Petersfield U9 Puma's

A second win for the U9 Pumas team on Monday night, away at Portsmouth. Petersfield U9 Pumas 265 (3 wickets) Portsmouth U9B 241 (8 wickets) http://petersfield.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=11757676

Petersfield Panthers U9 v Portsmouth U9A – 2oth May

Petersfield Panthers U9 v Portsmouth U9A – 2oth May After the previous weeks game against Hambledon was abandoned due to rain with the game delicately poised, Petersfield Panthers U9 continued their good start to the season with a useful win over Portsmouth. Bowling first Seb Browning and David Evans took 3 wickets for 13 runs in their allotted 4 overs to get Petersfield off to the ideal start. However strong legside hitting from the Portsmouth middle order rallied the score to set a target of 259. A steady start by Petersfield saw no loss of wickets for the opening pair but runs were hard to come by against an accurate Portsmouth opening attack. Petersfield were beginning to slip behind the required run rate until Zac Franklin (18) and Louis Wadsworth (11) steadied the ship and saw them through to a comfortable winning total of 290 http://petersfield.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=11757435

Petersfield Ladies v Titchbourne Park Ladies 19th May 2013

Petersfield Ladies v Titchbourne Park Ladies 19th May 2013 The new Petersfield Ladies cricket team played a pre-season friendly against Titchbourne Park Ladies as the anticipation of their 1st Hampshire league season heightens. Nerves were a plenty as the game approached and after losing the toss Lorna Williams and Emma Stead opened the batting and were soon into their stride scoring 37 in the 1st 8 overs and exceeding new Captain Jackson’s target. Despite the loss of Olivia Wadey, Jess Grange and Stead continued to pace the innings to perfection with Stead retiring after scoring a virtually chanceless 53 including 6 fours and a variety of strong ground strokes. If the opposition thought that this would slow the scoring they were to be disappointed as Molly Bowles joined her childhood friend Jess Grange and proceeded to despatch the Titchbourne bowlers to the boundary scoring a quick fire 37 not out including 6 fours with Jess finishing with a patient 25 not out. Petersfield had scored 193 for 2 from their 35 overs, adding an amazing 154 for the 3rd wicket. Titchbourne started their innings with some speed and reached 25 without loss from the 1st 5 overs until the introduction of Lauren Norris removed both openers. From this point on Petersfield were never out of control and some excellent all round play saw regular Titchbourne wickets fall and their innings closed out at 80 for 8 from their 35 overs, a 113 run win for Petersfield. Lauren Norris with 2 for 11 and Jess Grange with 2 for 15 lead the wicket taking although everyone contributed and Molly Bowles should be mentioned for her impressive 4 overs for 3 runs and 1 wicket. A great start, even better tea and jubilant coach and management team leaves us eager for the league that starts this Sunday at 10.00am versus the Hartley Hornets, let’s go girls!

Charity Cricket Day

Dear All, Please accept my apologies for a mass email request however, I am appealing for support for a fund raising event – A charity cricket match I and a few of the PCC members are putting on 30th June at Petersfield Cricket Club in support of ‘The Broad Appeal’ & Motor Neurone Disease Research – an incurable and cruel disease. Motor Neurone disease causes the sufferer to become totally incapacitated but their mind is fully functional. A good friend of my Wife Karen, Miche Broad died as a result of this disease a couple of years ago. This year I am raising funds – ambitiously targeting £5000 to support the organisation set up by her husband Chris Broad (the ashes winning batsman), Gemma Broad & Stuart Broad (current England 20-20 captain). Chris has agreed to attend subject to his referring commitments. Please can you support me with contributions via the just giving website below & if at all possible and you fancy a nice afternoon in Hampshire come along to support us in the day. It will be great fun. Thanks in advance for all your support. http://www.justgiving.com/PCC-Charity-Cricket-Match If anyone one wants to get involved please let me know. As in prior years there is a chance to play in the game. The cost for a space is £50 but please try to raise funds in any way you want to, the easiest way is through the website above. If you’re playing why not try to at least match your playing fee with sponsorship from friends, workmates, family (sorry mums n dads) or anyone else you know.

