Portchester v Hursley Park II – 08.08.09

Hampshire Division 1 League Match played at Cams School

Portchester (20pts) 120 for 5 beat Hursley Park II (3pts) 119 all out

Portchester won by 5 wickets

Battting: L Hungerford 50*, S O’Neill 20, J Young 11*
Bowling: C Coward 4/19, S O’Neill 3/13, D O’Neill 2/12

Portchester v Bedhampton – 25.07.09

Hampshire Division 1 League Match played at Cams School

Portchester (6pts) 148 all out lost to Bedhampton 209 for 9

Bedhampton won by 61 runs

Battting: C Locke 35

Portchester v Ryde – 18.07.09

Hampshire Division 1 League Match played at Ryde

Portchester (3pts) 144 all out lost to Ryde (19pts) 95 for 2 (target 94 from 25 overs)

Ryde won by 8 wickets in a rain affect match

Battting: C Coward 58, E Jordan 31

Portchester v Mudeford – 04.07.09

Hampshire Division 1 League Match played at Cams School

Portchester (24pts) 276 for 6 beat Mudeford (6pts) 173 all out

Portchester won by 103 runs

Battting: C Coward 66, R Locke 56
Bowling: C Coward 6/35

Portchester v Locks Heath – 27.06.09

Hampshire Division 1 League Match played at Locks Heath

Portchester (3pts) 136 all out lost to Locks Heath (22pts) 139 for 3

Locks Heath won by 7 wickets

Portchester v Bramshaw – 20.06.09

Hampshire Division 1 League Match played at Bramshaw

Portchester (6pts) 122 all out lost to Bramshaw (20pts) 168 all out

Bramshaw won by 46 runs

Portchester travelled to The New Forest for their fixture with Bramshaw at the weekend hoping for a return to winning ways after two defeats in a row. Steveo won the toss and decided to have a bowl on what looked like a pitch that would have plenty in it for the bowlers if they hit their line and lengths. Paul gave us a great start by knocking over the dangerous opener Hart for 7 and soon after bowled the other opener for 9. A great start would have been the perfect start had we also taken the chance offered to us by the Bramshaw number three, unfortunately the chance went down but we still felt positive about the impact we had made in the opening over’s. At the other end Daveo was bowling really well with no luck, going past the outside edge on a number of occasions. Cowman replaced Paul and immediately began bowling well on a pitch that was perfect for him. He picked up the wickets of Bramshaw’s numbers 4 and 5 with good catches taken by Tom and Curt. Despite the wickets falling at the other end the Bramshaw number 3 Gray was making the most of the life given to him and was beginning to score important runs on a pitch that was not getting much easier to play on. Big Dave replaced daveo after his super economical performance, going for only 17 runs in 10 over’s. Unfortunately Big Dave was expensive in his 2 over’s and was replaced with Lee. Lee looked comfortable bowling in the conditions straight away, pitching the ball up and swinging it round corners. He picked up the important wicket of Gray for a good 47, and soon after was on a hat-trick after dismissing Alford and Kingston in successive balls. Cowman also picked up his third wicket of the innings with Curt taking another good catch behind the stumps, and Portchester were in position to restrict Bramshaw to a very gettable total. Steveo brought Paul back to finish the innings off and that is exactly what he did by taking the final two wickets, with Curt taking the best of his 3 catches to end the Bramshaw innings on 168. 168 was probably about par on a tricky pitch, but an early missed chance and some undisciplined bowling probably allowed Bramshaw 30 runs more than they should have got.

The pitch wasn’t a good one, but with only just over 3 an over needed on a very small ground we were favourites for a win as we started our innings. Steveo and Rich made an OK start, some nice early shots got us to 16 before Steveo got a good yorker which bowled him. In the next over Rich fell to a tight LBW decision and at 17 for 2 we were looking shaky. Paul and Ed then started to calm the nerves with a promising partnership, with Ed in particular looking dangerous on this small ground. Unfortunately Ed miss timed a drive and was well caught at deep cover, ending the partnership and leaving us on 43 for 3. Curt joined Paul and another useful looking partnership began to develop until another tight LBW decision went against us, Curt this time the unlucky batsman. Cowman went in at 6 and looked solid and secure straight away. At 62 for 4 we were still in a decent position, and one good partnership would probably win us the game. Paul having got himself in then chased one a bit wide of off stump and edged it behind leaving us on 73 for 5, and we were now right up against it. The next 4 wickets went down in a hurry, all of them disappointing dismissals considering the state of the game. Big Dave came in at 11 and gave it a good go, a few lusty blows got him to 23 in a hurry before being cleaned bowled, leaving Cowman stranded on 19 not out and leaving us bowled out for a pathetic 122.

