We fall short as Hitchin ride to victory

We arrived at Hitchin on a sunny Wednesday evening knowing that our hosts had beaten Hertford earlier in the month and boasted a perfect record. Hitchin won the toss and asked us to bat first, and Alec Chappell and Will Price found the early going tough. Hitchin are nothing if not well drilled, and their bowlers gave little away on a very slow track. Both batsmen struggled with their timing, and it was no great surprise when Will departed for 5 in the eighth over.

With a batting line-up that was short of in-form batsmen, Alec opted to occupy the crease, a decision that was vindicated by the failure of anyone else in the side to reach double figures. Other than Alec and Will, only Sam Gardner (9) hit a boundary, and too many of our boys found the test provided by a slow pitch beyond them. Apart from a couple of dropped catches, Hitchin's bowling, fielding and field placing were good and they set defensive fields early which limited us to a diet of singles.

Alec retired in the 17th over, his 30 at least enabling us to reach a total of 85-8, which was probably only 10-15 below par if we bowled well.

When it was our turn with the ball, the bowlers by and large did their jobs; we conceded fewer extras than Hitchin and stuck to good lines. Unfortunately our fielding was sloppy, with too many fielders failing to attack the ball and conceding easy singles, while on a couple of occasions we simply let hard-hit balls through, which sapped the team's morale.

Eventually Hitchin reached their target with 13 balls remaining, leaving them victors by 7 wickets. Ben Warman and Coby Miles each picked up a wicket, while Charlie Finch bowled an economical spell.

Overall, we did ok in a game which was always going to prove difficult without a number of our more consistent batsmen. However, it remains frustrating to see us fall short in the basics, and in the next few weeks we must improve our fielding in particular.