Bowlers fail to halt Jamaican big-hitter
STRATFORD had no answer to big-hitting Jamaican all-rounder Peat Salmon who scored a rapid century for Handsworth to steer them to a winning draw in the Warwickshire League Premier Division.
His score of 106 included 11 6s and four 4s with the visitors unable to stifle the runs.
Stratford skipper James Urquhart said: “It was one of those days when nothing really played into our hands. It had rained quite a bit during the morning which reduced the game to 25 overs per side. But when you are playing a team like Handsworth who are a power-hitting team, you want as long a game as possible rather than what was effectively a 20/20 game.
“They scored a lot of runs and we didn’t really have the firepower to match that. They have a very good overseas player who scored a century off not many balls. He absolutely whacked it – wherever we bowled, he seemed to hit it for six.
“They declared on 200 which gave us an extra two overs and we gave it our all but we were unable to match it. The positive is that we didn’t lose and we are still sixth.”
Josh Bains took two wickets, including the stumping of Salmon, with the others falling to Urquhart and Archie Walker as Handsworth declared on 203/4.
In reply, Stratford were on 75/6 at the end of their 27 overs with Nathan Edwards top scoring on 17 while Walker was 16 not out.
Urquhart’s side are back at home on Saturday when Solihull Blossomfield are the visitors and there is likely to be a debut for batsman Neel Ammanath after he hit a century for the 2nds at the weekend.