Petersfield CC Match Report vs Sparsholt II played at Sparsholt 18/05/13

Petersfield CC Match Report vs Sparsholt II played at Sparsholt 18/05/13 Petersfield Travelled away to Sparhsolt eagerly anticipating the first match of the new season with a new look side. Petersfield skipper Jack Hannam lost te toss and Petersfield were asked to bat on a slow Sparsholt Track. Opening bat Will Rice scored 12 runs off the first 5 balls of the innings only to see a mistimed shot trickle back on to the stumps bringing the dangerous Ash Spencer the crease. He and Andy Salmon added a further 30 runs before Spencer fell to a dubious LBW decision to Doubell. Salmon was dismissed soon after followed by Hannam leaving the visitors on 47 for 4 from 19 overs. Shaun Blanks and Rory Newman added a vital 60 runs for the 5th wicket before Newman fell looking to push the score along. Having got his eye in Blanks opened up completing his half century and finishing with 74 from 65 balls faced. Liam Charles and Rob Allerston added useful runs at the end finishing with a defendable. 188 for 8 down. The opening attack of Nigel Stone and Liam Charles failed to spark against the opening batsmen as the home side raced to 50 without loss from the first 10. Hannam brought himself on and turned to vice captain Rice in search of a breakthrough. The pair bowled 20 unchanged overs taking 5 wickets between them for a miserly 54 runs putting the visitors back in control. The re-introduction of Stone and Blanks cleaned up the lower order bowling out the home side for 167, falling 21 runs short of victory.

Petersfield 3’s v Otterbourne 3s

Petersfield 3’s v Otterbourne 3s Saturday 18th May 2013 Venue - Penn’s place Petersfield fielded a very young team in the match against Otterbourne with only 5 players over 15 because of call ups to the 2s. Petersfield lost the toss and on an overcast afternoon were asked to bat first. The innings got off to a nightmare start as John Windebank was hit in front of middle stump by a low full toss from Ben Miles (1-22 off 10). The rebuilding of the innings was slow and steady as James Stratford-Tuke (31) and Rob Anscombe (24) kept out some accurate bowling from Miles and Captain Alex Docking (1-34 off 10) while knocking the ball around. As the less experienced bowling came into the attack the scoring rate picked up until just before drinks James took an almighty heave at Zack Miles to lose his off stump. Ben Anscombe (15 not out) came in to join his father Rob and then watched as his father went for a quick single (which was not there) and was sent back ending up a good 2ft short as he turned back. This left Petersfield on 62-3 having lost two wickets in the space of 2 overs. Young Ben was then joined at the crease by fellow U13 district player Ben Turk (13) and it became the Ben and Ben show as they put on 23 for the 4th wicket before Ben Turk mistimed a drive to cover. Dan Parry came and went as he missed a straight one from Paul Emery (34-1 off 10) having not troubled the scorers. Joe Mayall (21) then came to the wicket and proceeded to smash the Otterbourne bowlers to all parts as he played exactly the innings the team required before he was out bowled by Alex Docking who had changed to bowling leg spin from fast bowling. Dave Squires (5 not out) then came in and pushed young Ben to some very quick singles to push the score up to 125 off 42 overs. With 7 of the team making their league debut and 6 of those playing their first senior league game it was a good effort to get to that score given the tight bowling at the beginning of the innings. Petersfield set about the task of defending the 125 they had scored with Ben Turk (0-19 off 5) and Sam Howe (1-33 off 9) opening the bowling but with Otterbourne’s openers Glen Warren (52 not out) and Mike Balcombe (21) knocking the ball around and taking quick singles they got off to a perfect start putting on 41 for the opening wicket before Balcombe was bowled by a low full toss which swung past the bat by Dave Squires (1-27 off 7). Ben Miles (8) smashed a couple of 4s off young Alex Squires (1-19 off 6.4) before he was superbly caught by Ben Anscombe at mid off. The game then turned into a battle between Rob Anscombe (24-4 off 7) and the Otterbourne side as Rob bowled superbly backed up by some superb catching from John Windebank, Sam Howe and our sub fielder. The good running between the wickets kept the scoreboard ticking over (something Petersfield could learn from) although there were a few run out chances with Petersfield missing the stumps by a matter of inches. Wickets continued to fall but Paul Emery (8 not out) and Warren saw the away side home in a hard fought contest which could have gone to either side. Moment of the match - John Windebank’s diving catch off Rob Anscombe which is likely to give John the fielding award again after just 1 match. Man of the Match - Rob Anscombe who is showing he is going to be a valuable asset to the 3s this season.

