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THE 2nd XI SEASON CONCLUDES
Match 2-13 Swindon United Churches 2nd XI v Bathford 2nd XI (25.07.09) Having had our first victory in the previous game, our tails were up at last for this game and but for their no. 2 batsman (who scored 84 and whose eventual dismissal near the end of their innnings) another win might well have been on the cards. As it was, their total of 165 for 9 proved too much, though we did make 60 for the first wicket. Darren Sutton top scored with 38 runs, though Matt Hunter with 20 runs and 2 wickets also deserves mention. Match 2-14 Bathford 2nd XI v Burbage & East Royal 3rd XI (01.08.09) Unfortunately, this match was abandoned after just 15 overs had been bowled, at which point Bathford had made an excellent start: 74 without loss, at a scoring rate of almost 5 runs per over. The not out batsmen were Mike Noel on 17 and Carlos Aguera on a spirited 40 (30 of which came in boundaries). Match 2-15 Chippenham 4th XI v Bathford 2nd XI (08.08.09) Chippenham forfeited this match as they could not muster enough players Match 2-16 Bathford 2nd XI v Ramsbury 1st XI (15.08.09) It was unfortunate that although August saw our best form of the season, our last 3 games saw us playing the top 3 teams. This was a fairly high scoring match and, although the opposition were top of the division, we fell eventually just 26 runs short. Ramsbury made 184 for 9, with Darren Sutton taking 5 for 34. We scored 158 all out, with the main contributions coming from Ed Prall with 39, Tom Lewis with 28 and Carlos Aguera with 27. Match 2-17 Swindon Nalgo 2nd XI v Bathford 2nd XI (23.08.09) Swindon Nalgo, who were chasing Ramsbury hard for the leadership of the division, felt at liberty to bring on and take of substitute fielders at will, which led to a certain amount of tension and detracted from the spirit of the game. The bald facts were that their 217 for 8 beat our 173 for 9. Match 2-18 Bathford 2nd XI v Marshfield 3rd XI (29.08.09) This too was a fairly close match. Marshfield batted first and were all out for 223, the best bowling coming from player of the season Dick Vaughan with 3 wickets and Ian Waller with 4. Our opening pair got us off to a great start with a partnership of 64: Darren Sutton scoring 38, Sam Hewitt 35. We were delighted to welcome back Simon Machin after injury last year for his first (and sadly only) game of the season and he chipped in with a robust 31 in the middle order. With 4 other players reaching double figures, our total of 185 was no disgrace. Overall, it was a disappointing season, which - depending how the league is organised for 2010 - will probably result in relegation. However, whilst the bowling was always competitive, it was only in August that the batting started to look the part! In May, the team had averaged totals of 99, in June totals of 87, in July totals of 120, but in August the team managed to average no less than 172 runs per innings (if the games on 01.08.09 and 08.08.09 are ignored). L M Mackenzie, Secretary, Bathford CC |