The Barbarians suffered their first defeat of 2013 on Thursday night going down by 96 runs against Bushey at Headstone Manor. An indifferent display from the Barbarians with the ball and in the field was the catalyst for the defeat, but a terrific opening spell from Bushey opening bowler Naveed confirmed the inevitable and it was left to vice-captain Richard Edmands to restore some pride with a gutsy knock which led the Barbarians past the 100 mark.
Bushey, last minute replacements for Sky Sports Football won the toss in windy and overcast conditions and chose to take first use of an excellent batting wicket. Bushey’s opening batsman Mustafa laid the foundation for a big score with a powerful and well struck 71 and he received good support from Waqas and Navandan with Bushey finishing on 198-7 from their 20 overs. Jay Chavda was the standout Barbarians bowler picking up 3-21 from his 4 overs and he showed his ability to bowl with great control and pace.
With the Barbarians needing nearly 10 runs an over, a fast start was required in the opening 6 overs but the loss of Phil Bush and Andy Carr in the opening 2 overs really delivered the last rights on the Barbarians chances for this game. Wickets continued to tumble and we were quickly reduced to 30-6 with Naveed bowling a devastating spell of 4-12.
Vice-captain Richard Edmands and Ian Ridley restored some pride with a bustling and powerful 36 run partnership with Edmands for the second week running looking in good touch. Ed scored a very good 34 with five well struck boundaries all around the ground. Jay Chavda, in his first knock in any form of cricket in 2013 scored a 14 which included a massive pull for six. Ed was our final batsman dismissed in the 18th over with our final total being 102.
Bowler Jay Chavda was the voted man of the match for his excellent spell of 3-21 picking up 9 of the 11 votes from his team-mates. Next week the Barbarians have back to back games playing West Harrow at home on Thursday and on Friday they travel to Watford Town for the second time in three weeks.