Haverhill produced one of the best starts of the year scoring at will at a very quick pace. S Youngs (38) looked very settled and played some smoothly timed ground strikes until he edged a ball to first slip.

The day however belonged to N Winter (183 N.O) he started aggressively and throughout his innings showed the discipline necessary to build a huge innings. Neil batted for the entire innings from the first ball until the last without giving the opposition a chance. His power hitting square and straight was exceptional.

A solid contribution from M Wilkins (35) who occasional went the aerial route was a prime example of playing the supporting role to the inform batsmen at the other end. Martins support was invaluable in building the teams strong base from which to launch it’s continued assault.

A swashbuckling innings from the new Haverhill recruit Sam Powell (26) with minor contributions to the scorecard from D Godwin (6), A Dellar (6) and Dan Poole (3 N.O) but time at the wicket with N Winter brought Haverhills total to a club record of 5 for 322.

A brilliant turnaround from last weeks top order collapse.

Haverhill needed to get an early breakthrough, however bowling with a ball that had been despatched for 322 runs was going to make it difficult for the opening bowlers Rob Sullivan (1 for 61 off of 11) and M Wilkins (7 overs O for 25). An opening partnership of 119 was built before A Dellar (8 overs 1 for 46) and J Woodley (9 overs, 4 maidens, 3 for 19) once again broke the partnership and exposed the middle order.

J Woodley beat the bat on many occasions and A Dellar bowled well without getting the real success he was due. Joe once again bowled with speed and accuracy and was the pick of the bowlers.

D Poole (6 overs – 1 maiden 0 for 26) also contributed well to the bowling attack. He tended to trouble the batsmen a little more when he pushed the ball through quicker to the keeper exposing poor batting technique.

Dave Godwin bowled erratically however started to find some line and length when M Wilkins caught a fine catch in the deep to remove the No 3.0 batsmen for 32.

A great catch in the gully/point area by Dan Poole shocked Haverhill into action and with a late wicket from Rob Sullivan the game was well and truly over with Felixtowe finishing with 6 for 220.

Haverhill win by 102 runs.

Personal comments:

Being captain of a talented group of players makes my job a lot easier however with the cultural or cricketing differences between the English game and the Australian game its no wonder I get surprised looks when I make decisions whether they be field changes, batting order changes, player selection changes etc.

It’s a large area of discussion to cover and I could bore you senseless with all the different situations I find myself confronted with. What is important is to recognize that a different approach is likely to influence change whether it is on a field or in the clubhouse. Without change a club, a team, a business or even an economy cannot succeed or reach its true potential. The English economy has changed over the past 40 years away from its heavy industrial roots to a more service orientated economy. Yes it was painful and is still painful for the manufacturing sector but without positive change progress, subsequent success can’t be achieved. A successful economy benefits everyone eventually, you need to keep up or you will unfortunately fall by the wayside. Its cold and hard fact. Sometimes I wish it wasn’t this way. But “life’s a beach”.

Change however comes with a cost. Often people feel victimized, they feel as though they are being singled out, often they are not. When an institution wants to achieve, or just remain viable and provide more opportunity for its members, it must achieve success, it must change just to keep up, it must adopt new approaches and methods. I find it very rewarding to note the criticism and where it comes from it means I am having an impact. My train of thought is that no criticism means I am towing the line. If the team is succeeding and people are being critical, I don’t need to ask myself why.

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