Tom Cowley, well made 55, then a brilliant catch [Roy Honeybone]
It didn’t take too long for South Wilts skipper James Hibberd to bring his jubilant side back down to earth after they won by 91 runs and seriously dented Havant’s prospects of a third successive ECB Southern Premier Division title.
“You’re not playing to anything near your true potential and can do so much better with the bat and the ball,” he told his players as they relaxed with a cold beer in front of the Bemerton pavilion.
Harsh words after South Wilts had posted 260-9 (by some distance the SPL’s highest total of the day) and bowled Havant out for 169.
But Hibberd is striving to get the best out of his squad and clearly feels there are areas in which they can improve.
He said: “Having put 200 on the board by the 38th over, we should have scored 300; instead we collapsed and lost six wickets for 22 runs.
“But for James Hayward coming in and getting a timely 66, we could have tossed the initiative away.
“Tom Cowley and Ben Draper batted nicely to get 50s, but both know they should have gone on.
“But they are developing talents and will learn and become very good young club cricketers.”
Hibberd also told his bowling unit: “We didn’t bowl well. In fact, there’s a lot of room for improvement all round.”
Nonetheless, South Wilts were far too strong for a Havant side weakened by the departure of three of their recent title winning sides and, significantly, without Richard Hindley, their experienced all-rounder, on the day.
South Wilts thrived after surprisingly being put into bat in the Salisbury sunshine and profited from a typically fast start from Tom Morton (16) and Cowley.
Morton plundered a six over mid-wicket and two fours before falling into Havant’s cunning trap – Stu Ransley being strategically placed on the deep cover boundary and the ex-Ealing man picking him out a treat with one of his familiar high square cuts.
It didn’t halt the six-an-over run rate. Cowley and Will Wade (28) took the score to 101 as South Wilts’ vice-presidents tucked into their roast beef lunch, washed down by red wine.
Cowley (55) and subsequently Ben Draper (51) moved the total on and at 213-3, South Wilts were eyeing 300-plus on the board.
Instead, they collapsed, a bemused James Hayward watching on as six wickets fell for 22 runs, Graham Burns helping himself to a 5-58 return as a succession of SW batsmen contrived to fall to his variable left-arm spin.
Fortunately for SW, Hayward didn’t and went on to strike a timely 66 not out (one six and eight fours) – an innings which put the game comfortably beyond Havant’s reach.
The two-time champions needed a major contribution from one of their top order if they were going to offer a challenge – but none materialised.
Pete Hopson (34) and young Harry Gadd (34) did their best, but wickets fell regularly, the in-form Andy Gorvin being bowled by a peach of a ball from Steve Warner (2-31).
There was a brief rally at 87-5, but having reached 131, four wickets fell for eight runs, with Jack Mynott (2-37) and the developing Luke Evans (4-31) doing the damage.
Last pair Cam ‘Clive’ Prentice (19) and Jez Ord (14 not out) added 31, but it was purely academic by then.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t play our best and South Wilts were the better team,” said Havant captain Chris Stone. “We didn’t quite get it right with the bat or ball.
“South Wilts put together some solid partnerships without any single player going onto to make a massive score.
“At times we were a bit unlucky with the ball going past the edge of the bat.
“We started to pick wickets up on a regular basis around the 35 over mark. By then, though, it was a little bit too late.
“If we had shown more consistency with the ball earlier then it might have been a different story. On the day we were not good enough.”
“You’re not playing to anything near your true potential and can do so much better with the bat and the ball,” he told his players as they relaxed with a cold beer in front of the Bemerton pavilion.
Harsh words after South Wilts had posted 260-9 (by some distance the SPL’s highest total of the day) and bowled Havant out for 169.
But Hibberd is striving to get the best out of his squad and clearly feels there are areas in which they can improve.
He said: “Having put 200 on the board by the 38th over, we should have scored 300; instead we collapsed and lost six wickets for 22 runs.
“But for James Hayward coming in and getting a timely 66, we could have tossed the initiative away.
“Tom Cowley and Ben Draper batted nicely to get 50s, but both know they should have gone on.
“But they are developing talents and will learn and become very good young club cricketers.”
Hibberd also told his bowling unit: “We didn’t bowl well. In fact, there’s a lot of room for improvement all round.”
Nonetheless, South Wilts were far too strong for a Havant side weakened by the departure of three of their recent title winning sides and, significantly, without Richard Hindley, their experienced all-rounder, on the day.
South Wilts thrived after surprisingly being put into bat in the Salisbury sunshine and profited from a typically fast start from Tom Morton (16) and Cowley.
Morton plundered a six over mid-wicket and two fours before falling into Havant’s cunning trap – Stu Ransley being strategically placed on the deep cover boundary and the ex-Ealing man picking him out a treat with one of his familiar high square cuts.
It didn’t halt the six-an-over run rate. Cowley and Will Wade (28) took the score to 101 as South Wilts’ vice-presidents tucked into their roast beef lunch, washed down by red wine.
Cowley (55) and subsequently Ben Draper (51) moved the total on and at 213-3, South Wilts were eyeing 300-plus on the board.
Instead, they collapsed, a bemused James Hayward watching on as six wickets fell for 22 runs, Graham Burns helping himself to a 5-58 return as a succession of SW batsmen contrived to fall to his variable left-arm spin.
Fortunately for SW, Hayward didn’t and went on to strike a timely 66 not out (one six and eight fours) – an innings which put the game comfortably beyond Havant’s reach.
The two-time champions needed a major contribution from one of their top order if they were going to offer a challenge – but none materialised.
Pete Hopson (34) and young Harry Gadd (34) did their best, but wickets fell regularly, the in-form Andy Gorvin being bowled by a peach of a ball from Steve Warner (2-31).
There was a brief rally at 87-5, but having reached 131, four wickets fell for eight runs, with Jack Mynott (2-37) and the developing Luke Evans (4-31) doing the damage.
Last pair Cam ‘Clive’ Prentice (19) and Jez Ord (14 not out) added 31, but it was purely academic by then.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t play our best and South Wilts were the better team,” said Havant captain Chris Stone. “We didn’t quite get it right with the bat or ball.
“South Wilts put together some solid partnerships without any single player going onto to make a massive score.
“At times we were a bit unlucky with the ball going past the edge of the bat.
“We started to pick wickets up on a regular basis around the 35 over mark. By then, though, it was a little bit too late.
“If we had shown more consistency with the ball earlier then it might have been a different story. On the day we were not good enough.”
Ben Draper 51 for South Wilts, Jez Bulled behind the stumps [Roy Honeybone]
An unbeaten 66 by James Hayward put Havant's 260-9 beyond Havant's reach [Roy Honeybone]
Havant's end is nigh - Luke Evans (4-31) takes a wicket [Grandad's photo)
