Penn Street vs Ley Hill

Penn Street 133-10 (J. Mendy 58; Johnson 3-34) beaten by Ley Hill 134-3 (Lynch 54*; J. Mendy 1-18) by 7 wickets

If ever a phrase should be guaranteed to strike fear into the hearts of Penn Street Cricket Club players and supporters, it should be “we’ve got a strong batting line-up today.” I’ve heard it many times, usually as a precursor to an ignominious collapse. This was no exception.

Lay Hill had claimed a weak side in the run-up to the game, and as Matt Reavey creamed the first ball of the match off his legs for four, and Chris Fletcher took the next over for 12, it seemed they might have been correct. As Sri Lanka showed in Cardiff, however, cricket can be a tricky game to predict.

First Matt Reavey played down the wrong line. Fletch was done by a genuine purler which cut in half a yard. Peter Jupp and Matt Bannister uncharacteristically mistimed drives. Soon the innings was in disarray. It took Jack Mendy to come in an provide some stability, with a confident mixture of watchfulness and aggression, to score an excellent 58, whilst those around him never scored more than 5. Through Jack’s efforts the score was dragged up to 132 all out, which at least gave the bowlers a chance.

Jack and Callum Sempill opened the attack. Ley Hill were batting cautiously, with no need to score quickly. However Callum was bowling well and soon struck with yet another wonderful catch behind the stumps by the mercurial Mark Gloyens. Callum thought he had another as the ball was top edged straight up in the air above Matt Bannister’s head – but somehow he lost it and the ball fell safe. The other opener then drove at a fast ball from Jack and Pete Jupp took a splendid catch above his head at first slip.

By now, Pete Lofty had come on and had the ball on a piece of string with accurate, threatening swing bowling which was tying the batsmen in knots. A hook shot to Matt Bannister’s bowling brought a very smart catch from Tom Curtis at square leg. Fletch had replaced Jack and was firing the ball in fiercely. Taking evasive action, the Ley Hill no. 5 fended the ball away from what appeared to be glove and helmet and Pete Jupp took another excellent diving catch – except…the batsman didn’t know what the ball had struck, the umpire didn’t see where it had come off, hotspot was unavailable, no wicket. That was to be our final chance, heads went down and Ley Hill won by seven wickets.

Man of the Match : Jack Mendy