A Tunderful time at Poynings
A beautiful June Sunday accompanied the Select to a superb win over a youthful Poynings side, thanks to a superb century by Martyn Box.
Winning the toss, skipper P. Murphy chose to bat first, on a very green wicket. As predicted. The ball kept very low, and some superb bowling by the young Poynings openers brought the demise of R. Mamoany (5) and Toby Wardrobe (🦆), both bowled. This brought Martyn (102*) and Dan Rapson (17) to the crease, and they both took advantage of some full tosses. Rapson played a few outstanding shots, notably a big booming cover drive, which brought a huge grin to the sun cream smothered South African face. This smile was soon removed as he too fell victim to the low bounce and was bowled. Man of Steel B. Hughes (4) hung around with the bat, and showed some promising signs before going the way of all before him, bowled. N. Murphy (7) was given out LBW, to a very suspect decision by umpire Rapson. Charlie Punter (20) worked with Martyn to start to up the scoring rate against the slower bowlers. Martyn was really starting to find his range, and proving what a valuable asset he is to any team. A vintage (disgusting) Punter innings was brought to an end trying to hit the ball to the moon. L. Mamoany (14) then went out to help his buddy get to 100, and the two youngsters played well to get the Select to 195 off their 40 overs.
A fantastic tea was consumed, and Hill were particularly excited about the range of fairy cakes on offer!
A. Hughes (0-10) bowled with superb consistency first up in tandem with brother, Man of Steel B. Hughes (0-40) and despite some superb lines, couldn’t find the early breakthrough. Adam in particular found some good movement and a few examples of variable bounce, and really deserved a few wickets as testament to how much he has developed recently. He was replaced in the 11th over by Tom Booth (2-9), who found some big hooping in swing to account for the Poynings opener and number 3 in consecutive balls. L. Mamoany (3-12) took the mantle from Man of Steel, and instantly provided some control for the Select. Enthusiasm was good in the field, and B. Hughes was standout, throwing his body (more specifically, his knee) in front of everything. Tom Booth was replaced by Toby Wardrobe (0-24) who bowled some good lines once he had accustomed himself to the gentle slope. N. Murphy (2-22) continued after L. Mamoany and found some good turn, and was able to provide a spell that didn’t include a single double bouncer. Comical moment of the day was provided by Ben Hughes, chasing a ball to the boundary and not slowing down to stop for the fence, trying to use it like a WWE ring rope. Miracles were made to happen when Dan Rapson actually took a catch, and despite it being his first official time of keeping wicket, Charlie Punter only let through 9 byes (watch out Teddy Churchyard). Skipper P. Murphy (2-2) brought himself onto bowl in the final overs of the match and accounted for the tail end with his cutters, which left Poynings all out for 135.
Poynings should be very proud of their efforts today despite not getting the win. Their youthful side was exceptional in the field, and some of the batsmen showed great maturity and played some fantastic cricket shots.
Select make it 2 from 2, and have a short hiatus before their next game. Thanks are to be extended to those who came to support, and to everyone at Poynings CC for their hospitality and a superb tea!
Punts.