Without doubt the worst performance of the season so far for us. It was a performance that lacked common sense, application and determination. We are a better side than the one that has shown up for the last 3 games, the one that turned up for the first 4 games best put in an appearance soon!!!!

Portchester v Fawley – 13.06.09

Hampshire Division 1 League Match played at Cams School

Portchester (6pts) 193 for 9 lost to Fawley (23pts) 194 for 4

Fawley won by 6 wickets

Battting: C Locke 42, P Hungerford 39*

Portchester v Midhurst – 06.06.09

Hampshire Division 1 League Match played at Midhurst

Portchester (7pts) 196 all out lost to Midhurst (24pts) 200 for 6

Midhurst won by 4 wickets

Portchester travelled to West Sussex for a fixture with Midhurst on Saturday looking to extend the unbeaten start to the season. A great performance against Calmore the week before gave the side plenty of confidence and optimism going into the game.

Steveo lost the toss but was happy enough to be asked to bat first on what looked like an OK pitch. In addition the fact that Portchester went into the game with a team on paper that was stronger with the bat than ball having a hit first was in theory ideal.

Portchester got off to a decent start with Rich full of attacking intent and Steveo looking solid at the other end. With the partnership at 32 Rich lost concentration after a succession of wides and and was cleaned up by the only straight ball of the over for 22. This brought Curt to the crease full of confidence after his recent ton but his stay was short lived as he pushed at one wide of the off stump and was well caught at first slip. Paul joined Steveo and for a while things went well with singles being scored regularly, but Paul played on soon after and Portchester had lost 3 quick wickets. Steveo then joined the rest of the top 4 back at the pavilion having edged it to the keeper while chasing a wide one. Portchester were in trouble and needed things to start going their way, unfortunately Ted and Cowman fell victim to tight LBW decisions, Lee got himself in then out and Daveo got knocked over for a duck. At 8 down Portchester were in danger of being bowled out for less than 100 against the weakest bowling side they have faced this season. Luckily Tom Adams displayed some good technique and accompanied by Stu who hit some lusty shots began to move the score towards respectability, when Stu finally went for an entertaining 23 Portchester felt as though they were heading towards a total that would have given them an outside chance of defending. However a total that would have been really tough to defend became a total that should have been defended thanks to a great knock from Rick Harding. Batting at 11 Rick put the rest of the Portchester batsmen to shame with a wonderful innings of 41, and along with Tom’s impressive 30 not out Portchester had somehow posted a total of 196. And even though they were short of 2 first choice bowlers it was a total that should have been plenty.

The bowling and fielding performance started out well enough. Daveo was bowling well and had the Midhurst batsmen playing and missing regularly, at the other end Pauly picked up 2 wickets and the home side were in trouble at 20 for 2. Cussins batting at 4 was struggling against Daveo with most his early runs coming from edges and from the bowling of Paul he was dropped at square leg with a simple chance going down. From there on Cussins played well and deservedly scored a good half century making the most of the chance given to him. At the other end Lush also looked far from assured, and when the simplest of chances from Cowmans bowling popped up to mid on Portchester thought they had made a crucial breakthrough. Unfortunately the second regulation catch of the innings was dropped and the Midhurst opener was given a second chance. He was also given a third, forth, fifth and sixth chance and not surprisingly went on to score a 50 having been dropped 5, yes 5 times!!! Rich finally took a catch off Cowmans bowling to remove Cussins for 59 but by now the game was slipping away. Pauly came back on and picked up a couple of wickets in his final over, and Steveo picked up the sixth wicket in the next over. Although the extra couple of bowling points were useful it was all a bit too little too late and Midhurst eased to victory soon after.
A poor performance by Portchester saw them deservedly beaten.

