By Charles Randall
30 June 2015
Hemel Hempstead conjured up an unbroken last-wicket stand of 124 in the Hertfordshire Premier League on Saturday after being dismissed for 40 the previous weekend by the all-10 show from Scott Walter. So there has been no shortage of incident during Hemel's time at the bottom of the table.
Hemel looked down and out at Potters Bar when they slipped to 146-9 on a sound batting strip, but wicketkeeper Alistair Leighton smashed 102 off 87 balls with good support from last man Richard Morton (39) to boost the score to an unexpected 270-9 at the 60-over closure. The last-wicket stand might well have been a league record. Bar recovered their composure to sweep to a seven-wicket victory with 11 overs to spare as James Scott launched their reply with 65 off 55 balls in a run feast at The Walk.
Though defeated, Hemel could at least begin to forget their humiliation at the hands of visiting Welwyn Garden City when the Queensland left-arm seamer Walter sliced through their batting with an analysis of 7.5-3-17-10, the best top-tier figures in the league's 41-year history.
The unusual part of the innings was that Hemel recovered well from losing two wickets in the day's first over, with the captain Hemish Illangratne (25) steering them to 30-2. Then suddenly the batting disintegrated against Walter's sharp swing. It was all over in 14.5 overs, eight batsmen failing to score.
Welwyn Garden City cruised to an eight-wicket win, with former England batsman Owais Shah at the crease.
Walter, in his second season at Welwyn Garden, caught the attention of the Queensland selectors back home in Brisbane at the right time after drifting out of Sheffield Shield contention, hampered by injury, not least from a head-on car crash in 2013.
30 June 2015
Hemel Hempstead conjured up an unbroken last-wicket stand of 124 in the Hertfordshire Premier League on Saturday after being dismissed for 40 the previous weekend by the all-10 show from Scott Walter. So there has been no shortage of incident during Hemel's time at the bottom of the table.
Hemel looked down and out at Potters Bar when they slipped to 146-9 on a sound batting strip, but wicketkeeper Alistair Leighton smashed 102 off 87 balls with good support from last man Richard Morton (39) to boost the score to an unexpected 270-9 at the 60-over closure. The last-wicket stand might well have been a league record. Bar recovered their composure to sweep to a seven-wicket victory with 11 overs to spare as James Scott launched their reply with 65 off 55 balls in a run feast at The Walk.
Though defeated, Hemel could at least begin to forget their humiliation at the hands of visiting Welwyn Garden City when the Queensland left-arm seamer Walter sliced through their batting with an analysis of 7.5-3-17-10, the best top-tier figures in the league's 41-year history.
The unusual part of the innings was that Hemel recovered well from losing two wickets in the day's first over, with the captain Hemish Illangratne (25) steering them to 30-2. Then suddenly the batting disintegrated against Walter's sharp swing. It was all over in 14.5 overs, eight batsmen failing to score.
Welwyn Garden City cruised to an eight-wicket win, with former England batsman Owais Shah at the crease.
Walter, in his second season at Welwyn Garden, caught the attention of the Queensland selectors back home in Brisbane at the right time after drifting out of Sheffield Shield contention, hampered by injury, not least from a head-on car crash in 2013.