Thornbury v Taunton

AFTER Thornbury's opening fixture against defending champions Bath was washed out last weekend, the same black clouds seemed destined to put paid to the side's first venture at The Ship ground.

Taunton CC were the opposition and upon their and the umpire's arrival the wet underfoot conditions meant that the start was delayed until 1pm with a reduced game of 50 overs per side.

Unsurprisingly, the wicket was extremely damp and a lot rested on the toss. Thornbury captain Neil Pritchard (returning to lead the side) lost that contest and Taunton skipper R Berry promptly asked Thornbury to bat first.

With conditions definitely favouring the bowlers, the Thornbury batsmen knew from the beginning that they would have to graft out every run during this slippery contest.

Openers Paul Holder and Neil Stovold took to this challenge, although it wasn't long before Stovold succumbed to the slow pitch and was caught at short extra cover off Kelly for eight.

Kelly then quickly accounted for Budd, well caught at slip for three, and the experienced Holder and Pritchard began the consolidation process.

Scoring was very difficult due to the damp wicket and wet outfield and Holder's patient innings was brought to a close by the off-spin of Keates for 16, bringing David Hammond to the crease.

Pritchard and Hammond continued to bat cautiously, but made sure anything loose from the Taunton bowlers was despatched for vital runs, as a total of around 130 would prove a challenging target. Pritchard was the next to fall for a battling 27, and when Nigel Armstrong fell shortly afterwards Thornbury were struggling at 78 for five.

John White then strode to the wicket in positive fashion, immediately reflected as he hit his first ball to the boundary and made batting look far easier.

At this point Hammond was also beginning to find his touch and the pair added a brisk 41 before White was bowled by Keates for 23.

Hammond then began to take control of the innings and added invaluable runs towards the end, including a huge six into Berkeley Vale Motors, and with support from De Groot and Wormwell, Thornbury posted 157-7 from their allotted 50 overs.

David Hammond finished on 46 not out, a well-timed boost to his confidence after the horrors of last season.

With the wicket seeming ideal for the likes of White and Wormwell, Thornbury were very confident of a positive result but as the players drank numerous cups of tea to warm the cockles the rain came and the umpire had no choice but to abandon the game.

However, Thornbury can go into next week's fixture against Taunton St Andrews full of confidence.