Penn Street vs Bushey

Bushey 85-10 (J. Dowling 20; C. Herriott 4-24, P. Goodchild 3-23) beaten by Penn Street 89-1 (P. Jupp 42*, M. Bannister 41; Sharif 1-22) by 9 wickets

Early morning rain (and a missing roller key) had meant that it wasn’t until 1pm before we were able to get a roller on the pitch in preparation for our CCC match against Bushey. However the sun was out and the pitch was drying fast – looked like a good toss to win. Chris Herriott duly obliged and didn’t hesitate to put Bushey in to bat.

With the ball moving off the pitch, some craft and guile rather than outright pace was called for, so Chris opened the bowling with Paul Goodchild. It didn’t take long before both the openers were back in the pavilion, both bowled. Chris was bowling well, not showing any signs of rustiness, whilst Goody was pinging the ball in with aggression. Wickets continued to fall, and, when Bushey saw the opener come off and Jack Mendy came on at full tilt, their spirits sank further.

All the bowlers were getting great support in the field. Tom Curtis and Jack Slade were giving a fielding masterclass, chasing down everything within range. Peter Jupp held a sharp dropping chance at first slip, Tom Curtis a misplaced drive at mid-off, Steve Smith fought off a birthday hangover to hang onto a skier at mid-on, and Jack Slade showed astonishing maturity to call for and take a difficult running catch at extra-cover.

A change of attack brought Jack Slade into the attack, and he had soon trapped the Bushey captain at slip. Then on came Pete Lofty and his ball of string – no wicket s but batsmen captivated like playful kittens. And finally, just as Bushey looked like they might put together a last wicket partnership, Chris Herriott came back on and delivered the coup de grace – Bushey all out for 85.

One of the differences about Penn Street this season is the confidence with which they have attacked totals such as this. Pete Jupp and Matt Bannister set off quickly – not as fast as against Twyford but rapidly nonetheless. Both are vying for the batting cup this season, but today it was Pete’s luck which held (or, in other words, the ball which wasn’t, on more than one occasion) and he remained undefeated on 42. Meanwhile Matt lofted a drive with no more than a handful of runs required and fell for 41. Penn Street comfortably won by 9 wickets with 25 overs to spare.

Man of the Match – for taking apart the top of Bushey’s batting order, Chris Herriott