Barker gets his side off to perfect start

As the Rickety Bridge Championship season got under way at the KGV, Lucas Barker won the toss and opted to bowl against Griffins.

Within a dozen overs, the batting side had been reduced to 39 for 4 with the skipper himself ripping through the top order on his way to figures of 4 for 27.

‘Charles Vorster was due to open the bowling, but he thought it was a good idea if I went up front,’ said Barker.

‘It was a good wicket, to be honest, and we just went in with the game-plan of trying to bowl straight, which I did and they kept missing.

‘There was a bit of nibble off the seam, but nothing alarming. I had three bowled and one caught at cover with a tight ring field.’

It was only thanks to some lower order hitting from the Griffins captain Tom Kirk, who made 43, that his weakened side managed to post 123 all out.

Although Barker only made seven at the top of the Wanderers Irregulars order when they started their reply, they were seemingly cruising to victory when Joel Connor and Toby Belton added 65 for the second wicket.

However, from 97 for 2, they suffered a middle order collapse and eventually reached their target with only three wickets to spare as Declan Martel saw them home with an unbeaten 31.

Nic Buckle starred with the ball for Griffins, picking up 5 for 17.

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