CRICKET: HAMPTON & Solihull skipper Tim Keyte insists his side will take the positives out of an opening day defeat at home to Aston Manor in the Warwickshire Premier League on Saturday.
Home skipper Tim Keyte won the toss and asked the visitors, led by former Warwickshire bowler Recordo Gordon, to bat first on a sunny day at Marsh Lane.
Gordon himself opened the batting, but it was fellow opener Okera Bascombe who set the early pace, racing to 18 off 13 balls, before falling to a good short ball from Ashley Howard (1 for 46).
Arslan Amin (2 for 44) and two run-outs saw Aston Manor struggling at 64 for 5, despite going at better than a-run-a-ball.
Gordon remained at the crease, and set about rebuilding the innings, bringing up his 50 with a straight boundary, and then dominating the run-scoring in partnerships of 63 and 57 for the seventh and eighth wickets respectively with Johnson (25) and Khan (14).
Gavin Heath (1 for 41) was rewarded for a probing spell with the wicket of Gordon, as Howard held on to a good catch at long-off; the Manor captain falling for a classy 109 off just 84 balls.
His dismissal brought about the swift conclusion of the visitor’s innings with the last 4 wickets fell for just 13 runs, with Chris Hughes the main architect as he picked up 4 for 37 to see Aston Manor bowled out for 196.
The Hampton & Solihull chase started disastrously, as Gordon (3 for 19) led the way with the ball, accounting for the first three wickets to fall as the home side slumped to 8 for 3 in reply.
Hughes picked up with the bat where he had finished with the ball, with a counter-punching 70, but regular wickets fell at the other end as Shaun Findley (3 for 13) and Russell Guy (2 for 11) restricted Hampton’s progress.
Only Chris Mason (14) and Gavin Heath (15) offered significant resistance down the order, as H&S were bowled out in the 33rd over for 114.
“Despite the defeat today there’s plenty of positives to take from the game,” said Keyte.
“We’ve competed with a side who have just come out of the Birmingham League, and a player in Recordo Gordon who was on the county staff up to last year.
“His pedigree shone through and was the difference between the two sides, but it’ll be a good learning exercise for us. Our performance with the ball was as good as I could have asked for, and Chris batted exceptionally.”
Next week H&S make the short journey up the M42 to Coleshill.
