign away at Old Elizabethans 3rd XI on Saturday May 9th. They were defeated by 60 runs, however there were many positives to take; most notably the performances of the youngsters in the side.

Josh Gorton, captaining the side in the absence of Aidan McElligott, won the toss and elected to bowl, and the young left-arm duo of Max Murray and Riley Hagger bowled very economically early on, mainly restricting the hosts to singles. Hoddy were very unfortunate in the opening stages, with the opening batsman riding their luck with a combination of thick edges and several play and misses.

Hoddesdon’s first wicket was taken by Joe Duke, as Old Elizabethan’s opener spooned the ball to Gorton at mid-on.
Joe Duke was being targeted on the shorter leg side boundary, but he wasn’t perturbed and could consider himself very unlucky to only pick up the solitary wicket. Jeswin Samuel bowled well at good pace with little reward, before Steve Duke and Josh Gorton entered the attack after 27 overs, to try and stem the tide with Old Elizabethans beginning to accelerate the run-rate. Steve Duke bowled well and picked up two wickets, one bowled and one caught by Neil Connor, whilst Gorton chipped in, claiming one wicket.

Max Murray and Hagger returned to the attack to bowl the final overs and they coped excellently under pressure. The intentions of Old Elizabethan’s batsmen were abundantly clear, they wanted to take advantage of their wickets in hand and post an imposing target, but the left-armers ensured that this wasn’t the case. Murray claimed two deserved wickets, due to fine catches from Steve Duke and wicket-keeper Dave Thorne respectively, whilst Hagger also claimed his debut wicket in senior cricket.

From 162-2, it was looking ominous for Hoddy; but they stuck to their task extremely well and restricted Old Elizabethans to 198-7 off their 45 overs. Max Murray was undoubtedly the pick of the Hoddesdon attack, boasting figures of 9 overs, 2-14, whilst Steve Duke, Joe Duke, Gorton & Hagger were also among the wickets.

Chasing 199 for victory, Ross Angelini and Steve Duke opened the batting for Hoddesdon. They began strongly; Angelini in particular playing some delightful cover-drives. Unfortunately, he was clean-bowled for 21, bringing Jeswin Samuel to the crease. He scored 8 runs with a mixture of power and unorthodox shots, before he was also bowled.

This brought Max Murray to the crease, who was attempting to replicate his bowling heroics. He played some excellent shots and played with great maturity, scoring 20 runs, his highest at senior level. Hoddesdon’s stand-out batsman was Steve Duke. He batted tenaciously early on, but grew in confidence and fluency as the innings developed, before being bowled out for 30 immediately after the drinks interval.

Max Murray was supported well by Rich Youngman, who hit a patient 14. The scoring stagnated in the middle overs due to some very accurate bowling from the hosts, leaving Hoddesdon with the improbable task of requiring 115 from the remaining 13 overs.
Youngman’s departure brought Neil Connor to the crease and he hit a quick-fire 12 with three boundaries as the visitors pushed for some much-needed batting points. Dave Thorne and Pete Murray also contributed to Hoddesdon’s late rally; Thorne posting 12 not out and Pete Murray hitting 8. This brought Hoddesdon’s total to 138-7.

It was an encouraging performance from the 3s. They just lacked the impetus to kick on and really pose a firm challenge in the middle overs, but they were diligent and did not waver under the pressure of some consistent Old Elizabethans bowling. The performances of the three youngsters were also hugely encouraging. Saturday’s efforts were rewarded with a respectable 11 points, but they’ll be hoping to improve on this and secure their first league victory of the season when they travel to Cheshunt next Saturday.

Josh Gorton