Hobbs Lane, 12 April 2025:
A comeback with the bat saw Leema CC emerge victorious in their 40-over friendly against Barrow Gurney CC, winning by 29 runs in a run fest.
With the pitch looking great and the outfield remarkably short for April and the sun shining, the skipper of course chose to bowl.
After being asked to bat first, Barrow had put in a good 20 overs with Leema 100 -5, with Barrow Gurney’s bowlers bowling some wicket taking deliveries but also some loose wide ones for Phil Milton to chase after behind the sticks! Following drinks there was a lower-order fightback in which runs were scored quickly, led by a superb century from a Leema batter whose name was not recorded. The revival pushed Leema to a competitive 264 all out in 39 overs, a total that looked improbable midway through their innings. Wickets shared with Sharky, Dave, Gardy, Yak, Mike (and potentially another bowler?) also getting on the board for the season.
Barrow Gurney’s reply was hampered by the loss of the early wickets of Will and Guy who both got good ones which you wouldn’t necessarily expect in a pre-season game. Always a little bit behind, special mention goes to Ben Hodges who got his season off to a great start with a brilliant 85 including at least one straight six from a checked drive. Phil also got 32 and 21* from Gardy and Sharky closed the innings on a respectable 235 – Probably about par on the day.