Rob Walters won the toss and had no hesitation in asking Hertford to bat on a wicket that looked as though it would be interesting for the bowlers. Dane Crognale and Gus Joyce started cautiously for Hertford , Reece Hanna was particularly difficult to get away. Soon another good opening partnership developed and the batsmen went past their 70-run stand of last week. A century stand was on the cards when, with the score on 98, Joyce was caught by Jamie Curtis off Burgh for 41. This was sweet revenge for the bowler; Joyce had lifted him over the mid-wicket boundary the ball before. Ollie Ray joined Crognale he too took a careful look at the bowling. With spinners Curtis and Burgh now operating Hoddesdon were getting through their overs at a rapid rate – around 20 an hour. Crognale struck two fours off Burgh but then gave a catch to Curtis and Hertford were 117-2 off 31 overs. Another wicket fell before lunch when Steve Gale failed to recover his ground and was stumped off Burgh. Chris Cook and Ray saw Hertford to lunch at 146-3 but worryingly for the home side, 41 overs had been bowled. This meant that a lot of runs had to be scored off the remaining nineteen overs if a challenging total was to be set. Hoddesdon would certainly have more than fifty overs in return.

Two maiden overs followed the lunch break and soon Chris Cook succumbed to the pressure and was caught in the deep by Burgh off Curtis for 13. Cliff Cavener did not have the luxury of a few overs to play himself in and was soon looking for boundaries. He his Burgh for a four and a six. Ray was now batting very comfortable and seeing the ball well. The pair picked off the runs and were severe on anything loose. A fifty partnership came up in eight overs but Hertford needed more. The pair obliged adding another 50 off the next 20 balls. Going into the last over, Ray was on 86 and Cavener was on strike. A single off the second ball was followed by 4, 2, 6 and 6 from Ray to secure his ton, 104*. He and Cavener had added 138 off 14 overs and taken Hertford to a very useful 296-4. Ray’s first fifty came off 79 balls, his second off just 25. His hitting had been clean and effective. Cavener’s 61* came off just 43 deliveries and the pair had transformed the game. At one time Curtis had bowled 15 overs for 49 runs; he finished with 1-104 off 21. Burgh did not suffer such a great mauling ending with 3-66.

Batting had looked so much easier towards the end of Hertford’s innings and with Hoddesdon expecting to receive at least 60 overs in return the target was not an impossible one. Rob Walters, always an exciting batsman to watch, got them off to a good six, clearing the boundary in Ray’s second over. Maybe he was tired from his batting exertions but Olllie Ray’ line was rather wayward and byes were helping Hoddesdon’s score tick over. Walters lost his partner Curtis in the seventh over and in the eleventh he too was on his way back to the pavilion, lbw to James Mead for 31. This set Hoddesdon back and runs dried up, just 15 coming from the next six overs. Mead then had to give way to Adam Carlson and he tightened the screw further, conceding 13 runs off his first six overs. Scott Ruskin struck in his first over and in an inspired move Cordingley brought himself on for the last over before tea. With his first ball he induced the dangerous looking Burgh to miscue and sky the ball to Gale at deepish mid-off. 122-5 at tea and Hoddesdon were now in trouble. Nick Gandon, always a difficult man to get out held up Hertford’s progress with able assistance from Todd Sturdy. Gandon became Ruskin’s second lbw victim. Harcombe hung around with Sturdy for a while but he and Jones fell in consecutive overs to leave Hoddesdon reeling on 160-8 after 50 overs. Normally 60 overs is the length of the second innings but today the clock was showing just five minutes past six giving an extra 55 minutes for Hertford to get the last two wickets. Todd Sturdy had been joined by his brother Adam and they set about defying the bowlers. Cordingley tried all combinations to not avail. A final move saw Cliff Cavener wheeling his arm over for three of the last five overs and though Cordingley finally got Adam Sturdy, played on. There were only eleven balls left. Last man Hanna saw out Cordingley’s over and Todd Sturdy dealt competently with Cavener’s last effort – Hertford’s 70th. The Sturdy brothers, living up their name, had held out for 19 overs. Todd faced 116 balls for his 65* and Adam 49 balls for just three runs.

So the match ended in a draw with Hertford claiming 16 points, Hoddesdon 7. The clubs lie fifth and fourth respectively in the league.

