SATURDAY, September 27, saw Barry West End CC entertain English tourists, Plymouth Oddballs CC at the Barry Oval, the West End fielded first.

Tommy Miller and Dafydd Frost opened the bowling for the West End whilst Oddballs opened there batting with D Newman and R Porritt. Both Miller and Frost sent down a maiden each in the opening overs to restrict the openers scoring. It was Frost who found the first breakthrough when he bowled Porritt for 11. D Stones was number three for the Oddballs. Miller found the second wicket for the West End when he bowled Newman for three. P Downer came in at number four. Downer’s innings was short lived; he was removed cheaply for one by Frost. R Ingram was batsman number five. Oddballs faltered at 27-3 after 11 overs.

Nye Lane and Richard Eastman were the next into the attack for the Westies. The pair continued the trend of tight bowling, the pressure brought about the next wicket. Ingram offering Mark Ellis an easy catch off the bowling of Lane. Ingram departed for 14.

K Trent was number six for the Oddballs. The Oddballs reached 69-4 at the halfway stage of their innings.

A third change in bowling for the West End saw the introduction of Rhys Hatton and Neil Holmes.

D Stones, Oddballs number three, retired upon reaching 50. K Morrish came to the crease as number seven. Holmes picked up a wicket when he bowled Morrish for seven. A Passman came to the crease as number eight.

Holmes picked up a second wicket when Passman was caught at cover by Rhys Hatton, he departed for six. Trent soon picked up the tempo of the Oddballs innings; he dispatched Hatton for 20 in one over, much to the delight of the travelling Oddballs contingent.

Oddballs found themselves 169-6 with five overs remaining. Trent retired on 53 after a powerful display.

B Henit was number nine for the Oddballs. A final bowling change saw Steve Oram and Mark Ellis come on to bowl. Oram picked up a wicket when he removed Henit for 30. Another two wickets soon followed for Oram, Goodwin hit-wicket for six and Underhill bowled for nine.

Oram and Ellis done well to restrict the free scoring that had dominated the second half of the Oddballs innings. Oddballs finished on 203-8 after 40 overs.

After the tea break, the West End opened there account with Mark Williams and Rhys Howell. Oddballs opened there bowling with M Whalley and A Goodwin.

Goodwin found the first breakthrough, when he removed Williams caught and bowled for nine.

Ben Collins was number three for the West End. Collins and Howell played superbly to lead the West End to 39-1 after ten overs. D Newman and R Underhill were introduced into the attack by the Oddballs. Collins and Howell continued to score freely around the ground.

Howell retired upon reaching his 50. D Frost was number four for the West End. The West End reached 106-1 after 27 overs. R Porritt and A Passsman were the third bowling change for the Oddballs.

Passman picked up his first and the Oddballs second wicket of the match when Frost was bowled for 23. S Oram was number five for the Westies. Porritt picked up his first wicket when Collins was caught behind for a well-made 32.

R Eastman was number six, he was quickly removed LBW to Whatton for 0. M Ellis was number seven; he too soon fell when Porritt bowled him for one.

Glan Williams was number eight for the West End. Porritt picked up his third wicket when he bowled Williams for two.

Tommy Miller was number nine for the Westies. The West End was 132-6 with eight overs remaining.

Oram was next out, bowled by Porritt for 20. A Lane was number ten for the West End. Miller was next out, stumped for eight off the bowling of new bowler R Ingram.

R Hatton was number eleven; he was bowled first ball by Ingram. Howell returned to the crease for the final few balls as he retired not-out.

The West End came up 31 runs short after a well fought game. Both the West End and tourists Plymouth Oddballs returned to the West End club.

Thanks to Steve and Debs Dite for providing curry and chips for all players. All players would also like to thank Keith Nokes and Rhys Thomas for umpiring both innings.

Credit to Mark Ellis for his arrangement of the fixture which was superb.

Plymouth Oddballs CC 203 – 8 (Trent 53, Stones 50; Oram 3-14, Frost 2-15)

Barry West End CC 172-9 (Howell 59, Collins 32; Porritt 4-15, Ingram 2-23)

Plymouth Oddballs CC won by 31 runs.