As you can probably gather from the heading, we lost, this time to Shropshire Health Authority - and again it was our batting that let us down.
Skipper Justin Evans summed things up when he said: "Twenty runs short - that's the story of our season." On this occasion we bowled first against a strong SHA side on a pudding of a pitch at Whittington that offered plenty in the way of variable bounce.
We started off pretty well. I opened the bowling and despite figures of 0-12 off my two overs, I wasn't too unhappy with my performance as one of the two boundaries I conceded was very nearly caught at slip by a stretching Dave Ryder.
With Gareth Cole also opening the bowling, we kept the scoring rate down before Geraint Jones removed one of the opening pair and Matt Daulby weighed in with two wickets courtesy of brilliant catches at point from Justin - the first of which he managed to juggle first before hanging on. Rory Jones again produced a quick spell which helped keep a lid on the scoring rate.
The visitors reached 53 at the halfway point of their innings and, with Brian Cole bowling superbly - and picking up a wicket - we managed to restrict them to 101 off their 20 overs. Credit should be given to Dave Ryder, who bowled the final over, kept it tight and picked up a wicket despite having an achilles injury.
Our reply got off to a fine start, with father and son Brian and Gareth reaching 30 without loss off five overs, before Brian was given out lbw in what looked a pretty harsh decision. Gareth moved to 18 before getting out and North West Water's mid-order collapse had begun.
Matt Daulby departed for six while Justin, after playing a few meaty blows, was bowled by one that kept very low. We were still in at after 10 overs - 43 for four - but the regular loss of wickets meant we fell well behind the asking rate as the innings progressed.
I went in at number seven but we continued to lose wickets and ended on 85 for nine, 17 runs short of victory. It was disappointing and I was frustrated with my batting again, failing to hit a boundary despite my best endeavours (I fininshed on 11no). Ultimately, we needed a few big blows in the closes stages which I just couldn't provide.
Anyway, we'll be looking to get back to winning ways against Cae Glas next week. Hopefully we won't end up 20 runs short...
Showing posts with label Justin Evans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Justin Evans. Show all posts
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Thursday, 9 July 2009
Defeat
Many thanks to Neil Morley for the following report from last night's clash between North West Water and teh Woodburners at Whittington. Unfortunately, I was unable to make the match, but it sounds like it was another nail biter.
Wednesday July 8, 2009: the day cricket lovers all over the world had been waiting for with bated breath. The day that two legendary adversaries came head-to-head once more.
At last the hype, speculation, wall-to-wall media coverage and nervous anticipation was over, and the battle between these cricketing giants could commence.
Yes, NWW were taking on the Woodburners.Whittington was bathed in sunshine: a far cry from the last time the two teams met at this venue, when mud was the dominant theme.
Bowlers, backed by good fielding on both sides, were on top in a low-scoring game. The variable bounce made for tricky batting.NWW won the toss and put the Woodburners in. Five of the visitors had played the previous night, in a narrow defeat by BT. Skipper Hugh Curteis was absent.
Alan Bothwell and Neil Morley put on 17 for the first wicket, before the latter gloved a rising ball from G.Jones and was caught behind in the fifth over.
Hal Harries and Bothwell then added 25 for the second wicket, including a six by each batsman off H.Jones.
Youngster R.Jones (NWW's man-of-the-match: 28 and 2-1) then bowled Bothwell (Woodburners' man-of-the-match: 17 and 2-5).
Harries was run out (excellent fielding) shortly afterwards for 18, and when skipper Alec White was also bowled by R.Jones for 2, Woodburners were struggling at 49-4.
Phil Edwards and Rob Birkett saw the visitors through to the close without further mishap, but sharp bowling and good ground fielding kept a tight grip on the scoring rate, and in the eight overs they were together the fifth wicket pair were only able to add another 33 runs, resulting in a final score of 82 for 4 after 20 overs.
The visitors felt they were at least 20 runs short of a competitive target, but their spirits quickly soared when Bothwell dismissed both openers, left-handers B.Cole and G.Cole, in the very first over, Phil Edwards taking both catches.
Dave Ryder and M. Daulby then attempted to steady the ship until Daulby, who was threatening to cut loose, was caught off the leg-spin of guest 11th man (thanks, NWW) Dominic Powell.
R. Jones joined Ryder at the crease, and played the innings of the match, pulling and driving with power and authority, after a careful start. But the required run rate had started to creep up: after 11 overs, only 21 runs were on the board.
Two fours by Jones off Phil Edwards' first over kept the target in reach, but by the time he was caught behind off Graham Stroud for 28, 25 were needed off the last three overs.
I. LLoyd was caught by Morley off Hal Harries for a duck, bringing skipper Justin Evans to the crease. He struck some hefty blows, so that by the start of the last over, 13 were needed for victory.
But despite his best efforts, and those of the steady Dave Ryder, who had been in since the first over, NWW just fell short on 76-4, losing by six wickets.
A close match, played in a good spirit, followed by quality chip butties. What's not to like?
Wednesday July 8, 2009: the day cricket lovers all over the world had been waiting for with bated breath. The day that two legendary adversaries came head-to-head once more.
At last the hype, speculation, wall-to-wall media coverage and nervous anticipation was over, and the battle between these cricketing giants could commence.
Yes, NWW were taking on the Woodburners.Whittington was bathed in sunshine: a far cry from the last time the two teams met at this venue, when mud was the dominant theme.
