Effingham 1st XI v Frimley 1st XI

Sat.18^th August 2018
Fuller’s Brewery Surrey County League – 1st Division
Effingham 1st XI .v. Frimley 1st XI

Despite recent successes, Effingham’s 1st XI knew that winning this match was absolutely crucial if they were to stay in this Division.

Getting off to a good start, either with bat or ball, was vital and their two opening batsmen did exactly that, with a swift 74 on the board before young Harry Mead was out for an excellent 55. His partner, Joel Stroud, only a couple of years older, played his part in the partnership with a competent 17. A few fairly quick wickets soon kept the score in control at 116-4, which brought Ed Cooper and Cameron Walters together. Their 36 partnership came to an end when Ed Cooper was caught for an important 35 and that prompted an onslaught from Chris Fewson, who compiled a brilliant 65 in 36 balls, including five sixes. He departed with the score on 247-6, having shared a partnership of 95 with a very patient Cameron Walters. With only three overs left of their 45, the incoming No.8, Anthony Brown, followed Chris Fewson’s example with a punishing 28 in his 13 balls, including three sixes and a four. This left Cameron Walters on 42 not out, a most important innings, which took Effingham’s total to 284-7.

Anthony Brown and his son, Dominic, took control of the Frimley innings right from the start with a crushing 4 wickets being captured inside the first few overs, leaving the visitors on 12-4. Coming in at number six, captain John Hebditch did his best to restore the balance with his trademark powerful strokes, which helped to lift the score to 52-5 and he remained defiant, despite wickets falling round him. Four of them were clean bowled by Anthony Brown, who has skilfully hit the stumps on a consistent basis all this season, finishing with impressive figures of 9-6-5-5. He received full support from a strong Effingham attack with Dom Brown taking 1-34, Harrison Green 1-23, plus a very successful late burst from Rob Gibbons with 2-7 in his 3.3 overs. Frimley struggled to recover from their bad start and were all out for 85.

Ray Pritchard