Gloucestershire County League Division Two

Cam 279-3 beat Stone 169-10 by 110 runs

CAM extended their lead at the top of Gloucestershire County League Division Two with a convincing 110 run victory over Stone.

On a scorching afternoon, Cam captain Adam Holloway opted to bat first and it soon proved to be a good decision as Jake Dolbear and Gareth Udal found scoring easy as the pair rotated the strike well. Dolbear found scoring a little easier than his partner as they took the score past the hundred mark.

With the first wicket partnership having reached 185, Udal was adjudged LBW off the bowling of Lavis for a well-made 75 from 114 balls. This did not dampen the mood however, as Jake Dolbear reached his maiden ton to the delight of his teammates.

Dolbear was not finished though and, despite losing Jim Seal for 3 as he looked to increase the scoring rate, he continued to collect ones and twos as he ensured that runs were taken off the majority of deliveries.

Alex Ballard joined Dolbear at the crease and looked to find the boundary and take on the outfielders as they increased the run rate significantly. With fatigue starting to set in, young Dolbear crashed a number of quick-fire boundaries before he was eventually held on the long off boundary for a career best 129.

His knock had taken 126 balls and consisted of 14 boundaries. As the innings drew to a close, Ballard found and cleared the boundary on numerous occasions to eventually finish on 49 not out with Cam’s total an imposing 279-3.

New ball bowlers George Dolling and Charlie Viney looked to build pressure early on in Stone’s reply and it was Viney who mad the early breakthroughs as he trapped Ponting LBW and then had Ball caught by Adam Holloway for 18. Viney’s nine over spell was as economic as ever as he conceded just 16 runs against his old club. Hall and Udal soon got in on the act as they both picked up a wicket in the middle overs before a smart pick up and throw saw Hall’s direct hit run out Stevenson for 4.

Whilst wickets had been falling at regular intervals to leave Cam in a dominant position, opener Lavis remained at the crease.

A couple of chances were shelled in the deep to further frustrate Cam’s bowlers before the pressure finally surmounted as Lavis was given out LBW for 78 off the bowling of Ben Holloway.

Holloway then picked up his second wicket, thanks to a catch from brother Adam, and his third soon after as he clean bowled Stone’s number ten. Ballard then promptly finished proceedings as he claimed the final two wickets thanks to catches from Dolling and Hall.

Cam collected 20 points from the game and will go into next weekend’s game against fellow promotion hopefuls Cinderford full of confidence.