Scorecard

After the downpours that have greeted the start of the cricket season it was great to start a game in sunshine even though the wind was a cold northerly. Hertford went to Home Farm to open their league campaign against North Mymms and Richard Cordingley opted to bowl first on a soft wicket, presumably wanting to see how it would play. James Mead and Jon Ferdenzi shared the new ball and kept Rhys Wynne and Dom Chatfield very quiet. Mead was particularly mean, conceding seven runs off his opening spell of seven overs. He had several confident lbw appeals turned down. His partner lost his line a little towards the end of his spell and 22 came off his last three overs. Richard Linney and Cordingley took over and it was the former who had the first success, Wynne edging to slips where Cliff Cavener took an excellent diving catch. The score was 64-1 in the 23rd over but Hertford were then made to wait for their next success. At lunch the score was 118-1 and Mymms were poised to set a challenging total. Sam Snell had joined Chatfield and was rapidly catching him up. Cordingley took himself off and handed the ball to Adam Carlson and rested Linney in favour of newcomer Dane Crognale for the penultimate over before lunch.

After lunch Mead was given another spell but could not maintain the pressure that he had done in his first spell and with 8 off his 12th over he finished with 0-19. Crognale came back and broke the stand, which had added 132, in the 49th over when he bowled Wynne for 73. Nesan Jeyaratnam, the Mymms skipper joined Snell and they attempted to up the scoring rate. Linney returned and had Snell well caught at long on by Stave Gale for 85. Once Mymms had passed the 250 mark, 4 batting points Jeyaratnam declared at 257-4. They would have at least 52 overs to bowl Hertford out.

Crognale and Gus Joyce opened for Hertford and batted confidently against Arif and Bereton. After nine overs 35 were on the board and Jeyaratnam decided changes were required. Jigar Mehta and Rhys Wynne started relatively expensively, their line and length were all over the place and the Hertford batsmen picked off the balls they could reach. Suddenly they found the answer and hit the right spots and the game suddenly changed. Joyce was given out lbw to Wynne in the 17th over but with 70 on the board Hertford were looking dangerous. Six overs later it was time for tea but by this time Hertford had ‘advanced’ to 72-4 with Gale, Will Ray and Crognale all out. The latter for 36, the others without scoring. The refreshment break did nothing for Hertford and immediately afterwards Cavener became Wynne’s third lbw victim, also without scoring. The batsmen were now trapped like rabbits in a headlight and Mehta went on to take 6-32. He was kind enough to bowl a wide in his last over which went for a further four and then a couple of leg-byes saw Hertford to 100 and a batting point. Arif then finished proceedings by bowling Cordingley. A complete turnaround, ten wickets falling for 30 runs and a massive defeat.

Pictured: Dane Crognale who has joined us from Willetton, Western Australia.

Scorecard

On another cold, grey day – when will summer return? – Hertford’s first competitive match of the season was a CCC 1st round cup match against Harrow St. Mary’s. The visitors won the toss and invited Hertford to bat on a very green strip. The bowlers soon had rewards as batsmen found life very difficult. Openers Will Ray and Gus Joyce were back in the warmth of the pavilion with only 13 on the board. Ollie Ray tried to recapture his earlier form but after striking one boundary and a brace of twos was caught at silly mid-off when a ball from Dharmarja ‘stopped’. 29-3 off nine overs was not a good start. Steve Gale was in an unnaturally cautious mood as he and Chris Cook took singles where they could. Like Ollie Ray, Gale finally found the boundary only to be caught behind in the next over for 15. The Harrow openers bowled their allotted 9 overs in one spell, Bellamy started relatively expensively but finished with 3-29; Dharmarja started very meanly, ten off seven overs before finishing with 1-24. When Chris Cook fell in the 22nd over Hertford were struggling on 65-5. Cliff Cavener was using his experience well and looked by far the most comfortable of the batsmen. Cavener found a staunch ally in Elliott King, back from his year off, and he was soon employing his favourite cut shot to good effect. The pair added 58 before King nicked one to the keeper, out for 16. Cavener had by then progressed to 55 and he moved on to 78 before being caught by Coady as he threw caution to the winds with overs running out. A flourish from the tail-enders took the total to 175-9. In the views of the experts this was just light of a challenging total.

Hertford’s bowlers had to be as impressive as their Harrow counterparts if the total was to be defended but though James Mead’s first over conceded one wide and Ollie Ray’s first over was a maiden the runs soon started to flow. Singhpanny had a great eye and struck the ball to all parts and when he was caught by Richard Cordingley off Andy Brazill he had scored 59 out of 83. The wicket fell in the 14th over so Hertford were on the rack. Brazill (3-31) picked up another couple of wickets and Cordingley one as Hertford hauled themselves back into the game. They needed to continue to take wickets, overs were not an issue. Tom Pettet and Soni had other ideas and each scored 30s, the former being not out. Soni was another batsman not afraid to throw the bat and hit five fours and a six. Adam Carlson had him caught behind by Will Ray but by then it was a consolation wicket. A one ball spell from Steve Gale saw the game over, victory to Harrow by five wickets with almost nine overs to spare.

Out-bowled and out-batted, Hertford have something to think about.

Scorecard