Scorecard

Whittlesford v Aspenden Standon & Puckeridge Saturday League Team on Sat 30 Apr 2022 at 1.30pm
Aspenden Standon & Puckeridge Lost By 4 Wickets

Match report A tough start to the league for the Asps men.

Away to Whittlesford, Baxter lost the toss and ASPCC were inserted into bat. A strong looking batting line up was torn apart by the two openers within the 1st 10 over. Openers Gurney & Steel made 4 between them & at 4/2 the Asps were under early pressure. R. Fitz & Vincent fending off the Whittlesford fiery opener & trying to pick a few singles off the very accurate Clarke. Sadly, Vincent was caught and bowled for 9 and Mcnamara was then out LBW for 1. Things did not get better when L. Fitz was cleaned up by a sharp inswinging yorker from the 1st change bowler, the ball after slapping Asps 1st 4 of the innings over square leg. R. Fitz was still at the crease but couldn't find a partner to stick with him. Morrissey guided a nice shot through point but was run out from a direct hit coming back for the second. Asps now reeling at 31/6 looked down & out. Fitz & Curtis put a solid partnership of 19 together including some lovely cover drives from Fitz. A very slow outfield did not help the Asps cause. Fitz was then adjudged LBW for 15 & Baxter Joined Curtis at 50/7 after just 19 overs. Both batsmen played safely & just played for time picking up the runs up when they could. A decent partnership of 25 came to an end after Curtis gloved one to the keeper off the spinner. Baxter was joined by Surrey for the last 7 overs. Both decided to chance their arms. Baxter hitting a 4 over short fine leg then one through cover, but he was outdone by the fantastic striking of Surrey. Surrey planted his front foot forward & creamed the quick opener straight back down the ground twice in quick succession. Baxter & Surrey found the gaps & run some good 2's & a 3. Baxter hit another two boundaries on his way to 36* but Surrey was on a mission, absolutely leathering the ball. Shot of the day when he hit a ball in the slot over long on for a big 6. He took apart Clayton & hit a very important 33* also his league best. The partnership of 64 in the last 7 gave the Asps a respectable 139/8 & something to bowl at.

Unfortunately, Asps started in the same fashion as they started with the bat. L. Fitz injuring himself in his first over & Surrey having anything off line smashed to the boundary by the big hitting Mughal. With Whittlesford hammering along at 10+ an over, the injured Fitz was replaced by Steel who steamed in full pelt & roughed the batsmen up. R. Fitz was next up & bowled beautifully. Fitz & Steel picked up both openers then Ricketts came on to pick up number 3 for just 6, giving the Asps a glimmer of hope with Whittlesford 90/3. A solid 30 partnership put the home team right back into the ascendancy. The returning Steel, who replaced the impressive Ricketts who picked up 1-15, cleaned up the batsmen for his 2nd of the day. Baxter replaced the ever-reliable Fitz (7-2-16-1) & picked up a wicket with his 5th ball, then bowled number 6 first ball. The Asps fought until the end, but Baxter was smashed over cow for the winning runs and a deserved victory for Whittlesford.

Asps hindered by a terrible start with bat and ball walked away with a respectable performance and heads held high. A game they could have won on another day.

Special mentions for Surrey’s brilliant hitting along with a hard-hitting partnership with Baxter. R. Fitz, Rickets & Steels bowling effort. Also, to the team spirit & not giving up when it was not going our way.

ASPCC travel to Barley next week.

Aspenden Standon & Puckeridge Saturday League Team Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 10w 2b 8lb 
for 8 wickets
21
139		        
Liam Gurney ct C Mills b D Clarke 4
Jonathon Steel b T Burdett 0
Reece Fitzgerald lbw C Mills 15 1
Jake Vincent ct T Burdett b T Burdett 9
Hugh McNamara lbw O Williams 1
Lewis Fitzgerald b O Williams 4 1
Billy Morrissey run out  (C Mills) 1
Neil Curtis ct D Grigg b K Venigalla 15 1
Clark Baxter Not Out  36 4
Benjamin Surrey Not Out  33 3 1
Aaron Ricketts  

Whittlesford Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Clarke 8.0032132.004.00
Burdett8.031125.501.38
Williams 8.0227213.503.38
Venigalla8.0016116.002.00
Mills5.01818.001.60
Clayton3.003500.0011.67

Whittlesford Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 14w 9b  
for 6 wickets
24
142 (24.5 overs)		     
Mughal b R. Fitzgerald 38
Clayton lbw Steel 23
Cassels b Rickets 6
Pelling b Baxter 12
Cassels b Steel 18
Mills b Baxter 0
Clarke  
Williams  
Venigalla  
Burdett  
Grigg  

Aspenden Standon & Puckeridge Saturday League Team Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Lewis Fitzgerald2.002600.0013.00
Benjamin Surrey3.002600.008.67
Jonathon Steel6.0030215.005.00
Reece Fitzgerald7.0216116.002.29
Aaron Ricketts5.0015115.003.00
Clark Baxter2.001527.507.50