After arriving at Berkswell to be greeted by another unusually flat and batsman friendly April wicket it was unsurprising UWMCC found themselves taking to the field after skipper Hayes lost the toss. However good opening spells from Hammond who picked up a dangerous looking opener caught behind and Yorke-Starkey who was very unlucky not to pick up a wicket, made runs hard to come by.
When Rooty dismissed the other opener thanks to a great catch by Suraj at gully Trent were 40-2 off 10 overs and things were looking promising. From here two Trent batsman built a great partnership scoring 80 and 156 respectively, with only Gonzsor being able to exert some control to stem the slow of runs although Nish also bowled a promising debut spell. Whilst they played very well we may reflect on what might have been had we taken some of the chances that came our way during the partnership.
Despite effectively fielding with 10 men after Hayes dislocated his finger collecting a return from the boundary and the opposition refusing to lend us a fielder we finished the innings the stronger. A great direct hit run out from long on by Tedmonds of the in batsman sparked a mini collapse and a great second spell from Yorke-Starkey who picked up 4 wickets, helped us to keep them to 333 when at one point it was looking much worse.
As Hayes disappeared off to A and E a reshuffled batting line up set about the chase still feeling optimistic about our chances but knowing it would take one of the top order to get in and go big. Unfortunately a good spell of bowling by one of their openers who picked up the wickets of Root, Thornley and Tedmonds and left us 3 down within 15 overs meant we were always behind the game. Gonszor followed soon afterwards and although there was a good stand between Suraj and Yorke-Starkey, the required run rate was climbing uncontrollably. Another flurry of quick wickets meant we found ourselves 70-8 and staring down the barrel of a heavy defeat.
As the field closed in the two debutants Nish and Goodyear set about trying to frustrate the opposition by keeping them in the field for as long as possible. By the time Nish was dismissed for a well constructed 15 they had added around 70 with Goodyear passing 50. Things continued in the same vein when Hammond entered the fray with runs still flowing freely, if slightly fortuitously at times. Goodyear reached his 100 in 65 balls before being dismissed shortly after having taken the score over 200 to give a bit more respectability to the total. Despite some good individual performances the team will be looking to put in a good all round team performance when they play Oxford Brookes at Leamington on Wednesday and secure their first BUCS victory of the season. (Prophetic stuff from Goodyear)