Hewitt returns to skipper Bedfordshire in season finale

Jamie Hewitt, who missed the crushing defeat by Cambridgeshire, returns to skipper Bedfordshire in their final Minor Counties Championship match of the season against Lincolnshire at Grantham, beginning on Sunday.
b13-563 Bedfordshire (batting) v Buckinghamshire county cricket.

Batsman: Jamie Hewittb13-563 Bedfordshire (batting) v Buckinghamshire county cricket.

Batsman: Jamie Hewitt
b13-563 Bedfordshire (batting) v Buckinghamshire county cricket. Batsman: Jamie Hewitt

Also back is senior batsman Andy Reynoldson as Bedfordshire seek to make amends for the debacle at March which saw them beaten by an innings before tea on the second day.

Missing though are Bedfordshire’s three Northamptonshire contracted players, James Kettleborough, Rob Keogh and Christian Davis. Although this is a blow, none of them performed with any great success against Cambridgeshire.

Bedfordshire will be desperate to win to avoid any chance of suffering the ignominy of ending up with the Eastern Division’s wooden spoon.

They are currently third from bottom with 44 points, five clear of Northumberland and nine ahead of Lincolnshire, this weekend’s opponents.

Until the Cambridgeshire game, Bedfordshire had been playing some good cricket with successive draws with Buckinghamshire, Staffordshire, Northumberland and Hertfordshire and they will be hoping to end the season on a high with their first win of the campaign.

There have been some good performances from the team, none more so than those of George Thurstance who has hit two centuries.

Despite carrying the weight of captaincy, he was also the standout batsman at March where he made 85 in the second innings.

All-rounder Martin Weightman has also had a good season, scoring a brilliant hundred against Buckinghamshire and claiming a five-wicket haul against Cambridgeshire.

There is plenty of talent in this young Bedfordshire side and they will be hoping to finish the season with that elusive win.

The Bedfordshire line-up has still to be finalised as they had hoped to bring in off-spinner Chris Esh, but he is unavailable because of work commitments, while Cameron Wake will also miss out for the same reason.

The game starts on Sunday and continues Monday and Tuesday.

Bedfordshire: Jamie Hewitt, Luke Thomas, Alex Martin, George Thurstance, Andy Reynoldson, Alex Walker, Martin Weightman. Ziggy Arshad, Colin Griggs, Tom Brett, Plus Another.