At this level sides cannot afford for 5 of the top 7 batsmen to get themselves out, and you certainly cannot afford for 6 chances to be put down. The Midhurst match report is far from complimentary about the Portchester bowling. In truth the bowling was OK, it was the catching that was poor, and if even half of the chances had been taken Portchester would have probably run out winners. Unfortunately it’s all about who is better on the day, and on this day it was Midhurst.

Portchester v Calmore Sports – 30.05.09

Hampshire Division 1 League Match played at Cams School

Portchester (24pts) 268 for 4 beat Calmore Sports (9pts) 264 all out

Portchester won by 6 wickets

A good Calmore side were the visitors to Cams as Portchester looked to continue their unbeaten start to the 09 season against a team that were also undefeated. By the end of today only two unbeaten sides would remain in Division 1. The ground looked great in the sun and when the Calmore skipper won the toss he had no hesitation in batting first on a pitch that looked very good.

Daveo and Penners bowled tight lines early on and kept the scoring rate down well. After 10 overs the visitors were only going at about 2 an over, but crucially early wickets were not taken this week and that would prove important later on. Paul eventually did get the break through in the 12th over trapping Brandes in front LBW bringing Cass in at number 3. Cass and Archer then started to move the scoring rate along with some good shots all around the ground, and assisted by some poor Portchester fielding which included 3 dropped catches, they put on a 69 run partnership and pushed the score along to 93 before Pete bowled the dangerous Cass for 41. The Calmore skipper batting at 4 then joined Archer who was beginning to score freely and another good partnership developed. Archer passed 50 and Rose began to take advantage of some below par bowling and good conditions to really push the scoring rate along, and when Big Dave had Rose caught behind for 28 they had put on 67 for the 3rd wicket and the score was at a worrying 160 for 3. Just when Portchester needed things to start going their way they went in the complete opposite direction. Big Dave who was bowling Ok pulled up with an injured back during his fourth over and could take no further part in the game, leaving Steveo to work out how to restrict Calmore with 10 men and a bowler short. Somehow the loss of Big dave seemed to focus the team and instil some fight. Steveo picked up the important wicket of Archer who had batted well for his 84 and broke another good Calmore partnership, their third 50+ partnership in a row. In his next over Steveo struck twice more, first Clarke gave a return catch to the skipper and two balls later Pegler was well caught by Ricky at square leg. When an excellent piece of fielding by Daveo at mid wicket forced the run out of Proudley off the very next ball three wickets had fallen in the over and the score looked more respectable at 234 for 7. Penners came back on at the other end and almost immediately bowled Cook who had made a good 41. All of a sudden 4 wickets had fallen for just 1 run and at 235 for 8 Calmore were in danger of not securing the maximum 7 batting points that looked a certainty only a few over’s ago. To their credit Calmore’s number 9 and 10 saw them through to 250+, but more top fielding from Stu and Pete in the final over’s led to two more run outs and somehow Portchester had bowled Calmore out for 264 and earned maximum bowling points. 264 was a good total but probably 50 shy of where it looked to be heading at one point. A brave fielding performance and a good pitch gave Portchester hope.

A good opening partnership was going to be vital if Portchester had any chance of chasing down 264. Rich and Steveo made a good start getting the scoreboard moving at around 4 an over and soon had a 50 partnership in place. Aided by some undisciplined bowling the scoring rate gradually increased, the 100 partnership came up in the 22nd over and belief that Portchester could win this began to grow. The 23rd over would prove to be a real turning point. Clarke was introduced into the attack and immediately Rich took a liking to the short length being bowled, 11 runs were taken off the first 3 balls and when Steveo gave the strike back to Boo Boo for the last 2 balls of the over he wasn’t going to miss out. A huge six over square leg was followed up by another four and Clarke’s first over had gone for 22. More good batting pushed the partnership over 150 and soon the runs required were below 100. Steveo eventually fell to a catch in the gully for a solid 49, but by then the 166 run partnership had put Portchester in a winning position. Unfortunately Rich went an over later for a fantastic 95 and the pressure switched back to the home side. Pete played a nice little innings keeping the scoring rate going and when he was out for 14 Portchester were 70 runs away from victory. Paul also added a valuable 27 in good time and his 36 run partnership in 6 over’s with Ted put Portchester 35 runs from a fantastic win. Cowman came in to provide support to Ted who by now was scoring at more than a run a ball and steering Portchester home. A few more powerful hits from Ted later and the game was won with 3 over’s to spare, the last 5 over’s of the innings resulting in 51 runs!!

