EASTNOR Cricket Club suffered an 83-run defeat in their opening Worcestershire County League Division Five fixture against Stourbridge seconds.
Winning the toss, Eastnor’s skipper Simon Keyte elected to bowl, hopeful of exploiting any early movement beneath the heavy Herefordshire clouds.
But his new-look side was given an immediate and sobering reminder of cricket’s cruel tempo, as Stourbridge’s youthful top order came out swinging, racking up 42 brisk runs in the opening six overs.
The Eastnor response, though initially ragged, began to take shape. Debutant Josh Element marked his introduction with a pair of timely scalps, and there were encouraging signs from Australian import Cooper Hebbard, whose presence brought both control and bite.
Young Jonty Gatherer (2 for 35) claimed an early breakthrough, but the innings truly settled when 16-year-old spinner Kabir Singh came into the fray.
The Herefordshire under-16 star turned in a spell of nine overs marked by guile and precision, tying up one end and asking all the right questions.
However, lapses in the field — a dropped catch here, a miss field there — proved costly.
Stourbridge, with a blend of savvy and youthful exuberance, capitalised.
Late-order blows pushed their total to a competitive 221 from 44 overs, with Hebbard (2 for 37) and the reliable Gordon Wint (3 for 37) cleaning up the tail.
In reply, Eastnor began with promise.
Keyte himself took the fight to the bowlers, striking a brisk 26 before falling to a miserly spell from his opposite number Dan Such (1 for 16), whose economy throttled the Eastnor momentum just as it threatened to spark.
Too many promising starts fizzled — but nothing sustained enough to tilt the balance.
Josh Element, capping an impressive debut, top-scored with a composed 32, but the hosts were ultimately undone by the spin of Jimmy Turton (3 for 20) and the pace of Dhiran Patel (3 for 28), bundled out for 138.
Eastnor will look to regroup swiftly ahead of next Saturday’s home clash against Cutnall Green — the long season, after all, affords ample room for revival.
The previous week Eastnor were handed a stern examination in their pre-season curtain-raiser on Saturday, falling short against a strong Worcester CC.
The visitors, featuring five new signings and a sprinkling of youthful talent in the form of four under-16 players, eventually succumbed by 36 runs—but not without leaving several encouraging signs ahead of the forthcoming Worcestershire Cricket League campaign.
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