Amport 90-5 rrt beat Ellingham 157

It was a good effort from the Amport ground staff for the game to take place at all -- and with a wet pitch it was a surprise for the Amport skipper to be asked to take the field after losing the toss, writes Jon Anstee de Mas.

Perhaps Ellingham fancied their strong batting line-up, but the Amport bowlers were up to the task, with Wayne Egglestone (1-41) picking off J Thake in his first over for a duck, and soon after a superb one-handed catch at square leg by Phil Andrews sent C Batten packing without troubling the scorers.

Amport turned the screws with some pin-point bowling, as Richard Baugh (1-24) reeled out maiden after maiden, with only Jon Anstee de Mas behind the stumps seeing anything of the ball. The frustration got to the batsmen as the pick of the Amport bowlers, Leighton Bone (4-38), gratefully picked them off from the Grateley Road end. Perhaps Amport let their foot of the gas after that.

An edgy reply by the Amport top order caused a few concerns in the dressing room but Nick Bone (33*) steadied the ship before the predicted showers came at 61-3.

There has been a history of bad blood between the two teams that goes back a few years, and Ellingham showed no intention of coming back out, with some of their players even getting changed after only 25 minutes off the field. After an hour's play was lost the game was resumed with Amport chasing a revised target of 88 with seven overs to go. This upset the Ellingham players even more, some of whom still refused to take the field.

Eventually they were convinced by some of the more sensible members of their team to comply, albeit wearing trainers and doing a less than convincing impression of Bambi on ice! Amport duly knocked off the runs with little fuss. l On Sunday Amport's Village Knockout run came to an end away to Paultons. The home side hit 190-8 and only a defiant 51 from Lee Ayers offered any real resistance in reply. Special thanks should go to Amport's faithful supporters who made the journey to Ower for the game and especially Martin Bone, who made the journey by bicycle! Maybe it was in anticipation of seeing his two sons Nick and Leighton knock off the winning runs -- I hope they were gracious enough to give Martin a lift back!