Buntingford’s fine run keeps on going

BUNTINGFORD kept their winning run going with a comfortable victory over Stansted Hall at Norfolk Road on Saturday.

Hall chose to put Buntingford in the field on a hot and sunny day. Buntingford once again bowled well and this was backed up by some very good fielding.

The only Stansted Hall batsman to get to grips with the Buntingford attack was D Jones who scored 56 before being caught in the deep by Barry Walker. This was one of two excellent catches taken by the Buntingford skipper.

Richard Pearce once again bowled with great control, taking 1-18 from his 10 overs. Chris Chambers bowled with pace and accuracy taking 2-28, backed up by Walker (3-30) and Dan Duff (2-20).

Stansted Hall finished all out for a fairly small total of 134 with just five balls remaining from their 45 overs.

Buntingford's reply got off to a good start, with an opening partnership of 89 between Martin Coote (38) and John Clements (34), before they both fell in successive overs.

A couple of further wickets fell cheaply, before Izuru (28 not out) steadied the ship.

Buntingford reached the winning target of 140 for the loss of five wickets.

At the halfway point in the season, Buntingford lie second in the Herts & Essex League Division One with five wins from their six completed games - a fine return from their first season in the top division.

Buntingford II travelled to Division Six leaders Nazeing Common on Saturday and despite playing well, they lost out in a well contested and hard fought game.

Put in to bat, Buntingford started well and Steve Baker and young colt Mike Townsend put on 49 in 12 overs before Townsend was out to a really good catch at mid-wicket by McDonnell.

Kev Poulton then joined Baker and he was soon playing an aggressive innings which saw Buntingford quickly reach 125 from 28 overs.

Poulton was then out, caught in the deep by Cooper for a quick-fire 43 before Steve Baker shared a partnership of 35 with colt Martin Forster before he was bowled for a fine knock of 57.

Nazeing bowled quite tightly in the closing stages and wickets fell at regular intervals, but Buntingford were still managing to score at five an over and they eventually finished on a respectable 208-8.

In reply, unbeaten Nazeing batted well and depite fielding well on a really hot day, Buntingford struggled to restrict them to less than six an over.

Opener P Johnson held the innings together with a fine century (103) and with nearly all the other batsman making a contribution, Nazeing reached a winning score of 209-5 with 10 overs remaining.

Steve Nash starred in the field for Buntingford, taking three good catches, one of them diving full length to push the ball up with one hand and catch it with the other hand just off the ground.

On Sunday, an annual memorial game was played at Buntingford in remembrance of player Neil Atkin's mother Margaret who sadly passed away some years ago.

Neil fielded an All Star XI, consisting of present and past players, plus others from local teams, against a current Buntingford XI captained by Richard Pearce.

The Buntingford XI batted first and posted a total of 207-7 from their 40 overs.

Top scorer was Scott Nash with 73. Opener John Clements chipped in with a useful 30 before he was run out.

On the bowling side, past player Andrew Strachan showed that class is permanent by returning great figures of 1-38 from his nine overs.

After a magnificent tea/buffet provided by Neil's family, Atkins' All Stars set about chasing down the Buntingford total. They started off really well and at 82-1 off just 13 overs they looked to be in with a real chance.

However, once they had lost opener N Smith for a fine 52 and R Thorogood for 32, wickets tumbled quickly and cheaply to Pearce, Clements, Baker and Nash.

At the end of their 40 overs, the All Stars were still 57 runs short at 150-9.