Hartest and Coldham Lose in Hadleigh Thriller

H&CHCC 111 All Out 37 overs

G Walton 25, Jordan Marlow 19 Not Out

Hadleigh 112 for 9 in 38 overs

Walton 3 for 20, Richards 3 for 23


A very strange game of cricket was played at the meadows cricket pitch home of Hadleigh in a bottom of the table clash.

Captain Bryant won the toss and decided to bat which seemed the good thing to do but a pitch that looked very good for batting and probably was but not for the Hartest and Coldham team.

Hodge and Hannon opened the innings and both were promptly bowled out and back in the pavilion with only 7 on the board.

B Atkinson and Roberts took the score to 19 when B Atkinson hit a straight ball back to the bowler who deflected it onto the stumps with Roberts short of his ground and was out.

B Atkinson was joined for the first time M Atkinson playing his first game since last July and having spinal surgery is finally making a long overdue comeback.

The A team stayed in for a while to try and stem the tide but a loose shot by B Atkinson led to his downfall for 12 and the score on 25.

This brought in Captain Bryant who very quickly hit a strong 13 with two fours but again his eagerness and an LBW scare the ball before did not deter him and a mirror image of the ball before and this time he was out LBW.

D Armstrong arrived and the crease and one ball later M Atkinson who hung around for 30 minutes was bowled behind his legs for 5 leaving H&CHCC on 42 for 5 and all sorts of trouble.

D Armstrong was a little unlucky to be given out by a Hartest team mate to a ball going down leg and the said umpire did admit he got it wrong but with P Richards also going cheaply it left H&CHCC teetering on the edge at 61 for 8 and no way back or was there?

Walton & Jordan Marlow were in fabulous form and with some excellent shots and a bit of good fortune the total rose a bit higher and higher.

With great surprise and in admiration Walton and Marlow put on 45 nearly doubling the previous score of the rest of their teammates and when Walton was finally out for a great 25 and top score they had moved the total onto 106 in the 36 over.

J Armstrong supported Jordan Marlow for a few more runs before Marlow was last man out being stumped and leaving the final score of Nelson 111 all out but that stand of 45 gave H&CHCC a glimmer of hope in a game that seemed doomed!

After tea the demon bowlers we were talking about came in the guise of J Armstrong and that man again Gus Walton, between them the fire power was considerable.

Hadleigh struggled to get any runs after 6 runs were scored the first wicket fell to Walton clean bowled J Rolfe middle stump out of the ground this was followed by a catch behind by B Atkinson leaving Hadleigh on 12 for 2.

Hadleigh were not enjoying this run chase and tensions were appearing a bit in there play and temperament. Walton got another 2 wickets in one over left the home side on 27 for 4 after 14 overs.

Two partnerships of 19 brought Hadleigh closer to there target but an unsavoury moment which had been brewing led to B. Tampon or Tampion swearing at an appeal the Hartest team had thought clipped with his bat but took offence to this and pointed the finger in aggressive way at Roberts with a come on then etc. very much a "just not cricket" moment from that point on the atmosphere of a friendly game of cricket left the field of play.

There is no reason a side can not appeal and perhaps the pressure and stress were just to much for him to control his limited English. He was shortly out to P Richards who had entered the fray and realised that no LBW decisions were likely after that moment as only being bowled or caught were the options available to Hartest and Coldham.

The fielding today was excellent and needs to be this standard every week not in patches but all the time another two catches one from M Atkinson making Hadleigh 8 down for 83 in 35 overs with all three results possible.

Then the next piece of controversy the umpires arms were going out so much that at one point I thought they were going to take off [wides]then the no balls started and with the acceptance that there was a wide or two it was extremely unlikely the amount appearing in the last couple of overs with the last batsman now at the crease with Hannan taking another good catch was convenient with overs running out also.

In the last 3 overs 2 no balls four wides and no chance of any decisions going H&CHCC way the inevitable happened the last runs were scored for Hadleigh to win by 1 wicket when in all ways they should have buried H&CHCC it is great testament that the spirit shown with application and drive with a lot of skill almost pulled off a very unlikely result.

Realistically there was only one team that could hold it's head up and know that they played in the spirit of the game and the victory gained was a very shallow one.

The team for the first time ever did not drink at the club house as it was felt that the atmosphere would stink and moved to the Brewers Arms where some good fun and the usual great team spirit won over the unfortunate result, the team spirit shown will I believe get H&CHCC rising that table not before to long and Hadleigh will find there position too.

Markie the Webmaster