Maiden 1st XI century from Sturdy not enough as Hoddesdon left tottering against Millhillians

Saturday 11th July saw Hoddesdon 1st XI welcome fellow high-flyers Totteridge Millhillians to Lowfield.

After the previous weekend’s disappointments in both the league and cup, Hoddesdon were keen to bounce back with a win and do the double over a strong Totteridge side. Their pursuit got off to a positive start with Hoddesdon, despite losing the toss, being asked to set a total which skipper Walters had intended to do anyway with the pitch predicted to deteriorate significantly throughout the day.

The Hoddesdon batting display didn’t get off to the strongest of starts with Thorne, elevated to deputise in the opening berth (due to a result of a freak hand injury sustained by the regular opener Jones in #towelgate) failing to adjust to a popping ball from Mahmood and pushing it straight to cover. I would like to take this opportunity to emphasise the importance of shower health and safety to all our readers. It is recommended that the towel-turban approach should be used as the main method of post-shower towel transportation.

The prolific Sam Davis then also fell to the impressively accurate Mahmood, leaving Hoddesdon at a precarious 39-2. With the usual number 4 Bailey feeling unwell (coincidentally coinciding with a visit from his girlfriend…no comment) the hardworking Todd Sturdy joined skipper Walters at the crease. Having mentioned on numerous occasions during warm-up that he was “feeling good today” Todd went about proving it as he and Rob started to re-build the Hoddesdon innings.

The pair continued to accumulate on their way to a 203 partnership, with both bringing up their centuries in successive balls, including a maiden 1st XI century from Todd. The partnership was however ended the next ball Todd faced as he was dismissed by the impressive Mason on his way to 4-44. As Todd left the pitch he was given a huge reception from the partisan crowd, none more so than from his beaming brother Alan. Walters was soon to follow as he fell for yet another 100+ score and was greeted by a manly shake of the hand from his batting partner Todd and a tearful hug from Harry Mason. The middle-order all chipped in as Hoddesdon posted an above par score of 292.

In reply, Totteridge flew out of the traps with the two left-handed openers, Butterworth and Mason, using the pace of the ball to their advantage as they pounced on any sniff of a bad ball. Although the Hoddesdon bowling and fielding was below the standards they have set throughout the season, their partnership of 154 was both destructive and chanceless putting the game in Totteridge’s hands at tea.
After the hair dryer treatment in the break and the introduction of spinners Duke and Walters, Hoddesdon started to slow the run-rate and exert pressure on the free-scoring batsmen. This pressure ended up bearing fruit with George dismissing both openers, Butterworth (80) and Mason (74), continuing his impressive season with figures of 4-88. High-scoring O’Brien (44) and Sellwood (33) stopped the rot, but when both were then dismissed, by young Duke again, there was a glimmer of hope for Hoddesdon with a draw if not more becoming more of a possibility with two fresh batsmen in. However, this was not the case as Le Fort and Sutcliffe played assured knocks to seem Totteridge over the line and subject Hoddesdon to a 3rd successive defeat.

The hard work starts now for Hoddesdon CC with a long injury list and a difficult fixture against Flitwick away next week. There is still however a real belief in this playing squad that promotion is still on and moments such as the green-jacket earning maiden century from Todd only fuel this.