Wallen's blistering start lays foundation

DAMIAN WALLEN happily admits he bats by the old adage of 'if you are going to flash, flash hard'. And last night the HSBC Griffins opener's attitude paid off handsomely as he blasted the first Division One half century of the season to help his side defeat P&J Conservatories Salemites at the KGV.

Wallen did ride his luck a couple of times but his innings was as entertaining as 68 from just 33 balls including nine fours and a six suggests.

It was the foundation for his side's huge total of 153 from 16 overs.

'What we learnt last year was that six or seven an over is not enough in this division - that is why we lost games,' he said.

'We are delighted to get that first win - the only downside is that half are side are away on holiday during May.'

Wallen's and opening partner Jeremy Sharratt put on 81 for the first wicket before the latter was first to fall for 11.

Valuable contributions also came from both Dijon Lester and Mark Withers.

Salemites deserve credit for their efforts with the bat in reply as they fell 15 runs short of their opponents.

Darren Tourtel followed Wallen with a 50 of his own and Paul Le Ray and Martin Robert both made decent scores. There was also a promising showing from new signing Ross Kneelor.

Captain Steve Le Ray felt his side could have won if a couple of chances in the field had stuck.

'We had a bit of early season fielding-itis,' he said.

'Damian batted very well, which he is capable of doing, and took the game away from us. But I was pleased with how we responded.'