Bowlers, backed by good fielding on both sides, were on top in a low-scoring game. The variable bounce made for tricky batting.NWW won the toss and put the Woodburners in. Five of the visitors had played the previous night, in a narrow defeat by BT. Skipper Hugh Curteis was absent.
Alan Bothwell and Neil Morley put on 17 for the first wicket, before the latter gloved a rising ball from G.Jones and was caught behind in the fifth over.
Hal Harries and Bothwell then added 25 for the second wicket, including a six by each batsman off H.Jones.
Youngster R.Jones (NWW's man-of-the-match: 28 and 2-1) then bowled Bothwell (Woodburners' man-of-the-match: 17 and 2-5).
Harries was run out (excellent fielding) shortly afterwards for 18, and when skipper Alec White was also bowled by R.Jones for 2, Woodburners were struggling at 49-4.
Phil Edwards and Rob Birkett saw the visitors through to the close without further mishap, but sharp bowling and good ground fielding kept a tight grip on the scoring rate, and in the eight overs they were together the fifth wicket pair were only able to add another 33 runs, resulting in a final score of 82 for 4 after 20 overs.
The visitors felt they were at least 20 runs short of a competitive target, but their spirits quickly soared when Bothwell dismissed both openers, left-handers B.Cole and G.Cole, in the very first over, Phil Edwards taking both catches.
Dave Ryder and M. Daulby then attempted to steady the ship until Daulby, who was threatening to cut loose, was caught off the leg-spin of guest 11th man (thanks, NWW) Dominic Powell.
R. Jones joined Ryder at the crease, and played the innings of the match, pulling and driving with power and authority, after a careful start. But the required run rate had started to creep up: after 11 overs, only 21 runs were on the board.
Two fours by Jones off Phil Edwards' first over kept the target in reach, but by the time he was caught behind off Graham Stroud for 28, 25 were needed off the last three overs.
I. LLoyd was caught by Morley off Hal Harries for a duck, bringing skipper Justin Evans to the crease. He struck some hefty blows, so that by the start of the last over, 13 were needed for victory.
But despite his best efforts, and those of the steady Dave Ryder, who had been in since the first over, NWW just fell short on 76-4, losing by six wickets.
A close match, played in a good spirit, followed by quality chip butties. What's not to like?
Thursday, 7 May 2009
The season's under way
Well, after around seven months of inactivity (with the exception of a couple of curries and a net session), the season got under way last night against the Orthopaedic.
Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on your point of view - I didn't make the game (it's a long story, but essentially it boils down to the fact that I can't use a fax machine). And I'm not being unduly modest when I say that I'm pretty sure my presence would have had no impact on the result. Having said that, our team was without several other key players, including the likes of star batsmen Brian Cole and Carl Dulson and Brian's ever-reliable father, Gareth.
On an extremely windy evening and with the usual early-season uneven bounce of the Orthopaedic wicket, we struggled to 65-odd all out. According to my sources, we only managed a couple of boundaries in our innings - courtesy of our two big hitters, skipper Justin Evans and the mercurial Steve Daulby.
In reply, we bowled well but the total was 25 runs short and the Orthopaedic made it with overs to spare and eight wickets in hand. Jamal Penrose, who opened the bowling with Steve, and Justin took the wickets. Justin's was (and I quote from Justin here) 'a beautiful piece of leg spin bowling'.
Next week we play BT at Oswestry School on Tuesday night. Hopefully we'll kick-start our season with victory...
Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on your point of view - I didn't make the game (it's a long story, but essentially it boils down to the fact that I can't use a fax machine). And I'm not being unduly modest when I say that I'm pretty sure my presence would have had no impact on the result. Having said that, our team was without several other key players, including the likes of star batsmen Brian Cole and Carl Dulson and Brian's ever-reliable father, Gareth.
On an extremely windy evening and with the usual early-season uneven bounce of the Orthopaedic wicket, we struggled to 65-odd all out. According to my sources, we only managed a couple of boundaries in our innings - courtesy of our two big hitters, skipper Justin Evans and the mercurial Steve Daulby.
In reply, we bowled well but the total was 25 runs short and the Orthopaedic made it with overs to spare and eight wickets in hand. Jamal Penrose, who opened the bowling with Steve, and Justin took the wickets. Justin's was (and I quote from Justin here) 'a beautiful piece of leg spin bowling'.
Next week we play BT at Oswestry School on Tuesday night. Hopefully we'll kick-start our season with victory...
Monday, 7 July 2008
The great British summer strikes back
The dodgy British weather saw off last week's scheduled fixture against the Orthopaedic at Gobowen.
Although it was disappointing, at least we were able to retain our 100 per cent record over our arch rivals - for another couple of weeks at least.
Anyway, in more important news, our skipper Justin is now a proud father. I had a text on Friday evening (while sitting in a pub in Maidenhead, of all places) to say his wife, Sally, had given birth to a baby boy. Congratulations Justin. Does this mean you won't be available for this week's match against The Woodburners?
Although it was disappointing, at least we were able to retain our 100 per cent record over our arch rivals - for another couple of weeks at least.
Anyway, in more important news, our skipper Justin is now a proud father. I had a text on Friday evening (while sitting in a pub in Maidenhead, of all places) to say his wife, Sally, had given birth to a baby boy. Congratulations Justin. Does this mean you won't be available for this week's match against The Woodburners?
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