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Dear Friends and Members of Portsmouth Cricket Club
Unfortunately, the start of summer holidays also sees the end of most colt competitions. Whilst we wait to see how all of the leagues shape up as there is still a few games to be played and results to be entered, what can be said at this stage it was a very successful year especially in terms of the numbers of games played and players used. We hope to have a special edition newsletter with manager reports and 'memes' of the season in the next few weeks.
However, even at this early stage there have some outstanding performances throughout all ages groups including a big congratulation to all involved with U13's; both the A'a and B's won every game in their 2018 campaign a feat that is very hard to do!
Please put in note in the diary that all are invited to the colts presentation evening on Friday the 7th September
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In-form Portsmouth eye second spot
Read more at: https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/cricket/premier-cricket-league/in-form-portsmouth-eye-second-spot-1-8575753
KEVIN RICKETTS
Email Published: 06:00 Monday 23 July 2018
Read more at:
https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/cricket/premier-cricket-league/in-form-portsmouth-eye-second-spot-1-8575753
Portsmouth are setting their sights on the top
two after knocking over Southern League division one title-chasers Calmore
Sports at St Helens on Saturday. The 113-run success gave Jack Marston’s
fourth-placed side their seventh successive victory. And the skipper has
challenged his team to keep their winning run going in pursuit of runners-up
spot. ‘Leaders Bournemouth are probably too far ahead to catch because they
keep winning,’ said Marston. ‘But I don’t see any reason why we can’t
overhaul Calmore and Sarisbury. ‘We beat Calmore in what was probably our
biggest test so far this season. ‘Sarisbury at their place is next up and that
is a big game for both teams. ‘The important thing is to keep applying
ourselves because the league is so tight.‘OTs are only 30 points behind
us and they are in the relegation zone ‘Any team between fourth and 10th can
still end up being relegated. ‘We must keep looking up rather than down,
though.’
Middle-order batsman James Christian laid the foundations for the win.
He scored 65 off 98 balls, including seven fours, at a time when
Portsmouth looked they might collapse. In the end, Christian guided them to 250
for nine. Earlier Ben Duggan and Jordan Palmer-Goddard had given the hosts a
steady start. Fraser Hay (54 off 51 balls) carried it on but suddenly
Portsmouth started to lose wickets. ‘We had a little wobble when we lost two or
three wickets very quickly,’ added Marston. ‘James, however, then provided the
glue for our innings. ‘He was patient and towards the end he was able to
accelerate nicely.’
Calmore made a reasonable start to their reply but good
bowling from the hosts meant the required rate soon climbed. Hay (three for
15), Vikram Dawson and Fahad Ahmad kept it tight. And when Calmore began
chasing the game, left-arm spinner Andrew Marston (four for 34) put paid to
their hopes.
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SARISBURIED
View From Silly Point by Jamie (Mitch) Mitchell
The perfect July is still on for Pompey 2s, as they ground out a 54-run victory at Sarisbury 2s – with the 1s on a five-game tear of their own, the outbreak of winning at Portsmouth CC is spreading like sunstroke on a British Beach.
The sight of a predictably parched Sarisbury ground meant there wouldn’t be any tweaking of tactics from the previous three games, as Pompey’s dangerously superstitious skipper, Nicky Wyatt, won another flip, and chose to set the hosts a score.
Wyatt and this summer’s gun, Dan Wallis, set off on the customary fast start for the visitors, adding 46 for the 2nd wicket, before Pompey’s poison dwarf skied one to mid-off for a shot-a-ball 30. Wallis then shared steady partnerships with younger brother Tom (14) and Paul Hungerford (21), before being joined by the prodigal son, Will Smitherman.
The combination of the understated and the ebullient dovetailed seamlessly, as both initially accumulated at around a run-a-ball, before Smitherman started peppering the pickets, allowing Wallis to saunter to a third century of the season. Although Wallis was dismissed shortly after raising his bat, Arjun Patel was able to nudge, hustle, and belly-flop his way to 18, whilst crucially rotating the strike, allowing Smitherman to maintain the inning’s acceleration. Once Smitherman departed for an adventurous 74 from 49 balls, Pompey’s innings rather petered out, closing on 277 for 9.
With tea consumed, and sunscreen re-applied, it was Pompey’s turn to cop the late-afternoon sun, as they sought to defend 277. A steady start from Sarisbury’s openers provided little reward for opening bowlers Ishy Ahmad and Henry Woolfe, but they were able to keep a lid on the home side’s scoring rate. This enabled change bowlers, Paul Hungerford (3 for 42) and Dan Wallis (2 for 24), to chip away at the home side’s top order, as the strokeplay became more expansive. The bowling effort was aided by some fine fielding, with runs being cut off on the ground, decent catches from Wyatt, Woolfe, and Ahmad, another smart stumping from Martin Balland-Collins, along with more sharp work to effect a run out, as a Sarisbury batsman unwittingly chose to take on Tom Wallis’ traction-engine-like arm from the ground’s longest boundary.
Andy Chapman chimed in with a further couple of scalps (2 for 35), however none of Pompey’s bowlers were able to take on the 'Hong Kong Phooey' role in mopping up the tail, as the hosts finished up on 223 for 8.
The (hopefully) perfect July concludes this Saturday, as Pompey’s finest return home to host New Milton 2s – 1pm start.
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