Petersfield U13s v Hambledon U13s

Petersfield U13s v Hambledon U13s Sunday 19th May Venue - The Heath Captain Ben Anscombe won the toss and put Hambledon in hoping that a small amount of rain overnight would give some lateral movement to his bowlers. Unfortunately the ball was not deviating and on a fast outfield Hambledon proceeded to smash the ball to all parts of the ground. The first 3 batsmen Jack Thistlethwaite, Henry Glanfield and Freddie Martin all retired 30 not out scoring at 9 or so an over with Jack hitting a switch hit 6 to go to his 30! Luke McGuire (2-13 off 2 overs) was then handed the ball and in his first over took 2 wickets caught by Joe Clarke at Mid off and also had another dropped by the same player in between the two wickets. The scoring rate slowed with those 2 wickets and Under 11 Oscar Amis (0-5 off 2) keeping it very tight. Joe Clarke (1-26 off 3) returned to pick up a wicket as did Jack Butcher (1-10 off 1) for his first wicket ever. Hambeldon finished on 172-4 off their 20 overs. After a quick drink Petersfield openers set about the daunting run chase and were going along very nicely at 6 an over before Ben Anscombe (22) mistimed a front foot drive in the air to be caught by the Hambledon captain in the covers. Ed Milford (2) and Jack Butcher (0) came and went before opener Tommy Mathews (22) hit the same shot as his captain to leave Petersfield on 57-4. Luke McGuire (6) saw a succession of partners come and go in a New Zealand type collapse before he was last man out run out in a suicidal attempt at a run by William Milner-Smith (4). There should have been more wickets in the Petersfield innings but some keystone cop type attempts at throwing from Hambledon meant there was only 1 run out. One Hambledon player had 1 attempt on a back swing and then on the return swing swing before returning to his mark totally amazed that he missed the stumps twice. The Petersfield innings finished on 81-8. This was a good effort from the lads who showed a lot of character and fight against a good Hambledon side. Champagne Moment - Luke McGuire getting his first wicket for the club only 2 weeks after getting his bowling action sorted (well done Luke) Man Of the Match - Luke McGuire again for a good all round performance

Petersfield U9 Pumas versus Portsmouth Community U9 Thursday 16th May 2012, 6.00

This was the Petersfield U9 Pumas' first match of the season, and the first ever competitive game for some of the team. Portsmouth Community had struggled to get a team together with some players dropping out at short notice, but their positive approach to the fixture meant that the game was played in a great spirit, helped by the perfect weather at Penns Place. Portsmouth Community won the toss and put Petersfield in to bat, and the Pumas started strongly with some stylish singles and determined running from Thomas Mason and Hamish McGuire. The less experienced middle order looked confident, with a special mention to highest scorer Fin Roberson, who scored an impressive 19 runs in his two overs. Patrick Bell and Jack McKechnie finished the innings in style, their partnership adding 25 runs to the total. Portsmouth Community went into bat and their three strongest players all reached double figures, but the Pumas total didn't look under threat. With the victory looking secure there was some over-exuberance among the fielders, but there were some strong bowling performances, with William Osborne taking three wickets. All in all, a very enjoyable game and a great learning experience for some young players.