A great win and a great game of cricket played on a great pitch in great conditions. Great stuff!! By the end of the day there were only two unbeated sides left in County 1. Who would have thought Portchester would have been one of them?

Portchester v Compton & Chandlers Ford – 23.05.09

County Division 1 League Match at Compton & Chandlers Ford

Portchester (23pts) 256 for 2 beat Compton & Chandlers Ford (6pts) 223 for 9

Portchester won by 33 runs

Portchester headed to Compton and Chandlers Ford looking to maintain the unbeaten start to the 2009 season. Steveo lost his first toss of the season and Portchester were put into bat on a pitch that looked ok and one that the skipper would have batted first on anyway. Early on the ball swung and the pitch played a little up and down making early runs hard to come by, and when Steveo dragged one back onto his stumps Portchester had made a poor start to the innings for the second time in a row. Curt joined his Bro in the middle and slowly Rich began to find his feet, playing good attacking shots to get the score board moving along. Just before drinks Rich got bowled for 31 and Portchester were 67 for 2 with Rich and Curt putting on a decent 61 run partnership for the second wicket. The message from the skipper was for Curt to stay there till the end and make the most of his start. Paul going in at 4 started to play positively and slowly but surely Curt joined in the fun, beginning to play shots all around the ground. These two then started to increase the tempo over by over, raising the expected total from 175 to 200 and then to 225. Sixes started flying including a one handed special by Paul over square leg, but Curt wasn’t to be out done smashing a number of outstanding straight hits.
By now both had passed 50 and the possibility of maximum batting points and a Curt century was very real. With a collection of good shots and some hard running both were achieved. Portchester finished on 256 for 2, Curt with a very high quality 106 not out and Paul with a very well constructed 77 not out had put on 189 for the 3rd wicket, a fantastic effort that had put Portchester well in the driving seat.

There was still work to be done on a pitch not offering a huge amount to the bowlers and Portchester knew that a good performance in the field was very much needed. Both openers came out attacking hoping to start the run chase off well for the home side. Daveo however soon got the first wicket with one that nipped back and kept a bit low, and shortly after sorted out the other opener with Cowman taking a good catch at mid off. Pauly bowled a tight spell without any luck and the Compton batsmen began to get the score board ticking over. Pete replaced Daveo at one and had the Compton skipper in trouble straight away, an appeal for caught behind was turned down and the next ball was edged between 1st and 2nd slip. Cowmans spell at the other end paid off as he took two important wickets, firstly the wicket of Comptons skipper who was well caught by Curt at 1st slip and a beauty of a delivery that pitched middle and hit off got Cowman his second. At the other end Pete picked up a wicket with Paul taking a good catch at backward point. Despite these wickets Compton were still in the game needing around 6 an over for the last 15. Big Dave replaced Pete and began the start of what was to be a very important spell, Steveo bowling at the other end was struggling to contain the Compton batsmen who were now in all out attack mode which put even more pressure on Big Dave. A cheeky low full toss got the seaman’s first wicket with Ted taking a good low catch at extra cover. This seemed to fill Big Dave with confidence and his bowling got better and better. Dave then bowled the left handed danger man for his second wicket and when Steveo took a simple catch at point Big Dave had taken his third wicket and effectively ended Comptons brave challenge. All that was left was for Portchester to try and take the final 2 wickets and achieve maximum points. Paul came back on and in the last over of the game picked up his first wicket and left a few balls for Portchester to get that final wicket. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be, Paul whistled a few past the stumps but Compton survived and finished on 223 for 9.

Another win for Portchester but it was a bit closer then it probably should have been. A victory that owed much to a top efforts with the bat from Curt and Paul, and a brave bowling performance from Big Dave. Well done chaps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!