1st XI Abberley 160 for 5, Packwood 159 for 5 dec - Win by 5 wkts

The journey to Packwood was quite a long and slow one so the game began a little late. We knew we were in for a game with the opposition having won both the Wrekin and Malvern tournaments. We lost the toss but would have fielded anyway and made a good start with Sandy taking an early wicket. Max was soon into the attack twirling effectively and the star Packwood opener should have been stumped on 10. He went on to make 94 putting on 100 for the third wicket as Packwood opened up on the excellent batting pitch. Tea was taken early to allow Packwood to carry on batting and their total of 159-5 in 32 overs seemed too many especially with only 40 minutes and 20 overs to get them. However it would ultimately mean that we had 34 overs batting but would it be enough ?

Last year Abberley were bowled out by just 2 spin bowlers against Packwood and so an off spinner opened the bowling. Will and Ed gave us a solid but snail like start and after 7 overs we had crawled to 8-0. The chance of scoring the runs looked over already. Max arrived at the crease and momentum was added. Will was finally out for 15 from 19 overs but a platform had been made to launch an assault. An unlikely 126 was required from the final 20 overs but Francis and then Sandy hit several boundaries with good use of the feet to the spinner. Max meanwhile was playing with control, running intelligently and hitting the boundary every time you sensed one was required to keep up with the rate.

Arthur came and went and in came Tom with 30 required from the last 5 overs. Were we about to collapse in a heap like we had done at Malvern on Sunday the minute the going got tough ? Tom came of age with excellent use of his feet and the 31st over going for 16 off the opening bowler including a glorious 6. We were in touching distance and an emphatic cover drive from Tom sealed a famous win. Max had meanwhile remained in control, steering the ship home, urging his men on and scoring the last 15 of his excellent 55 not out in intelligent singles.
Whilst the fielding from both sides had not always been pretty, Packwood dropped several sharp chances, the batting on display was classy. Abberley finally began to think about their batting and judged the chase to perfection.

'Packwood make hay against indifferent Abberley attack'

A good pitch, fast outfield and dry conditions were encouraging signs but Packwood made the most of them. Abberley bowled short and gave away too many extras ( 30 in total). Our fielding was lackadaisical and once again the ball fell through our hands like melted butter. Fergus B. and the Captain Wyndham H P were the only bowlers to apply any pressure on the batsmen. Overthrows, poor throws and 'let's throw the towel in' seemded to be Abberley's response to some attacking batting from Packwood. However 184 on today's pitch was manageable and so our innings began with positive words all round and inspirational advice given by RDW. 2 wickets down and no score was not quite the scenario wanted. 3 for 2 was no better! (So much for those inspirational words!) But some semblance of order resumed with a positive partnership between Barneby W and Will P. before Will was caught for 27.

However the runs kept coming. Henry O played well for his 23 and Barneby finished with a season's best 37. A great effort. Unfortuantely the runs dried up and we were losing wickets and so despite a mid-order fizz it all went flat by the end. Nevertheless, the batting was encouraging even if the bowling and fielding were dismal. Come on Abberley!