Sunday XI v The Frogs 14th August 2016

M&B lost by 22 runs to the Frogs on a glorious August Sunday. Skipper Armstrong lost the toss and was condemned to hard labour in the field. Opening bowlers Kieran Grey & Gunbarul passed the bat on numerous occasions without luck and when the edge was found it evaded the slip and went to the third man boundary. Grey did make an earlier breakthrough, dismissing Dradge for 5. Left handed opener Rolland was good on the drive and quick to take singles, despite his age. Gunbarul bowled a very probing spell and was eventually rewarded by the wicket of Mason, courtesy of a catch by keeper King. Gunbarul finished with figures of 8/1/36/1, which didn't really do him justice.Against the spinners Rolland was quick to pick up the short length ball down leg and either pulled or swept the deliveries.. He went through to a well compiled half century before he missed a Butler delivery and was bowled for 55. The wicket brought in M & B player Samuel Murray, a last minute Frogs guest, to join Skipper Salmon. As always Murray was strong through mid on and mid off but alas the M & B players were aware of this. He was eventually caught at deep mid off by Grey off Armstrong for a well compiled 30 having previously just cleared Grey in a previous over. All along skipper Rupert Salmon was playing a captain's innings, rotating the strike and playing the big strokes against the loose deliveries - especially strong on the drive and through the leg side. He was joined for the closing over by Chalk, who was fluent on the drive and off his leg. With wickets in hand these two were able to score freely off the second change bowlers Armstrong and Amin. In the end Salmon posted 79 no and Chalk 32no as The Frogs posted a competitive 232 for 4 off their 40 overs.

233 was an eminently gettable target but M & B got off to a poor start as the batsmen struggled against the Frogs opening bowlers, T Marshall & Walsh. Blair King was bowled in the second over and Elliot Pinkham was caught at mid off in the sixth. Worse was to follow as Jai Chopra was castled in the ninth over to leave M & B perilously placed at 24 for 3. All the time opener George Parsons was waiting for a partner to hang around with him, Ben Ward was to prove to be that batsmen. With the score at 31for 3 after 14, 232 was looking a long way off. With the closure of T Marshall's early spell, opportunities then arose. Despite an opening maiden over from spinner A Marshall, the M & B batsmen began to take a liking to him. Parsons was able to strike two boundaries off the final over of Walsh's spell courtesy of his legside play, even then his figure of 8/2/20/2 were still excellent. Thereafter Parsons and Ward scored freely off all the bowlers and 46 were taken off the next 7 overs to leave M & B at 77 for 3 after 20 overs. Ward as always strong on the legside via pulls and sweeps and over mid on, as well as over mid off and through the covers. Parsons as always was strong through the legside and driving and pulling the ball. The partnership prospered to such an extent that the 100 partnership was raised in the 27th over and by the end of the 29th it had reached 129. Frogs skipper Salmon then decided to bring back his strike bowler, T Marshall for his two remaining overs. Second ball Parsons clipped the ball to the legside, where he was caught at widish mid-on for a well made 61, which included 7 4's, leaving partner Ward on 69no. The incoming batsmen then needed to bat round Ward, but alas this didn't happen as both Grey and Gunbarul perished early in their innings. In the end it became a question of whether Ward could keep finding the boundary. Alas he couldn't and went down fighting, caught going for another boundary for a wonderful innings of 89, which included 3 6's and 9 4's with the score on 192 in the 36th over . The remaining batsmen were all dismissed for single figures as T Marshall came back to bowl the final over and castled Butler wit the penultimate deliver of the match, to finish with excellent figures of 3-14 off 7.5 overs. Still M & B were not disgraced, losing by 22 in the end courtesy of the efforts of Parsons and Ward, with only extras on 26 the other double figure contributor.