It was a makeshift
MPCC XI that arrived at a damp, cold and windy Weston CC to take on new opposition in the shape of Nelson's Ashes CC.
Missing a number of
regulars because of family and work commitments as well as losing another to a freak sack race incident left skipper Pete Quinn little by way of tactical options against this unknown quantity.
Continuing his winning streak in the toss stakes, the skipper elected to field first and, being low on bowlers took the unusual step of opening with regular new ball maestro Mark Davis partnered by king of spin Brian Costello.
From the first few balls it was clear that Davis was showing a little more of the form that had eluded him in the seasons opening fixture with Nelsons opener
Powser looking increasingly uncomfortable. In only a few balls, the opening bat was trudging back to the pavilion without bothering the run column.
Nelsons
Hopcroft was next and looked equally shook by the movement that Davis was
achieving in flight. Following a tight over from Costello, Davis struck again in his 2
nd over, dismissing
Hopcroft plumb LBW for 0.
Nelsons Burns entered the fray next to partner remaining opener
Hempsall who was
beginning to frustrate the visitors with a limited but effective range of shots which found the boundary with unnerving regularity.
There were no more fireworks for either bowler in
their opening spell and so following four overs apiece the captain looked for a change and turned to pace in Neil
Eggleston accompanied by the unpredictable but effective bowling of new kid on the block Darren
Hodgkinson. Understandably looking a little nervous prior to his first over, the captain offered some words of encouragement before allowing him to proceed. Whatever the skipper said seemed to have the desired effect as
Hodgkinson took his maiden
MPCC wicket 3 balls into his first ever over smashing
Burns's middle stump out of the ground only to find himself in an uncomfortable Pete Quinn
bearhug seconds later.
With
Eggleston finding it tough going on a rotten track, it was
Hodgkinson again who struck moments later, forcing Nelsons
Hempsall to misjudge and top edge into the air only for it to fall into one of the safest pairs of hands in the team in Neil
Eggleston.
Eggleston was again in the action moments later as he dispatched big swinging
Turlokowski Jnr cleanly for 0.
Light on bowlers, Quinn looked for volunteers to bowl a few overs to make up those unfulfilled by the absence of
Gabbitas, Hall and
Footitt. Rem
Fiorini stepped forward bravely as did Chris
Buxton and held an end up as guest player James
Atkin attacked from the opposite end.
Atkin, almost in defiant protest at his not being selected for the home side that day took an impressive 3 wickets for 21 runs in his four over spell, clean bowling
Heathcote, causing
Garnett to edge to Adam White at Gully and trapping
Turlokowski Snr LBW.
Sensing an opportunity to end the Nelson's innings early, the skipper returned to the Davis and Costello pairing he had begun with. This despite the horrific facial injury suffered by Costello earlier in the innings which resulted in medical treatment to stem heavy bleeding from a cut chin. The decision was richly rewarded as, despite a flurry of
boundaries from key man
Wagstaff, Davis quickly added to his total dispatching Nelsons Mansfield and
Harlangham clean bowled and LBW respectively leaving the visitors chasing a total of 144 for victory.
A pensive
MPCC took to the field, confident that the total was in reach but
conscious that go to batsmen
Darron Hall was missing. Nevertheless, Mark Davis stepped up to the plate to fill the Hall spikes for the day and partner regular opener Neil
Eggleston.
The lads had to take it slow in the opening overs as Nelsons went straight in for the kill unleashing
Bassestlaw League Div. 1
paceman Heathcote on the nervous pairing.
The pair looked to be building a slow but meaningful partnership over several overs until a mix up saw Davis run out for 9.
Rem
Fiorini came in at three, determined to make an impression before taking a leave of absence to concentrate on a
cycling project. Alas it was not to be as Rem was soon returning to his seat having contributed a solitary run for his efforts.
Guest player James
Atkin came in 4 and was clearly trying to play some proper shots against some accurate bowling.
Buoyed by a partner demonstrating a level of competence,
Eggleston tried to push the team forward. It was to be one shot too many however he found himself unlucky to be caught at long on for 12.
Brian Costello came in at 5 and
immediately began to show some of the flashes with bat we know he is capable of as he hit a succession of
boundaries.
Atkin was next to fall as he was bowled which saw debutant Chris
Buxton come in at 6. Chris
ably supported
Brian as he continued to go over the top, reaching the boundary
regularly. It was not to be for too long however as just when
Buxton looked like the 16yrs worth of cobwebs had been truly blown off, he attempted to hook a
Hempsall pie that was nearly as wide as it was high only to see what would have probably been given a wide drift squarely into a fielders hands.
Pete Quinn came in at no.7, as usual determined to eradicate memories of a poor season with the bat the previous year. Any hopes of a partnership with his wedding day best man however faded as only a few balls into
their blossoming relationship, Costello went over the top once to often to find himself caught at mid on.
Darren
Hodgkinson came in at no.8 with
MPCC looking to
consolidate against
what was becoming a rapidly rising required run rate. Quinn was visibly growing in confidence has he squirted a few for singles and doubles before hitting consecutive
boundaries. It was to be his undoing however as the following ball saw him smack it back past the bowler and attempt to take a tight single, only to lose his bottle halfway up
the track and send
Hodgkinson back. Forgetting his own position as he concentrated on Darren getting back, the horror sank in as a missed throw at
Darrens stumps went straight to the keeper for him to easily run a stranded Quinn out.
Things looked desperate for
MPCC as White came in at 9 with the team requiring in the region of seven an over. This desperation was exasperated moments later as
Hodgkinson found himself caught out for 6 runs.
The team was now looking to Julian Davies, a man who had failed to score a single run the previous season to save what seemed a lost cause.
To
everybody's surprise, Julian not only held his own but complimented Adams boundary charge with several aerial shots of his own, including one which cleared the boundary for 6.
With the teams tied at 143 each and 12 balls left,
MPCC felt confident of an unlikely victory. Sensing defeat, Nelsons skipper brought
Heathcote back into the attack. With only "I've never played before but it sounds like a laugh" Sean
McLafferty still in the
pavilion and Davies on strike, thoughts began to turn to the possibility of a tie.
Heathcote charged in for the first ball of his over which was bravely blocked by Davies but almost knocked him off his feet.
Heahtcote, clearly smelling blood, charged in again. This time Davies opened the face and guided the ball away like he had been playing for years giving him the winning run and
MPCC an unlikely 2 wicket victory.
The game for those took part probably summed up quite well the spirit of friendly cricket. Two sides out to win but also out to have fun. The fielding effort once again was tremendous and the team seemed galvanised by having the odds stacked against them which was great to see. A special mention must got to Mark Davis and Neil
Eggleston who worked very hard in helping me avoid the cancellation of this fixture through lack of players.
As per most weeks, there were a number of
candidates worthy of man of the match, Mark Davis's 4 wicket haul, Adam White's 31 or Brian Costello's 28. However, the manner in which he faced down the last over was truly something to witness and as such, this weeks man of the match is awarded to our new found run ninja
Julian Davies.