Hayling Island U15 V Petersfield U15 – 10th May 2013

Petersfield U15 Match Report Hayling Island U15 V Petersfield U15 – 10th May 2013 Result: Petersfield U15 – 168 for 3 Hayling Island U15 – 6 all out Petersfield U15 Won by 162 runs Petersfield U15 won a very one sided match against Hayling Island. Although Hayling Island were not helped by not having a full team, Petersfield’s play was such that even if Hayling had a full team it was unlikely that the result would have changed. Alex Squires the Petersfield captain won the toss and elected to bat. With Hayling only having seven players Petersfield sportingly agreed to provide up to 4 fielders when Hayling were bowling. Although the Petersfield fielders dropped a few very sharp chances they fielded “professionally” for the away team. Gabriel Broadhurst and Daniel Parry opened the batting for Petersfield and put on 101 runs before Broadhurst was forced to retire on 52. Broadhust batted beautifully playing proper shots placed into gaps and scored his runs in 39 balls with 6 fours. Parry also batted very well and although he gave 1 or 2 chances he scored 50 in 41 balls with 4 fours before he too had to retire. Hayling took 3 wickets for the next 30 runs before Joe Mayell (24 NO) and Rory Claasen had an unbeaten partnership of 39 runs in double quick time to bring the Petersfield total up to 168 for 3. Credit must be given to Hayling Island for sticking to the task – they bowled and fielded without much luck and kept trying right to the end. A Opie ended up with very good figures in the circumstances of 4 overs 2 for 24 (having been hit for 14 in his first over). Petersfield bowled and fielded exceptionally well and wrapped the game up in 4.1 overs bowling out what was by then the 6 man Hayling Island team for 6 runs. There were 2 run outs including a direct hit throw by wicket-keeper Joe Mayell and a wicket-a-piece for Ollie Simpson, Tom Pocock and Ben Anscombe. Although it is expected that other games will be much closer Petersfield can take credit for the way that they played the game. They played to win but equally were supportive of Hayling and helped to make it a good game of cricket. Teams: Hayling Island U15: S Westfield; F Steele; S Perrin; C Ellis; A Opie; A Atkins (+ 1 other for first half of game) Petersfield : G Broadhurst; D Parry; B Anscombe; J Bird; N Harvey; J Mayell (+); R Claasen; T Pocock; A Squires (*); D May; O Simpson

Petersfirld Sunday XI v Purbrook

Petersfield Sunday XI played their first game at the Heath on an overcast afternoon, with the weather closing in it was agreed by both captains to play a 30 over game instead of the usual 40 overs. Captain Marcus Sampson lost the toss and Petersfield were asked to field. Returning player Ed Davenport (0-26 off 4) and Sunday stalwart Dave Squires (0-22 off 4) opened the bowling and despite the ball swinging, Purbrook’s M Lee (59) and O McKenzie (33) punished anything short from the Petersfield opening bowlers and pushed the score along at around 6 an over in an opening stand of over 50 before McKenzie was bowled as a straight one from Simon Dodd (2-30 off 5) kept low and hit the stumps about a 3rd of the way up. Dodd removed J Biffing (4) in the same over as he got an outside edge which looped to vice captain Chris Russell at 2nd slip, it was a real slow motion catch as it seemed to take an age to get to Chris but as ever he was as cool as a cucumber to take the catch and give Simon his 7th wicket already this season. Chris Russell (0-25 off 5) and Dodd were causing problems for the batsmen with both very unlucky not to pick up wickets with Mark Holloway not having the best of days in the field as the ball literally followed him round the ground. A comment from skipper that even if Mark was in the pavilion the ball would have followed him in here as well. Despite the missed chances the scoring rate slowed with Liam Charles (2-22 off 6) and Rob Allerston (1-39 off 6) bowling some lovely stuff before Liam removed the stubborn opener Lee for 59 caught by Cam Clarke at square leg as Petersfield finally held a catch. J Biffing was superbly caught and bowled by Rob Allerston as he leapt with both feet off the ground. It was a pity the photographer from the Post was not there as it really was a spectacular catch especially as the light drizzle had arrived at that point. Purbrook swung the bat at the end and finished on what looked a competitive total of 160. With the rain continuing to fall it was decided to skip the tea till after the game had finished. Purbrook removed opener Bob Wemyss (4) as he mistimed a drive to cover. This bought Will Rice (88 not out) to join Cam Clarke (62) as the Petersfield pair made batting look ridiculously easy, Purbrook were struggling to keep the ball dry as it was dispatched to all parts of the ground. Will Rice especially looked at his fluent best as he came in and just put the bowlers to the sword with an exhibition of stroke play not seen on a Sunday for many a year, as he hit 10 fours and 4 sixes in his 88. Cam Clarke who after a slow start also joined in the fun with 9 fours and 2 sixes in his 62 before he tried an outrageous reverse sweep as the partnership was broken wth the score on 154. Chris Russell was not impressed as he came out to face 3 balls making Will run a quick 2 to keep him on strike enabling Rice to hit the winning runs as a comprehensive victory was achieved with 10.4 overs to spare. Moment of the match has to be Mark Holloway's dive at mid off trying to jump to catch the ball, which unfortunately was not timed very well as he was on the way down as the ball passed his hand. Man of the match goes to Will Rice for his superb innings. He will hope to take that type of form into the new league season.

