First game of the season and it was important for us to start strongly. Despite all the rain, the Weybridge track looked pretty good (even with the massive slope on the outfield). Fuchsy won the toss and decided to have a bowl. Sam Stevens bowled a very tight opening spell, starting with 4 consecutive maidens and really tied the Weybridge batsmen down. Tom Easton got the early breakthrough, with Andre Stevenson taking 1 of his 3 brilliant catches behind the stumps.
After Tom’s opening spell, it was the turn of De Wet Kruger who clearly was not bothered by 9 months of cricket inactivity as his 13 over spell was brilliant and at times, was unplayable and was really unlucky only to pick up 3 wickets. Fuchsy did what he normally does and bowled straight, not giving the batsmen much (and even got one or two to turn).
RCC were very good in the field, giving the batsmen nothing. Weybridge’s 8, 9 and 10 put on 20 more runs than we would have liked, but bowling them out for 132 in just over 43 overs was a great effort.
Then came the batting. Sean Farrell showed glimpses of what he can do with some mighty flicks over square leg, but for everyone else, the less said the better. To be brutally honest, we were an embarrassment with the bat. Yes, there was some decent bowling, but certainly no excuse to be 44 all out. I think we take the positives out of this game (the effort in the field) and move on. Guildford City watch out, we have a lot to prove now.
Thanks to Kirky for the umpiring.
RCC 1s Man of the Match: De Wet Kruger
(report by Paul Fuchs)