New Look Rowington But Same Result

At the start of the second half of the season Rowington needed a change in form to avoid a relegation fight on so, resplendent in their new shirts and the skipper finally winning the toss, things were definitely on the up. Henley were put in to bat and, although batting aggressively, the bowling and fielding were excellent. Wickets started to tumble with a second excellent slip catch in two weeks by Scott Rogers off Eike Gilbert being reminiscent of Ginger 20 years ago; and a fine run out by Billy Sly and excellent bowling by the ever youthful Leon Clarke saw the Rs in a good position with Henley 144-4 off 30. The next 15 overs however can only be described as carnage as Henley maintained their positive batting, which was typified by John Perry whose 49 included five sixes (mostly off the skipper). Although there was a promising ten overs of leg spin from Tommy Williams and four wickets for Billy Sly, Henley still ended on 293 for 9.

A positive start was needed for the Rs and this was provided by Alex Smith as he and Simon Cross put on 65 for the first wicket in 12 overs with Alex pouncing on anything loose. When Cross went for 11 the momentum was continued with the definitely not old and forgetful Haywood maintaining the scoring rate. However, when honest Clive walked after a faint edge behind for 22 and Alex Smith followed for a superb 72 the writing was on the wall. Eike Gilbert tried to steer the tail home with a fine 47 and, although the Rs passed 200 so as to reach maximum batting points, they still finished well short on 219 all out. All the Henley bowlers performed well with the wickets evenly shared.

The performance was a definite improvement against a very good all round side in Henley but this must be continued in the coming weeks.

Clive Haywood