At
THORESBY
COLLIERY 193 all out (Martin Cheshire 39, Daniel Nash 33, Shailesh Patel 33
n.o., Asadullah Butt 5 for 31 inc. Hat-Trick) lost to CUTTHORPE 196 for 6
(Asadullah Butt 100 n.o.) by four wickets
No Butts this
time - it's Cutthorpe
By Paul Barker
Bitterly disappointed with only finishing fourth in Division 1, Cutthorpe
took out all their frustrations on Thoresby Colliery and lifted the Tomlin
Trophy for the very first time at
This was sweet revenge
for the Cutthopre side who had been beaten in the previous three finals and
opponents Thoresby Colliery deserve credit for the part they played in one of
the most exciting finals for some years.
Batting first Thoresby
reached a highly creditable 193 all out in their 40 over stay at the crease
with Martin Cheshire making an elegant 39, Australian Daniel Nash who has
impressed greatly all season a good 43 and Shailesh Patel a gutsy unbeaten 33.
The thorn in their side
came at the death however when Asadullah Butt returned to the attack and
claimed 5 for 31 with a hat-trick being recorded from his final three
deliveries.
Cutthorpe made a rather
tentative and sluggish start in their reply getting well behind the clock and
wickets fell with alarming rapidity. With ten overs to go 90 runs were needed
and prospects looked rather bleak as Thoresby honed in on their first Trophy
win to complete a fine season for them.
However cometh the hour,
cometh the man and that man arrived in the shape of Asadullah Butt fresh now
from his triumph with the ball. Already four wickets down, when he arrived at
the crease, Butt couldn’t afford to make a mistake and he didn’t, with a very
special innings that saw him close with a magnificent unbeaten 100 to his name.
It couldn’t have been more dramatic either as he clumped the winning hit to the
boundary to complete his fabulous century.
His partnership with
John McCollum (26) added 77 runs at break-neck pace and the judging for the man
of the match award was a formality with Asadullah Butt naturally getting the
nod. Thoresby Colliery deserve every credit for the part they played in making
this a final to remember and may well have won against a lesser side, but on
the day, Cutthorpe forgot all those losing finals and emerged brilliant
winners.
The trophy was presented
to skipper Andy Knowles and Cutthorpe later announced that they have retained
the services of Asadullah Butt for the 2004 season. After this sort of
performance, they were hardly likely to look for anyone else, where they?