Saturday 28th
June
Thoresby
Colliery 184-6 (6pts)
Cutthorpe 188-7 (17pts)
With
Chatterton, Wilkinson and Collington all missing this week, the Selection
Committee had no option but to draft in the experienced 2nd team
trio of Lippeatt, Rossington and Halfpenny following their remarkable exploits
at Bilsthorpe last week. Rossy was the most surprised of these. He had just
nipped up the street to fetch a loaf for his Saturday lunchtime
‘toast’n’marmite’ when a car screeched to a halt by his side. Three men in
masks bundled him into the back seat. Despite the screams of protest, Chesh had
his man and John was Cutthorpe bound!
On arrival
the next task was to strap Chesh into his body armour. Never before can such a
huge amount of industrial-strength elastic have been used on one man!
Unfortunately it didn’t help him win the toss and Thoresby were sent out to bat
against the renowned bowling partnership of
Butt and Pierrepont.
The track
proved troublesome, with ‘Albert’ extracting unusual bounce off a length and
Butt getting the odd delivery to fly head-high out of a wet patch. Chesh and
Dnash toiled valiantly, with Chesh finding it hard to resist the odd ‘wipe’. An
amazing drop by McCollum off a skyer at cover allowed him to continue his
innings, but only for a short time, succumbing in a similar way at long off for
12. Meanwhile Dnash had looked increasingly comfortable but fell caught at the
wicket trying to force one that bounced a little more than expected.
The
aggressive Hughes then took the attack to Cutthorpe, supported by Birkett.
Inevitably hitting the ball in the air at times, Paul survived a couple of
remarkable chances when non-playing Cutthorpe skipper Barlow firstly flailed at
a catch at mid-off (“It got big on me”), then decided to run in the opposite direction to something similar
and then immediately blame the bemused McCollum for not sprinting 40 yards and
taking a diving catch inches from the floor. Still, when you’re the boss, eh?
Hughes was
eventually out for a fine 75. Patel swung briefly and ferociously. Winslade
tried to up the run rate. Birkett was caught on the crease by the unchanged
Butt who was, by now, into ‘death-bowling’ mode. This brought Rossington and
Halfpenny to the crease who, as a pair, looked in complete control. They
stroked the ball around for ones, mainly off their pads or other unprotected parts of their bodies,
hardly showing a need for bats at all. In the last over Rossy spoilt this
masterful display by unleashing a totally unwarranted six over mid-wicket to
take Thoresby to a competitive 184.
A
sit-down-salad tea, of the sort sadly in demise in Bassetlaw cricket, was
enjoyed by all, especially the Thoresby travelling supporting contingent! Chesh
added to the festivities by dropping his cap down the toilet.
And then
the fireworks began. Chris Marples (ex Derbyshire) and Andy Thompson opened up
for Cutthorpe, with the former looking in especially good form. After a couple
of boundaries in Winslade’s first over, Marples then went completely berserk
against Patel, hitting him for 20, then 14, in his first two overs. It was a
remarkable display of quick reactions and superb middling of the ball. They got
to
Thompson
and Kingham were out in quick succession, bringing Butt to the wicket who
continued in a similar aggressive vein, bringing up the hundred in the 15th
over. Marples, who had reached 50 in 23 balls and 30 minutes (many of those
spent searching for the ball in the nettles) was eventually LBW to Nash for 66
(12x4, 1x6).
Thoresby
then exercised an element of control, especially with the introduction of Dave
Evans who bowled everything straight and full. Dnash was also finding lots of
movement in the air and off the pitch and causing problems to all. It took the
home side another 24 overs to bring up the 150, but they always had time on
their side. Even with the departure of Butt in Winslade’s return over, cleverly
c&b, McCollum and Tim Barlow still had overs in hand. Although not elegant
in the least, Macca showed incredible bravery (or naivety, or stupidity) to
charge Winslade in full flight and without a helmet. He took the occasional
bruising blow but the outside edges and occasional genuine shot eventually saw
his side home, ably supported by the full-blooded drives of ‘Gentleman’ Tim
Barlow.
A terrific
game with some real twists and turns, marked by a very special innings from
Marples.
In
addition, Cutthorpe really are a much warmer side than they used to be, so we
could lose to worse teams.
|
M |
c Cluer b
Pierrepont |
12 |
|
|
|
D Nash |
c T
Barlow b Pierrepont |
14 |
|
Butt 25-6-39-2 |
|
P Hughes |
c
McCollum b Knowles |
75 |
|
Pierrepont 20-2-71-2 |
|
|
LBW b
Butt |
27 |
|
Knowles 5-0-39-2 |
|
|
c
Thompson b Knowles |
11 |
|
|
|
B
Winslade |
c T
Barlow b Butt |
9 |
|
|
|
I
Halfpenny |
N.O. |
5 |
|
|
|
J
Rossington |
N.O. |
14 |
|
|
|
S Dickens |
|
|
|
|
|
D Evans |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
17 extras |
|
|
|
|
|
184 for 6 wkts |
|
|
|
C Marples |
LBW b
Nash |
66 |
|
|
|
A
Thompson |
c Dickens
b Nash |
1 |
|
Winslade 14-2-64-3 |
|
|
LBW b Winslade |
1 |
|
Patel 2.4-0-43-0 |
|
A Butt |
c&b
Winslade |
46 |
|
Nash 14-2-35-2 |
|
M Cluer |
LBW Nash |
4 |
|
Evans 16-4-35-2 |
|
K Fields |
b Evans |
14 |
|
|
|
J
McCollum |
N.O. |
24 |
|
|
|
A
Pierrepont |
c Hughes
b Evans |
7 |
|
|
|
T Barlow |
N.O. |
12 |
|
|
|
A Knowles |
|
|
|
|
|
M Barlow
(n-p-c) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
13 extras |
|
|
|
|
|
188 for 7 wkts |
|
|