Crofton and Fareham U13s v Petersfield U13s

Petersfield U13s arrived at Bath Lane recreation ground on a lovely early summer morning. Under 13 captain Matt Friend lost the toss and was asked to bat. The innings did not get off to the best of starts with Joe Clarke being bowled first ball by Fareham's tall right arm seamer O Southon (1 for 10 off 4). This brought captain Friend to the wicket and with Ben Turk (21) they proceeded to punish anything offline with some wonderful stroke play in a 57 run partnership. This was ended by M Fitsel (2-17 off 4), who clean bowled Ben who was attempting a pick up shot over mid on. Tommy Matthews joined Matt in the middle and the runs continued to flow before and after Matt retired on 30 not out. Matthews (15) and Thomas Stevens then pushed the scoring along with some quick signals with Thomas lucky to survive one mix up from the Fareham fielders when it seemed easier to hit the stumps than miss them. Eventually Thomas (8) was run out with some very good fielding attempting to carry on pushing the score along. Tommy Matthews eventually was caught out right towards the end of the innings. Petersfield had managed to post what looked to be a very competitive 93 -5. With the wind picking up and after a shed load of bacon butties and biscuits were consumed by both sides Fareham started out with a solid opening stand between Southon (17) and M Frost (16) who punished anything short or wayward from the Petersfield opening bowlers of Matt Friend (2-15 off 3) and Joe Clarke (1-19 off 3.5). The stand of 34 was broken with a caught and bowled from Matt Friend as Southon mistimed a cover drive. Ben Turk (2-12 off 4) removed Frost and Petersfield then looked to have taken control of the game with Harry Richards (3-6 off 3) and Tommy Matthews (2-1 off 2) removing the next 3 batsmen without them scoring a run. Ben Turk took 2 in 2 and was unlucky as his hat-trick ball was seen off with a perfectly straight bat, this left Fareham tottering at 42-6. To Fareham’s credit they did not buckle and top scorer M Fitsell (26) pushed the scoring along at every opportunity. There were a couple of nervy run out attempts but as the pressure built on Petersfield there was one amazing all run four where there were 3 opportunities to run one or other of the batsmen out and in a scene reminiscent of the keystone cops they survived. Ben Turk took 2 in 2 Matt Friend and Harry Richards returned to pick up the final 2 wickets before Matt Friend capped a fine all round performance with a direct hit to remove Fitsell in the final over. A very good win for Petersfield against a good Fareham side. Moment of the day was the strictly farcical attempt to run one or other of the Fareham batsmen out. Man of the Match - with some very good performances with bat and ball from Matt and Ben. Harry Richards superb bowling it is difficult to choose between them so I have decided to award the man of the match to the whole team in what was a very very good team effort. Well done lads.

