No Double victory against Acton

Acton CC 229 for 8


J French 81, C Sturgeon 44, A Game 19,


B Atkinson 4-67, N Rutter 2-53,


Hartest and Coldham Hall CC  106 all out.


B Atkinson 22, R Pearson 18, J Borley 15,






Hartest and Coldham went to Acton more in hope than expectation of doing the double over Acton after beating them earlier in the season.


With late call offs due to farming and holidays for others it left Hartest and Coldham Hall a little short in certain areas, mostly batting and bowling, but thanks goes to Jake Rutter and Shaun Faires stepping in to help out.


The weather was the best possible for a few weeks, no rain, pleasant sunshine and warm but not roasting which was good news as the Captain lost the toss, whereupon Acton decided to bat.


Dickie Pearson opened the bowling and had an early chance dropped at slip by the Captain who was nursing a football injury and regular specialised fielder Roberts was away watching a cricket match.


The team also welcomed back Niall " safe hands" Hannon plus a second appearance for Jordan Marlow who took a very good catch off Dickie Pearson bowling when a high, very high dropping ball was clung onto removing the opener Ponsford for 17, it was noted that the last time the two teams played at the Acton venue that Hartest never took a wicket in forty overs, so they had surpassed their previous visit already in only the fifth over.


This brought in James French who didn't give away much at all in his innings which basically laid the foundation of the Acton innings, he had great support from Sturgeon but the Captain had to call on Dave Armstrong and Nick Rutter both bowling their allotted overs and did pretty well on a good batting track but had a bit in it for the bowlers.


Runs came steadily, the fast outfield help a lot, Nick and Dave both got wickets and when the skipper came back on for his second spell he got four, not always the best balls get wickets and a couple fell into this category but a couple also fell into the very good ball, one of which dismissed French for 81.


The Hartest and Coldham spirit and banter kept the game enjoyable, plus a couple of catches went down but more were held than dropped, Josh Borley behind the stumps improving all the time and once or twice had a few byes which were a bit harsh took two catches, Jordan another one mentioned earlier, and M Atkinson held one off B Atkinson bowling and he himself took another.


At 25 overs the score was 142 for 3 but the wickets in hand and older ball took its toll and although Hartest took 8 wickets the total had risen to a formidable 229 at tea.


After tea a bet was on as Peter Richards opened the batting with Josh Borley and the bet was a six first ball off a very quick James French with a new nut, lets say he had a go but did not collect on his bet.


French bowled well but perhaps the new ball was doing to much, a fair amount of swing and luck kept the openers in but Peter Richards did hit an enormous big six straight over the bowlers head, [Sturgeon] and they could not find the ball, so with only a couple of hits another new ball was used and Borley again played well.


The first wicket went at 27 that of Peter Richards an edge behind saw him leave the arena, when in the Acton eyes the game was coming into bat, the Skipper, they knew if they could get him out they would win, his reputation was well ahead of him and for a short time their fears were realised when he smashed two big sixes with a couple of fours.


It would have taken a monumental innings from him to catch the total posted and the huge cheer from French plus teammates when he took the prised wicket of Ben Atkinson they knew the game was over.


Borley went for 15, poor Niall Hannan had a return of the same as his last visit but lasted a few extra balls, but Dave Armstrong and Dickie Pearson held a bit in the middle order keeping French out and getting a few runs until Dickie fell LBW for 18.


M Atkinson came in and got three fours but was comprehensively bowled for 12, then Jake Rutter soon followed him back into the dressing room, and then Nick Rutter went out with no pads carrying an injury, nearly hit a four but was caught which left Shaun Faires stranded 0 not out, the total of 106 gave Hartest a batting point plus four bowling points.


It was a good game in a very decent spirit, Acton were also missing a bit of batting but the score suggests not as much as Hartest, but another week of fun is over and the team now have two home games coming up, then a week off to be followed by another and last home game of the season.


Please let the skipper know when he texts your availability as with holiday and faming season now here this will help him get a team up for next week.


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