Lodway 1st XI recorded a commanding victory against Bath 3rd XI at Ham Green on Saturday, leaving their illustrious city visitors to return home crestfallen for the second year in a row.

On an unexpectedly sunny and warm afternoon, Bath had no hesitation in choosing to bat first on a pristine pitch, but Tobias Rice struck in his first over to pin John Bean LBW for 4. At the other end, however, brother Ryan struggled for consistency and rhythm, and had to be withdrawn from the attack after three expensive overs to spare further punishment. While Tobias continued his excellent spell (1-19) from the River End, second wicket pairing Jack Goodwin and Ben Harper attacked brothers Matty and Joe Crutchley with relish at the Anchor End, as they combined in a partnership of 124, which was only broken when Goodwin (55) skied Joe (1-46) to mid on and Paul Stubbs held the catch, in spite of Caolan Pearce threatening to collide with him. At this point, the Bath innings stalled somewhat, as the spin pairing of Joe Crutchley and Alex Tierney tied the Bath middle-order down, with Tierney (0-37) unlucky to finish wicketless as Edmonds managed to drop edges outside off stump and down the leg-side. The introduction of Alfie Rendell was the catalyst for late wickets, with Rendell (2-44) dismissing Harper for 54 and then Daniel Hope in short order, and, in spite of being hit for two huge sixes by Bath skipper Tim Scott (30), Matty Crutchley (3-49) claimed three wickets, two caught by brother Joe, as Bath closed on 230-7, in no small part due to Joe Prescott’s late inventive 32* from 20 balls.

After a fine Parkhouse tea, openers Adam Robson and Tobias Rice made a strong start against opening bowlers Will Ireland and Scott, punishing anything even fractionally loose, and getting full value for their shots thanks to the fast Ham Green outfield. For the second game in a row, Lodway’s opening partnership grew to three figures, and Rice was the first of the pair to bring up his half-century before Robson joined him as the partnership rose to 135 in the 24th over and the required runs dropped below 100. Slow left-armer Jacob Lewis did then dismiss Robson for 52, which reunited the brothers Rice, and they combined in an 8-over partnership of 51, of which young Ryan played the senior role, before Lewis took a sharp low catch to dismiss Tobias for a fine 72. Stubbs joined Ryan Rice, hoping to see Lodway home with only two wickets down, but, with a first 1st XI fifty in his sights, Ryan let the occasion get to him, getting dropped twice before finding a fielder’s safe pair of hands, all in the same over, as he left the field for 46 from 45 with 14 still required. Stubbs (21*) and Pearce then took 13 runs from the next over to tie the scores, before Pearce hit the first ball of the 37th over to the boundary to secure a 7-wicket win, ahead of next week’s trip to early table-toppers Hanham.