Oakley 1s v Petersfield 2s

Petersfield 2s arrived at Oakley’s ground expecting it to be under water after what can only be described as a biblical downpour 10 minutes earlier as they travelled up the M3 only to find the ground was very dry and the only sign there had been rain were the covers still on the pitch. Once these were removed the pitch was bone dry on the surface. Having lost the toss Petersfield were asked to bat first and with a very inviting boundary on one of the sides it looked like a big score was needed to put Oakley under pressure. As it turned out nothing could be further from the truth with openers Richard Stephens (8) and John McGuire (53) finding it very hard to time the ball (something a lot of the batsmen had difficulty with in both innings). Some tight bowling from Oakley opening bowlers Tom Holbrook (0 for 18 off 7) and Captain Clive Wellsman (2 for 16 off 10) restricted Petersfield to 48-2 off 16 overs. Petersfield Captain Frank Straw (17) joined John McGuire to push the score to 82 before Petersfield lost 4 wickets for 8 runs off 5 overs. John McGuire was still there and just looked like he needed someone to stay with him to take Petersfield to a competitive score and for 6 overs he seemed to have found a partner in Dave Squires (8) who showed a stout defence to keep the Australian batsman company before McGuire was adjudged LBW by the umpire with the score on 109. With McGuire out Squires misjudged a delivery and lost his leg stump, Mark Holloway did the same before Simon Dodd gave the only catch of the innings to leave J Green with impressive figures of 2 overs, 3 wickets for 4 runs. 111 did not look defendable as the players went in for tea. With the wind continuing to blow at gale force straight down the pitch Captain Frank Straw (0-19 off 10) and Vice Captain Nigel Straw (3 for 22 off 10) opened the bowling taking a couple of early wickets to leave Oakley 6 for 2 off 9. Debutant Paul Clarke at one point seemed to be the only player playing as ball after ball went to him at mid-on including 1 catch which he snaffled comfortably unfortunately this was the only catch Petersfield took all day. The bowling continued to be very tight as Richard Stephens (1 for 17 off 10) and Mark Holloway (1 for 19 off 5) kept the pressure on Oakley and at drinks (21 overs) they were 51 for 3 and struggling to time the ball. Sam Holbrook (20) showed that power can sometimes work in your favour as he and opener Scott Bright (52) took the score along to 94-4 off 34 overs. Things were still very tight as the overs started to run out, but a quick fire 23 from Michael Wood saw the home side home with just 2.1 overs remaining. This was a very close game which went the distance and both sides at certain points could have won it. Some very good bowling from Petersfield almost snatched the win but Oakley prevailed to get their season off to a positive start. Petersfield can take a lot of heart from their bowling performance and if some of the catches had been held it could have been an even tighter affair Moment of the match - Simon Dodd being asked to bowl into the wind and struggling to see the crease due to some strange yellow thing in the sky shining in his eyes ! Man of the Match is a toss up between John McGuire's 50 or Nigel Straw’s 3 for 22

Portsmouth CC v Petersfield CC 5th May 2013

Portsmouth CC v Petersfield CC 5th May 2013 The first game of the season for the U13 lads was away at Portsmouth CC. The St Helens ground was a picture as ever and the game started with new Under 13 Captain Matt Friend winning the toss and electing to bowl. This proved an inspired decision as Matt (2-4 off 3 overs) removed opener D Davis (0) after 2 balls and then strike partner Joe Clarke (1-5 off 2 overs) removed J Hunter (5) leaving Portsmouth on 11-2. Petersfield kept things tight but could not remove C Slimm (32 retired) or A Patel (28) as they put on 81 for the 3rd wicket. Once Slimm retired after some big hitting Petersfield got back into the match as Harvey Baker (2-17 off 2.5) removed Patel and S Sparkes (11) in his 3 overs where it seemed it was wicket/wide/wicket as he got the ball to swing like a banana. If he could get 4 or 5 balls pitching on middle stump he would be devastating. Kit Classen (1-12 off 2) then removed M Chapman (6) with a delivery which turned and bounced taking the top off off stump and breaking the off bail in the process. His second over was a real joy to watch but the spin the wicket was giving would come back to haunt the Petersfield team in their own innings. With a very young side Petersfield did well to restrict Portsmouth to 118-6 especially after the 3rd wicket stand of 81. Praise should also go to Luke McGuire (0-12), Tommy Mathews (0-10), Harry Richards (0-13) and William Milner-Smith (0-15) for keeping plugging away with some very good bowling under pressure. When Petersfield batted the spin of A Patel (4-10 off 4 overs) and O Davis (3-3 off 3 overs) accounted for the first 7 wickets leaving the away side on 24-7. When Thomas Stevens was run out by man of the match Patel after a mix up with the calling (need to work on that) Petersfield were 24-8 and in danger of being bowled out very cheaply indeed. Enter the 2 gladiators Tommy Mathews (13 not out) and Harvey Baker (11 not out) who saw out 10 overs without much alarm leaving Petersfield 48-8 off their 20 overs. With the quality of the spinners on show for Petersfield and lack of experience from the young side the coach thought that the young lads had done really well to give Portsmouth CC a very good game. If a couple of catches had gone to hand instead of dropping into the gaps we may have been able to restrict them to 30 runs less giving us a real chance. Men of the Match for Petersfield Harvey Baker and Tommy Mathews for there stirling rearguard action Magic Moment - Kit Classen for topping a brilliant bowling spell off by taking a wicket and breaking the bail.

