Sunday XI v Droxford (away)

On a cloudier afternoon than our first visit to Droxford in the Meon valley a fortnight ago, we elected to bowl first with a young side (6 U15).

At drinks after 20 overs, some good bowling by Jasper Hudson (6 0 25 2), Jon Tudor (8 0 52 1), Will Owen (8 0 37 1) and Oscar Rhodes
(6 0 37 0) had restricted the home side to 102. But we had dropped their opening batsman and captain, Adam Smith, who capitalised in the second 20 overs to reach the second highest individual score for Droxford in its history (154) and, with J Palmer (52) guided his side to 253 for 6.

In those 20 overs, the remaining bowlers did well in the face of the onslaught (mainly straight hitting down the ground): P Clarke (4 0 47 1), Theo Clarke (5 0 31 0) and Zach Clarke (3 0 14 1). 28 of the 40 overs were bowled by the youngsters which bodes well for the future! Well done!

After tea, Jon Tudor (32) and Theo Clarke (14) got the side off to a good start with a partnership of 41. Will Owen (20) batted assuredly and, when together with Robin Hudson (48) for the third wicket, chasing down the challenging Droxford total seemed a real possibility. But the right arm round of Z Siddiqi found a way through the defences of both batsmen to make the score 135 for 4. The remaining batsmen all contributed (Lee Soar 5, Jasper Hudson 4, Oscar Rhodes 7*) with Jeff Soar (15), playing his first competitive match for ten years, looking a good player (having kept wicket extremely well). Zach Clarke (7) batted with poise and determination and ran very well between the wickets and Pat Clarke continued to press for victory with a pugnacious 36*. But, in the end, the home score a little too challenging and we finished our 40 overs on 212 for 8.

A very creditable performance in which the juniors all played well and with good performances by the more seniors players, Jon Tudor, Robin Hudson, Jeff Soar and Pat Clarke.