Drayton 'A' v Norwich & Coltishall Wanderers 'B' 11th July 2009

Drayton 'A' 198-5 lost to Norwich and Coltishall Wanderers 'B' 199-5 by 5 wickets

Another game which got away from Drayton after a respectable and responsible batting performance.

Razza and Burrows opening the bowling for Wanderers bowled a tight line, Burrows in particular being difficult to score off in his opening six over spell. Nigel Massingham had a rare low score, caught of Razza, but Mike Sutton (26) and Richard Taylor (37) took few chances in a 69 run partnership. Unfortunately, both were dismissed within five overs, leaving Nash Panday and Graham Crowe (30) to rebuild the innings against some well-directed bowling from the young and energetic Rushby and Charnock. When Jason Trett finally arrived at the crease, in the thirty-fifth over, Drayton were a respectable, but hardly challenging 119-4.

Jason proceeded to bat in manner which made one wonder why he doesn�t make runs more regularly. He hit straight two huge sixes off a quickish bowler sent the ball over the rabbit-proof fence, over the line of trees and into the factory yard - and finished on a rapid 48 not out, aided for the last part of his innings by Saul Simpson, who, as ever, was lightning between the wickets. The innings closed on an apparently challenging 198-5.

What a difference a tea break makes! When Drayton took the field, Trett was unavailable to bowl or field (Fraser Dobson gamely fielded as substitute), and skipper Crowe had what is becoming the too regular problem of how to deploy his limited bowling resources over 45 overs.

Wanderers� openers Brown and Trueman moved to 84 in 22 overs before Massingham removed Brown just after he�d reached fifty. Once again, Jim Pepper bowled his twelve overs of off-breaks at the start; one again, his figures of 12-3-30-0, immensely valuable as they were, don�t do him justice. For a while, Massingham and Taylor kept the hard-hitting Minter and Trueman fairly quiet, Taylor spurning a hard caught and bowled off Trueman, but getting a second chance with the very next ball. Jamie Scarff returned to pitch the ball up and bowled Minter with a beauty.

But Wanderers had wickets in hand and, despite an LBW for Scarff and a run out, the incoming batsmen were able to hit out against a tiring Taylor and they won with six balls to spare.