Langleybury on top at Lowfield

Saturday 14th May saw Hoddesdon 1st XI take on Langleybury in their 1st home game of the season at a new and improved looking Lowfield.

Having one the lost the toss Hoddesdon were put in the field and Davis and Thorne opened up with the new ball. There was plenty of playing and missing from the Langleybury opening pair as both Davis and Thorne beat the bat on numerous occasions without taking any wickets.

The first bowling change saw Mead strike with his first ball catching Williams LBW for 28 and Amir soon followed for 3. Opener Soulsby continued to plod along without giving Hoddesdon any chances and soon got to 50. Hoddesdon then took the pace off the ball and opted for spin from Walters and Duke which the Langleybury batsman seemed to take to hitting the ball to all areas of the park. Before long Soulsby reached his 100 and he was joined by Oxley who scored 50. At the end of their 50 overs Langleybury ended 156 for 5.

Hoddesdon got under way well with Walters and Clarke hitting boundaries early on. Both looked in control when Walters chopped onto his own stumps for 6. Davis joined Clarke at the crease and both seemed to be seeing off the Bury attack nicely until Clarke chased a wide ball and was caught behind 1 short of his maiden half century. Burrows soon followed Clarke being caught for 3. Todd Sturdy managed to steady the middle order with 72 and some clean Hitting from Rob Jones back from injury couldn't see Hoddesdon over the line as the home side were all out for 240.