Firsts Battered In Bridgford

The Firsts were again on the losing side as table topping West Bridgfordians kept their 100% record on a baking hot day.

Ian Graham was absent, but the visitors welcomed back Andy and Dave Hiller - but only just, as they pulled into the car park 2 minutes before kick off. Fortunately Skipper Rob Baker had won the toss and elected to bat, so the twins didn't need to rush to get their kit on...

Marc 'Beckham' Bailey arrived just before the twins looking like he just stepped out of an Armani ad, sporting nothing but a pair of flip flops and some white linen trousers. He opened up the innings with the returning Lee Potts, but they found runs hard to come by and Bails fell LBW before Potty was bowled round his legs. Ben played some good strokes, but the morning's 25 mile bike ride caught up on him and he was out KBW - 'knackered before wicket'. Jay Vickers and Steve Rendu looked set to kick start the Keyworth innings, with the long haired buffoon hitting the ball cleanly. But Bridgfordians' opening bowlers continued to tear through the top order and both soon fell leaving The Millers in all sorts of bother at 60-5 after 24 overs. Dave Strong and Dale Collison managed to take the score past 100, before club President Barry Baker put the kibosh on DC by saying it was the best he's seen him bat in a while - 2 balls later he was trudging back to the pavilion. Bobby Baker and Rob Beake also found the boundary to nudge the score towards respectability, but the innings came to a close in the 42nd over with the twins not troubling the scorer. 136 all out was about 100 short of a competitive total.

Tea was an average affair bereft of salad or fruit, but the coronation chicken sandwiches were top drawer.

Keyworth needed quick wickets and one came in the first over with Ben taking a good catch in the covers off Steve Rendu. There should have been another wicket the very next ball with the batsman's pad being hit on the full plumb in front - but the umpire thought otherwise. This was the first of 4 almost certain LBW's that were turned down during the innings.

The 2nd wicket partnership batted very well and took the score to 90, and with a party to get to, Bobby brought on the twins to get the game over sooner. The bowling change saw Andy get 2 wickets with his first two balls, but the remaining runs were soon knocked off and the victory was sealed in the 25th over for 3 wickets.