A fantastic game at Bromsgrove to start our Worcester campaign.

We lost the toss and Bromsgrove elected to bat. We had a good showing in the field but conceded to many bowling extras. Opener Will Doherty batted steadily for an unbeaten 50 and got late support from Tom Downing (31no). Pick of the Earlswood bowlers was Jake McGrory with 3-0-13-1. Shaun Jenkins, Jack Wilson, Andy Mackey and Alex Booker also picked up wickets. Also of note was a tremendous catch by Andy Mackey to dismiss the threatening Ben Johnson.

We probably gave Bromsgrove 15 more runs than we should have so as dusk fell 122 was a challenging target. The innings started well despite some accurate Bromsgrove bowling. However, we lost Ed Clews for 8 and then Will Bicknell for 11. Beyond that Dan Dixon and Andy Mackey steadied the ship and after 13 overs we were on target with 74. We then lost Dan (25) and Andy (30) quickly to set up an enthralling finish.

A quick fire 8 from new recruit Josh Green and a dogged 6 from Ben Fitzgerald (playing 3 years up!) set up Alex Booker and Jake McGrory to bring it home. Jake's two boundaries allowing us to sneak home.

A fantastic game all round - Man of the match was Jake McGrory with some tight bowling and some excellent batting, in the gloom, to bring the lads home. Cricket at its best - thank you to Bromsgrove CC for their excellent hospitality and we look forward to hosting them at Earlswood.

Thanks to Club Chairman Dave Flett for coming along to support the lads - he was so enthused he gave me some availability for the 4s!Also thanks to Matt Mackey and Steve Clews for standing as umpires. Next Monday - Redditch......