Brewers lose tight game at Fernhurst

The advantages of playing in the I’Anson league were enjoyed by the 4th XI as the toss was made on the main square at Fernhurst. Losing the toss, Alton were asked to bat first which was going to be the choice of the Alton skipper in any case. Green (Snr) and Heffernan opened the batting and faced the Henderson brothers who were both accurate and fairly sharp – the returning Oscar Henderson used his height to great effect pushing the ball through. Heffernan cleverly kept the score going with some late glances whilst Green bunkered down and took most of the deliveries from the taller of the brothers. Heffernan was unlucky to play-on from an inside edge which brought the youngster Marshall to the crease – she was welcomed to the crease with a well-directed bouncer which she avoided nicely. The paid put on another 20 runs before Green decided to play a dirty slog and get bowled. Freeman joined his younger partner and the pair batted excellently, gradually increasing the pace of the runs. Marshall (34) was eventually dismissed at cow corner looking to increase the pace further and Freeman (38) built another good partnership, this time with Richard Housley (27) – making his second appearance for the Brewers – and doing a great job at impersonating a batsman! With wickets in hand the Brewers pushed on – sacrificing wickets in the attempt of a more competitive total – in the end the total was 161 with Matt Jeffreys expertly seeing off the last few deliveries.
The opening Alton attack of Trim and George Litton bowled excellently and kept the scoring rate down to less than 3 an over. At drinks the home side were only on 47/1, the one wicket falling to Van der Linde. It was Van der Linde again who took the next wicket – a faint glance down the leg side taken well by Wills behind the stumps. Alton knew that Fernhurst needed to increase the rate and with the inclusion of Rahman that certainly happened – he quickly took the game away from Alton, playing some lovely straight lofted drives for 6’s. When Jeffrey eventually dismissed him (ct. Wills) the game was effectively done, Fernhurst passing the target with 6 overs to spare.. Trim was once again the pick of the bowlers, only going for 16 off his 9 overs. Great game, played in a lovey spirit – and one more game to go!