*Match Report*

TCC vs Downe 12.06.22

Tatsfield arrived at Furze on a sunny but blustery day looking to build on a run of performances which has seen a consistent improvement so far this season.

Gary "Gaz" Weaver was running late, so Matt "Presh" Perrett stepped in as interim skipper, won the toss, and inserted Downe on a used wicket. Furze was looking resplendent thanks to the efforts of Presh before the game, with the outfield only expected to quicken as the sunshine and breeze dried the grass still further.

Downe had forgotten to bring a match ball, but soon found a suitably new-ish replacement to get the game underway.

Chris "Wino" Maynard (4-1-6-1) was handed the first over down the hill, and immediately found some movement, the ball swinging back from outside off to strike the Downe opener low on the pad in front of middle, with the ball ricocheting into the base of off stump and dislodging the bail.

Pete "Smallsy" Small (4-0-10-2) started up the hill and also made a swift breakthrough, trapping the number 3 LBW, again with a ball that shaped nicely in the air. He followed that up a couple of overs later with a ripper of a delivery to dismiss the other opener, the ball nipping through the gate to crash into the timbers.

With Wino and Smallsy both keeping the bowling tight, Downe were struggling at 12-3 after 7 overs. It could have been 4 as well, but for a pull shot from the number 4 bursting through the hands of Craig "Marple" Seamons at square leg off Wino.

Marple (6-1-19-1) came on as first change from the top and bowled brilliantly, challenging the batsmen with late movement and the ball nibbling off the pitch. He was deservedly rewarded with the wicket of the dangerous number 4, who struck a sweet shot into the midwicket region, only for it to be superbly taken by Steve "Alice" Tanner with a low, tumbling catch, having been moved to that spot just two balls before by Gaz. Good captaincy and great hands giving Tatsfield a real boost in the field just as the number 4 was looking to get going.

Meanwhile Presh (4-0-10-1) bowled tidily up the hill, inducing a false shot from the number 5 which was hit straight down the throat of Lee "Trippy" Trivett who took another good catch.

Next up was Caiden "needs a nickname" Thwaites (5-0-27-1) who was making his debut for Tatsfield. Caiden quickly got to grips with the tricky hill at Furze and settled into a superb length which frequently had the batsmen playing and missing, with a number of aerial shots also narrowly avoiding the fielders. His perseverance was rewarded as he picked up the wicket of Downe's top scorer, thanks to a good catch by Presh, as one of the many lofted shots finally found a Tatsfield player.

Trippy (4-0-10-2) came on from the top end and seems to have finally banished the yips; finding a much more consistent line and length that really troubled the batsmen. His first wicket perhaps owed more to the pressure he had built rather than the quality of delivery - a rare long hop which the batsman tried to jump all over but only succeeded in chipping to the safe hands of Presh. A wide from the next ball was then followed by a quicker, skiddy delivery which the batsman could only under edge into his stumps, departing for a duck.

Alice (3-0-12-0) bowled tidily and was unlucky not to pick up a wicket as several well-flighted deliveries were missed as Downe tried to accelerate and only narrowly avoided the timbers.

It was left to Mike "Pendo" Pendleton (2.1-0-3-2), who came into the team late as 12th man, to wrap up the innings. Bowling down the hill he first had the stubborn number 7 plumb LBW by a ball which came back from outside off. He then saw the next Downe batsman unfortunately juggled and dropped by Marple in the covers, before the number 10 attempted to paddle one round the corner and only succeeded in turning it to Alice who took another good catch low down.

At the end of the innings, Tatsfield had restricted Downe to 98 all out in 32.1 overs.

The first tea provided by Tina at the Ship was well received by the players (we look forward to many more) and as Downe took to the field with a low total to defend, Gaz and Alice strode out knowing a good start could see Tatsfield well on the way to chasing down the target of 99.

Gaz has been in fine form this season so far, but it was Alice who made the early plays, flaying the Downe openers for a number of crisp boundaries before lofting one down the ground and being caught at mid off for a belligerent 16.

Andy "Toes" Moore was next in and he and Gaz took things a little more sedately, keeping out some accurate bowling and putting away the occasional bad ball.

A fantastic stand of 51 was finally broken when Toes played back to and missed a good ball and was pinned LBW straight in front for 10.

Gaz had been finding some fluency and urgency until he decided to charge down the track to the spinner, only to get a ball which bounced a touch more than he expected past the edge of his bat, with the Downe sub keeper making a smart stumping. Gaz had made 43 valuable runs, and Tatsfield were 75-3.

Caiden came to the middle and struck the ball crisply on a couple of occasions, making 3 before falling in similar fashion to Gaz, stumped as he ventured out of his crease to the spinner.

It was left to Tom "Doghouse" Ellis to strike the winning runs as he accelerated, including a mighty six down the ground to bring Tatsfield home with 6 wickets (and more than 10 overs) to spare.

Trippy had come in at 6 with only 3 runs needed and took one from his first ball, to notch some red ink with 1*, Doghouse finishing with an unbeaten 20*.

A thoroughly deserved win for Tatsfield in what was probably the most complete all-round performance we have put together all season so far. Special mention to Caiden who had a terrific debut - we hope you enjoyed yourself and we look forward to you playing regularly in the future.

Well done team. Onto the next one.

Wino.