Croft play catch up after stormy start

After the wettest start to the season that anyone can remember, cricket has finally returned to Avoncroft and all of Croft’s teams have hit the ground running. The consistently wet weather in March and April resulted in no cricket taking place at Avoncroft’s Stoke Heath ground for the first four weeks of the season, leaving Croft’s First XI lagging behind a number of their rivals who had managed to dodge some of the storms to get some cricket in.

The firsts have done everything that they could to stay in touch, winning two games out of two since they managed to get on the pitch. A dominant bowling display against Brockhampton saw Croft cruise to a comfortable seven wicket win in their first game, with skipper Josh Cound picking up a five-for, before Martley were also brushed aside in an eight-wicket win – Ant Pittam (4-30) and Ben Warwick (3-23) were the key wicket takers, with Will Baker (60 unbeaten) and Josh Cound (59) leading the way with the bat.

Croft’s Second XI are joint top of Division Eight (East) after three wins out of three to start the season. After a first win against Astwood Bank, where a partnership of 72 between debutant Jason Lynch and Ben Athey proved decisive in a low scoring game, captain Chris Pitt put down a marker to the rest of the league with a superb 126 to see Croft home to a seven wicket win against Belbroughton. Croft’s third win came against Inkberrow, with Mark Wood (47), Fin Morris (3-36) and Jack Wright (3-28) taking the plaudits.

The Third XI have found things a bit tougher in Division Eight (North) after their promotion last season, but 47 from captain Jason Huxley was key in getting their first win of the season against Enville, which helped the Thirds to eighth place after three games. The Sunday XI have also got their first win on the board, with 39 from Andrew Blow and wickets from youngsters Hayden Smith, Carter Morgan and Ben Huxley taking Croft to a 12 run victory over Blakedown.

Croft’s junior sides have all got their campaigns underway; the highlight being the first girls’ festival where the newly formed U11 girls’ side did brilliantly to get their first ever win on the board.

With the weather looking to be set fair for a few more weeks, spectators are welcome to come down to the John Sutcliffe Memorial Ground to watch some cricket and catch up with old friends.

by Paul Athey