Petersfield Girls under 13’s in the Cove Girls competition

Petersfield Girls under 13’s in the Cove Girls competition 6th May 2013 A hot and sunny Bank Holiday Monday saw the new Petersfield girls team take part in their 1st games of the season at Cove cricket club with the young team promoted from the under 11 to the under 13 tournament on the morning of the competition. With a new team, led for the 1st time by Emily Anscombe, the hope was to gain valuable experience and show progression throughout the afternoon. The 1st game against Hartley Wintney started slowly with Petersfield posting 124 for 3, and despite Anscombe taking 2 wickets with the 1st two balls of the innings their opponents played steady cricket to reach 136 for 3 and win by 12 runs. Next up were the larger and older hosts, who backed by some tight, quick bowling kept Petersfield to 116. However a more spirited bowling and fielding performance, which gave an insight into our performances to come, kept the Cove team to only 124 in reply, a 2nd loss but this time by only 8 runs. Boyed by this performance and their growing confidence the girls then played Hartley Wintney in their rematch. Again some spirited bowling and fielding especially from Eleanor Duggan and Keziah Rose was matched by some good batting from the opponents who scored 149 for 3. A change in the order saw Olivia Wadey open the batting with Lauren Norris and continue her six count with the two biggest sixes of the day, one of which not only cleared the boundary, but the protective fence and landed in a neighbouring garden which was described as immense by the opposing coach! This set the tone for the game which left Anscombe and Stone requiring 9 runs to win from the last over. Anscombe proceeded to hit 2 boundary fours from balls 1 and 4 and the pair completed the sensible single needed from the last ball to win by 1 run. This then set the team up for their last match against the unbeaten Cove side. The team again started well with Wadey, Anscombe and Norris all bowling accurately and Ella Williams really growing into her role as the younger team’s wicket keeper. Continued wicket taking kept Cove to 136 for 3. With Lorna Williams drafted in to help face the faster Cove bowlers Petersfield then made short work of that target with a near faultless batting display posting 166 for the loss of only 1 wicket with 5 of the 6 batters hitting boundaries including two 6’s from the fastest Cove bowler from Rose and Williams Senior. This left Petersfield in 2nd place on the day with 2 wins and 2 losses. There were some great individual firsts and bravery shown during the day against older opposition but a special mention should go to Olivia Wadey as our leading run scorer and Emily Anscombe as the leading wicket taker and young leader of this team.

Petersfield U9 Panthers v Purbrook u9

Petersfield U9 Panthers were given an early start to the season by the South East Hants Cricket league fixture computer, entertaining Purbrook at Penns Place before the end of April. Petersfield looking to build on their success in winning the B league last season tossed up in the welcome evening sunshine and inserted the opposition. Petersfield bowlers were on the spot from the word go with the all of the Purbrook batsman struggling to make any real headway. Louis Wadsworth, Zac Franklin, Fergus McClean and David Evans all bowled their overs for seven runs or less and Seb Browning followed up with a brace of wickets to really turn the screw on the Purbrook innings. Purbrooks two district players rallied the score but backed up by a couple of run-outs and a useful performance in the field they were restricted to 235. Petersfield batted solidly with the first six only loosing one wicket between them. Tom Griffin and David Evans top scoring with 10 apiece. Purbrook held their two fast bowlers back to the end but Theo Truss and Mark Butcher were more than a match for them and the final word went to skipper Butcher who hooked a short ball from the Purbrook paceman for six to close the innings at 311 and cap a great performance.

