THE WHO FACTOR ??

The first day of the season brought glorious sunshine as the newly promoted twos travelled to local rivals Knowle.

The last time these two sides met, Knowle handed Bedminster a thrashing which all but sealed their relegation to division 3. That was back in 2016. The 2017 season was markedly different to a tumultuous first year in charge for Alex Tryfonos, as he led the team to promotion as champions. Throughout this season a star fielder and occasional bowler who had captained the 4s in 2016, claimed he was the difference between winning and losing and even suggested this to be a phenomenon which he named after himself.

After a winter, which included a pair of twos bowlers flirting with other clubs as one was notably lured away from the Clanage, the team which travelled to Knowle featured some new faces. Waqar and Rob Kelly were making their Bedminster debuts and were joined in the side by last years first XI captain James Carter, who had been rewarded for keeping the first XI in WEPL with a trip to Knowle in the seconds...

After winning the toss and electing to bowl on a pitch which was far better than its reputation, Bedminster had Knowle reeling at 23-5 as Waqar and John House laid down a marker for the season. Waqar rattled through Knowle’s top order as he bowled full and straight at pace. From the other end House, who was still complaining about the number of catches dropped off his bowling last year, bowled notably fuller than his normal length. He later revealed he had decided that this was a deliberate ploy to to avoid any more drops as bowled and lbw are the only way to take wickets without utilising the fielders.

Carter and Mason were brought on after the opening salvo. Carter was immaculate from the start, having complete control over the ball and moving it just enough both ways. He piled pressure on Knowle’s batsmen picking up two wickets and was also denied a number of tight lbw appeals,which he accepted with grace and finished with 2-21 off nine. Mason had an underwhelming first game back, bowling a little too straight and going for runs as a consequence. He was replaced by Kelly, who got the ball hooping as he bowled a tight spell which included a wicket and a plumb lbw from a no ball. Waqar came back to finish his spell and picked up a fourth wicket to finish with 4-21. Knowle formed a couple of partnerships to avoid the ignominy of being bowled out under 100. They passed this landmark with only one wicket in hand, at which point Greek decided to turn to spin. Obviously rather than bowl the spinner picked in the team, he bowled himself. A decision vindicated as it took only 3 balls to secure the final wicket as Knowle were bowled out for 107.

With only 108 needed for victory Greek and Roche opened the reply, with their usual intensity and flair. A first wicket stand of 32 followed in which extras top scored, before Roche (6) was well caught at point. Lewis Shean came in at 3 and acquitted himself well, as Bedminster progressed smoothly towards their target. The Greek as usual was hungry for red letters, which according to him are better than a fifty. It wasn’t to be, as he holed out to mid on off the spinner for 23. Maccas lasted 4 balls, smashing his first to the boundary before being caught. Joseph Shean at the unusual position of 5, having batted 3 all last year, came into join his brother and didn’t waste time, launching a six during his 13 not out, as the pair got Bedminster home with 7 wickets in hand and 20 overs to spare. Lewis had played nicely for 31 not out, which included a variety of dab and slog sweeps against the spinners.

It was a strong start to the season for the twos, with notable contributions from Vikash Patel, who wasn’t available however managed to watch the entirety of the game from the boundary and Jack filer, who despite neither batting nor bowling, his father scored the entire game. A win for the team, in their first math back in div 2 has all but disproved the so called H effect. The man himself having bowled 18 wides and was last man out as his new team lost by one run.

The twos return to the Clanage next week to face Old Bs.