Radlett's third team suffered a disastrous blow to their chances of promotion on Saturday when they lost to Old Millhillians.

Having lost their last three matches, any realistic hope of advancement has now disappeared.

On the face of it, playing the next-to-bottom side in the league looked an untaxing prospect. However, Old Millhillians were good value for their win, and put on a superb bowling exhibition.

The tragedy is that, having had an awful first two-thirds of the season with non-availability problems, this fine side is likely to be relegated.

Old Millhillians won the toss and batted on a hot day, on a pitch that should have been full of runs. They batted steadily, and at 90 for one looked good for a score in excess of 200.

But Radlett bowled and fielded extremely well, with some excellent catches from Haxell and Constable. This was backed up by a very slick performance behind the stumps from Craig Riley, which was impressive in the heat.

After a testing opening spell from Brown and Jahangir (Sheri), and then Haxell and Margerrison, Hardy and Gitay slowed down the run rate.

Having exerted pressure, Hardy and Gitay reaped the rewards, taking nine wickets between them. Gitay used his zippy seam and swing, and Hardy used his spinning bombers, some of which were bowled from his space behind the umpire.

Backed up by good fielding, catching and wicket-keeping, Radlett went into tea confident of achieving their target of 154, but perhaps the danger signs were already apparent. Old Millhillians' batting certainly did not look like relegation material.

Radlett's openers had to graft to get 38 runs after 17 overs, and saw off an excellent opening bowling spell. This proved to be the highest partnership of their innings, and Riley and Ingram were top scorers.

Once Riley went, the innings sunk slowly into oblivion, with only Gitay offering some hope before he was adjudged to be lbw.

Radlett's batting was poor, and Old Millhillian's bowling was excellent, putting pressure on Radlett throughout.

Joe Margerrison bowled and fielded extremely well, and neither looked nor acted like a 15-year-old. After the game Radlett got drunk, which helped to put the whole encounter into perspective.

The team may not get promoted, but it was not a wholly poor performance, and the loss was not due to a lack of enthusiasm or team character.

Radlett lll 110-10

Old Millhillians II 153-10

Saracens Hertfordshire Cricket League Division Five

August 21, 2002 14:30