Petersfield Inter Club Friendly

In a complete contrast to last weekends freezing conditions the inter club pre-season game between a mix of 3rd XI, 2nd XI and colts took place at Penn’s place in glorious sunshine (more on that later). 3rd team captain James Stratford-tuke won the toss and elected to bat on a dry used pitch. Eoin Seager (51) and Bob Wemyss (32) opened the batting facing up to the new opening partnership of Dave Squires (1-18 off 5 overs) and Sam Howe (1-42 off 6). After some low full tosses and some beautiful shots from the 2 openers the partnership was finally broken with the score on 51 with Bob Wemyss missing an inswinging ball from Squires removing his middle stump from the ground. After losing his opening partner Eoin Seager continued in fine form to make a very nice 51, before being bowled by Captain Straw (3-12 off 5) bowling offspin off 2 paces with the occasional very fast delivery which accounted for all his wickets! Paddy May (72) had come in after the fall of Marcus Sampson (7) who had smeared a cover drive in the air straight at Matt Salmon rather than over him. Paddy had set about dismantling the young bowling attack and was particularly brutal against his own son (was heard saying “he has got to learn” after smashing 1 huge six over mid-on). Paddy’s early season form is fantastic having made a fifty in each of his 2 innings to have an average of 64.5 ! Despite some very good swing bowling from Simpson (0-40 off 7) the scoring rate continued after May was clean bowled by Alex Squires (1-28 off 3) with Rob Allerston (39) and young Josh Bird (12) scoring quickly before a late order collapse caused by spins twins Matt Salmon (2-43 off 5) and Frank Straw. The final wicket fell remarkably to the ‘Welsh Gazelle’ Thomas who had earlier got so excited by a near run out (well he thought so) that he turned very primal with what was described by the umpire as a ‘rutting call’ as the ball whistled just past the stumps. Off went the gazelle jumping around like a frightened sheep as he took his first wicket for the club bowling Simon Dodd (3) around his legs. The tea refreshments went down very well with all the players as the chilli and sausages were all gone much to my dog’s disappointment this morning as he only got 2 leftover sausages! Thanks to Liz, Richard and Judith for the chillis and the cakes. The only disappointment was the lack of colts who turned out for the ‘skills challenge’ that James had spent so long setting up (better luck next time James). After the tea James’ team got off to a great start removing the ‘spin twins’ and ‘Welsh Gazelle’ within the first 3 overs with only Straw making any runs leaving Straw’s team on 7 for 3 as James’s opening bowlers Simon Dodd (2-16 off 5) and the returning Ed Davenport (1-8 off 4) ripping the top order apart. Omar Iqbal (10) who had popped in for some chilli and then found himself playing and David Longland (33) started to make the score a little bit more respectable taking the score to 24 before Omar missed a straight one from Rob Allerston (1-18 off 5). This brought opening bowler Squires (33) to the crease as the pressure was put backs on James's team bowlers as the two ‘Daves’ frustrated the bowlers and then opened up in a partnership of 65 which helped Frank’s team to make it a long hot afternoon for James’s fielders. The partnership was eventually broken by Eoin Seager’s (3-22 off 7) leg spin as Squires fell for the old ‘throw it above the batsman's eye line and he will try to hit it out the ground trick’. Ollie Simpson (15) then came out to hit some lovely shots before he skied one to his Under 15 team mate Josh Bird who took a very solid catch. Once David Longland had gone the lower order went down without much of a fight leaving captain James (3-18 off 3.4 overs) with very respectable figures.The game finished with Frank’s team falling 115 short of James teams 250. Man Of The match IMHO was Eoin Seager closely followed by Paddy May Moments of the match In the first inning was the aforementioned Gazelle rutting call and celebration of his first wicket. In the Second innings the bank of 6 catchers in the slips waiting for the Gazelle to edge one it was like watching England v Australia in 2010 Good luck to everyone for the new season which starts Saturday, lets hope the weather continues like this and we all enjoy the cricket as much as we did yesterday.