BRIGHTON 2009
FRIDAY JULY 3rd.
DBSL 200 (Nigel Howlett 57, Martin Wallis 35 , Mel Phair 27 )
LINGFIELD 203 - 6 (Matt Clemence 3- 32, Martin Wallis 1- 29 )
( Chris Mutton 1 - 52 )
Lingfield (Surrey ) won by four wickets.
DBSL started off their two match tour at Lingfield in Surrey on route to the Brighton base.
After an early onslaught from Martin Wallis, DBSL lost a number of quick wickets, slumping to 80 for 6. Mel Phair decided to drop anchor for some time to hold the innings together and when joined by Nigel Howlett, things moved on a pace. Nigel scored a fine forceful 57 to take the tourists up to a reasonable 200, but with one very short boundary, containment was going to be a problem.
Some of the DBSL bowlers appeared to be suffering a bit from jetlag and despite taking some early wickets, things began to fall apart. In the end Lingfield knocked off the runs with a couple of overs to spare.
Lingfield was also a treat for the aircraft anoraks as the landing flightpath to Gatwick Airport was just above the ground. It was rather alien to the tourists and probably effected their batting, although alcohol played a small part.
DBSL 204 - 6 ( Chris Mutton 53, Mel Phair 42, Nigel Howlett 30 * )
( Nigel Wallis 29 * )
OAKWOOD HILL 205 - 3 ( D. Partner 87*, B.West 68 )
( Matt Clemece 1- 32, N.Howlett 1 - 32 , Martin Wallis 1- 42)
Oakwood Hill (Surrey ) won by seven wickets
With a slightly more sober squad DBSL posted a decent 204 for 6 in the 40 over match at Oakwood Hill, but the home team had a couple of batsmen who were a class apart and took full advantage of the short boundaries, powering their way to a seven wicket victory with eight overs to spare.
Chris Mutton played strongly early on and with good support from Mel Phair a good foundation was constructed. Later on the two "Nigels", Howlett and Wallis did exactly what was needed with some big hitting towards the end helping to post a score of 204 for 6.
We had no idea how good the Oakwood batting was , although 204 seemed to be a reasonable target.
We didn't have to wait long to find out the quality of Oakwood Hill's batsmen, only a couple of overs in fact. Their two openers looked plenty good enough for us, but when one of them was removed it brought in a left-hander named Partner , who preceded to take us apart.
The home team completed their victory with a full eight overs to spare and the duration of the match was only prolonged by the numerous searches for balls in the dense undergrowth all around their ground.
Our hosts were most hospitable and were extremely good at hacking through the jungle to recover the cricket balls and to only lose two was mainly down to their expertise.
