Police Stroll To Opening Win

It was all sunshine, sheep and church bells as MPCC arrived in dribs and drabs at Youlgraves quaint and quirky ground on the outskirts of the village. Winning the toss, Pete Quinn put the home side in to bat, much to the Youlgrave skippers obvious disappointment.

As always, Pete handed the new ball to Carl Gabbitas who didn't disappoint with another opening spell of consistent line and length which gave the batsmen very little to go at.

At the other end Spike Davis did similar and despite apparently struggling a little at times with the peculiar slant of the wicket bowled an unbelievably economical spell of four overs in which the batsmen only scored four runs!

Despite the good start, it was clear from the off that neither batsmen were looking to take a risk and were settling in for the afternoon. Looking for a wicket, Pete brought in his next pairing of Neil Eggleston and Darron Hall. In a repeat of the Gabbitas/Davis spell, as the batsmen continued to refuse to attempt any kind of shot, the likelihood of a wicket dwindled.

As a sense of frustration grew in the field, slow right arm merchant Brian Costello was brought in to mix up the pace. Brian started well and never looked back, bowling a line and length that left the batsmen unsure as how to play him. The bowling change worked and Brian's accuracy was soon rewarded with the wicket of Youlgrave skipper Dave Tarlton, caught LBW.

Supporting at the other end, Carl Thurlby continued his introduction to the bowling attack having been used for the first time in the previous game at Thorseby Colliery. Once the nerves settled and accuracy overtook pace, Carl bowled a consistent four overs, narrowly missing out on a wicket when he found the bottom edge of Fiddlers bat, only for keeper Pete Quinn to be out of position and unable to take the catch.

As Brian continued, he made it impossible for the skipper to take him off as originally intended after four overs and stayed on to ultimately bowl through his eight over allocation. After Carl's four over's, Brian was joined by a returning Darron Hall. The Captain's faith was quickly repaid as Brian took his second wicket, taking a mid rift catch from his own bowling to dispatch Buckle.

At the other end, despite struggling to find his rhythm bowling from a different end to his first four overs, Darron looked dangerous when he hit the mark and found the top of off stump in his 6th over to send Howley back to the pavilion.

MPCC sensed the breakthrough when Youlgraves McMahon stepped up to put a halt to the early celebrations. Reminding the bowlers what happens to a short ball, both bowlers felt the pain as a flurry of fours were followed by a big six over the pavilion and Police feared the fightback. Youlgraves hope was to be shortlived however as in an act of almost poetic retribution Darron Hall yet again found off stump to send McMahon back almost as quickly as he had appeared, finishing his 8 overs on 2/26 with 3 maidens.

Brian, undeterred by the incessant bickering among the visitors as to how many overs he had bowled (West Notts College have maths for beginners classes starting September chaps) finished his spell in style taking a third wicket as Youlgraves Ward went big only to find a safe pair of hands belonging to Carl Thurlby in the deep.

Looking to finish the job, Pete brought back pace in Gabbitas from the pavilion end and Neil Eggleston at the......other end.

The runs at this point had almost dried up for the visitors with it becoming apparent that Youlgraves opener Fiddler was hanging on for his fifty. Carl Gabbitas, with no sense of charity at all saw to it that this was not to be the case, smashing Fiddlers stumps out the ground with a beautiful delivery with the poor guy 2 runs short.

Neil Eggleston continued where he left off, taking Enderby LBW and bowling Enderby Jnr in the process leaving MPCC chasing 122 for the win after 40 overs.

MPCC took to the chase with a new opening pairing of Darron Hall and Neil Eggleston. With the target not requiring a great deal of risk taking the pair set about easing themselves into their innings, taking what the bowlers gave them rather than forcing the quick win.

The strike changed regularly as both batsmen hit ones and twos, interspersed with boundary's when the bowlers let them. Sadly, just as Darron was getting into his stride, he misjudged a delivery from paceman McMahon to be caught LBW for 10.

Pete Quinn came in at three, looking to make a decent start to the season with the bat and improve on last year. Having agreed a strategy with Eggy ("don't do nuthing crazy dude") the pair set about cultivating a partnership. And cultivate they did as Pete supported Neils bigger shots with ones and twos. Despite a few scares coming out of Pete's insistence on playing across the line when he gets bored, the pair successfully chased down the remaining runs with 20 overs to spare as Pete made 25 and Neil a very impressive 75.

Overall, a satisfying opening win against admittedly weaker opposition. What was pleasing was that the fielding was far improved over the effort against Thorseby the previous week. The team played like a team and supported each other which was great to see. As far as improvement goes, the bowlers and wicket keeper still have work to do with regard to the extra's column. Overall MPCC gifted Youlgrave a massive 37 of their 121 total. Some may say that in this case it was a blessing in keeping the game going but nevertheless, we shall meet teams starting this Sunday at Upton where we simply cannot afford to give away so many runs and expect to compete.

As far as man of the match goes, a number of players put forward a compelling case, in particular Brian Costello with an outstanding bowling display, but for his efforts with the bat and the ball, the man of the match was awarded to a deserving Neil Eggleston.

Bowling Figures
Carl Gabbitas 8 overs 14 for 1 (3 Maidens)

Spike Davis 4 overs 4 for 4 (3 Maidens)

Neil Eggleston 8 overs 2 for 15 (3 Maidens)

Darron Hall 8 overs 2 for 26 (3 Maidens)

Carl Thurlby 4 overs 0 for 12 (0 Maidens)

Brian Costello 8 overs 3 for 19 (2 Maidens)