Round two of the season for the As saw the visit of our ever present opponents in YPs cricket, West Herts.

Akein won the toss and elected to have a bat. There was an unwelcome start for Radlett, ending the first over without having opened our account and two wickets down. West Herts were all over us, and thus what was needed was a couple of calm heads, and we found them in Patrick and our always dependable skipper. They shrugged off the intensity of the situation and set about building a partnership, there was nothing flash or reckless, they just cashed in when the bowling strayed and by the end of the eighth over momentum was back with Radlett at 60-2. Unfortunately, a fleeting lack of concentration resulted in, the well set, Patrick, departing for a fine 27. Akein and Sahas continued the good work, but slowly West Herts were turning the screw with disciplined bowling and tidy fielding. Akein, who had batted beautifully, was removed next, run out for 33. Sahas marshalled the middle order with some sensible strokeplay and our final score of 128-7, whilst not game defining, had a defendable feel to it given the furry nature of the outfield. Sahas ended with a handsomely made 30*.

As it turned out, from ball one of their innings, West Herts imposed their dominance on the game. We were never able to exert any meaningful pressure as they punished anything off line, and of particular note, their running between the wickets was exemplary. We were guilty of offering too much width and our bowling lengths were largely too short. Patrick took a decent grab off Dylan (1-8), however that was our only success as West Herts comfortably reached their target with 22 balls to spare. Patrick, was our stand out bowler, bowling with hostility, and finished with figures of 3-0-9-0. We were second best today, but if West Herts put in similar performances for the rest of the season they should go far in the competition this year.

M.O.M. Sahas had another good game and Akein played to his usual high standard with bat, ball and in the field. The award though goes to Patrick, his batting is improving with every innings he plays, and he has added accuracy and potency to his bowling over the winter. It’s only a matter of time before he morphs into Freddie Flintoff…you are a good watch Pat!