Haverhill 2nds had the long trip to Melton St Audry on Saturday with four of the top six batsmen unavailable . Nural Hoque returned from retirement and Steve Fox was making his debut . The ground was in a nice setting and Skipper Wilkins lost the toss and was asked to field first .

  Hoque ( 2-43)  and Fox ( 1-33)  opened the bowling with useful pace and soon three home wickets were down for the cost of 37 runs . Then came the partnership that shaped the match as A.Smith (86 no) and M. Jackson (54) bided their time and rode their luck as edges and catches went down to a partnership of 115 runs . During this time Haverhill’s fielding and general attitude was sloppy although Tom Saville bowled a very tidy 6 overs for only 13 runs . The Home side lost a few late wickets as their quest for late runs gave 3 wickets to Dan Webb (3-57) and 1 to the Skipper (1-41) and a final 45 over tally of 204-8 wickets . Jon Watkins took 3 catches and a Stumping as Wicketkeeper and generally performed well in the circumstances.

  With a fast outfield  and pacey wicket this should have been well within our capabilities but again we threw wickets away with careless shots and a general lack of application . Batsmen must value their wickets more and try to see the job through rather than pass the buck on to others . Sympathies go to Carl Bradford (36) who got a brute of a ball and Dan Wilkins (1) who got a grubber and was out LBW . The rest of the batting never really got to grips with the vagaries of the wicket and the useful Home bowling attack who clearly knew what length to bowl to cause maximum discomfort for the Batters . 

  Joey Kettle made 20 and Steve Fox showed admiral concentration and technique to finish with 28 not out to cap a fine debut match . Haverhill finished on a disappointing 147 all out and all credit to the Home Bowlers who gave very little away .

  We must do better than this effort and must show more guts on difficult wickets rather than chuck in the towel . There will be changes as availability improves and first team calls reduce . Everybody needs to lift their game and this could be the kick up the backside we need to maintain our good start . 

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