Whaley Bridge Cricket Club

Whaley Bridge 2nd XI v High Lane 2nd XI at High Lane 29th May 2010
With a magnificent start to the season weather wise it was inevitable that we would be rained off against High Lane, and as we waited at the wall it was just a matter of what time we would get back to the Sheps. Unfortunately High Lane had the audacity to want to play, and although their pitch was wet they were optimistic that a game would be possible at some stage. Shawy had a meal booked at 5.30, Colin had a tee off time at 1.45, however the High Lane lads were fully changed and raring to go. We prayed for rain, and the umpires seemed to agree that it was unfit, but bizarrely they said that it was not “unsafe”. It was left to the captains, and we settled on a 25 over slog, but having lost his first toss of the season and been put in to bat, captain Madden was at an immediate disadvantage. T.R. Wild dropped himself down the order due to the format of the contest, then Madden and Latham struggled to keep their feet in the face of some unpredictable bounces. They eventually got into their stride before Madden fell for 21 followed by Latham for 9. We needed some impetus, and this could have occurred with the dismissal of Peter Crowley for 6. Tommo and Jake tried to accelerate, but their timing was a bit awry as the score just ticked over. Tommo went for 12 to bring in our “Wild” card Colin, then Jake departed for a fine 16 and we sent in Shawy. The Colin plan didn’t exactly backfire, it simply fizzled out as he batted for 5 overs for an unbeaten 8, whilst the normally reticent Shaw outscored him almost 2 to 1 as he left the field undefeated on 14. 94 for 5 didn’t look to be enough, but we were confident that Colin and Fid would be a real handful on the wet wicket. Unfortunately the wicket had dried and Colin and Fid struggled with both line and length. Colin took his first wicket with the score on 35, and three runs later Fid got in on the act, but Jake Drayson was introduced to enable the openers to change ends. Fid claimed another and at 44 for 3 we had a real chance. 28 runs later Colin claimed his second but that was the end of his success as he finished with 2 for 47 off 9, whilst Fid had 2 for 34 off 8. Jake’s one over cost just 2, and he was due to come back after Danny Ashworth had given it a go. Unfortunately, Danny went for 9 in his over, and with the addition of 4 byes the home side had won by 6 wickets. At least we got a game in when many others failed to do so, but turning up wanting the match to be called off got us exactly the result we deserved.

Whaley Bridge 2nd XI v Woodley 2nd XI at Whaley Bridge 22nd May 2010
It was a sweltering afternoon at Whaley Bridge when Woodley came to town, and the captain’s fifth successive victorious toss should have given the home side a huge advantage as he elected to bat first. The Whaley wicket had been described as “sub-standard” the previous week when Lee Jones was hospitalised, but there was no sign of this as Madden and Latham opened the batting. Latham fell for 1, closely followed by T.R. Wild for 2, Thompson for 4 and Gibson for 0. At 53 for 4 Whaley were in trouble, and when Madden chipped one to midwicket for 44 it was catastrophic. Simmonds steadied the ship with a fine 33, then Shaw and Drayson put together a useful partnership of 31 before Shaw went for 5. Unfortunately the tail failed to wag, in fact it looked to have been lopped off altogether as Sam Slack, Colin Wild and John Fidler lasted 5 balls between them as they all went for a duck. Jake Drayson remained unbeaten on 19 as Whaley finished on an unimpressive 131 all out. It never looked to be enough, despite Colin Wild and Fid starting in hostile fashion. It took until the 21st over for a wicket to fall as Gibson lured the batsman into a slog to deep midwicket. Tommo was there to chest the ball forward before snatching at it and eventually pouching it. At 38 for 1 Whaley were still in it, and Gibbo got his second victim when that rarest of breeds, a Russ Wild stumping, reduced the visitors to 48 for 2. Gibbo finished with a creditable 2 for 25 off 8 overs, whilst Fid finished with an unlucky 0 for 32 from 14. Colin completed 11 overs for 25, and it was left o Sam Slack and Jake Drayson to finish off the innings. Jake got the Woodley danger man after a catch by Sam, then Sam himself got in on the act with a catch behind by Russ Wild and then a clean bowled. Jake had 1 for 17 off 3, whilst Sam had 2 for 20 off 4, but Woodley had 11 overs to spare as they notched up a 5 wicket win. The game was played in great spirit despite having no umpires, for which the captain has requested that the league be fined.

Whaley Bridge 2nd XI v Charlesworth 2nd XI at Charlesworth 15th May 2010
The captain could perhaps have been forgiven for being a little distracted after three defeats to open the season, and it didn’t help when he revealed he had forgotten his bat on arrival at Charlesworth. With a weakened bowling attack there was never an issue about what to do first, and after winning his fourth consecutive toss MMM chose to bat. The team talk centred around the fact that we had had three good batting performances and three poor bowling displays. This meant that the season could go one of two ways. Either the batting could fail and we would be home early, or the bowling could improve and we might actually register a victory. Shawy was late turning up, but that didn’t matter. The captain and Rigger were about to set off for the middle when Russ Wild asked the captain a simple enough question. “Are you not putting any pads on?” at which point all semblance of a focussed pre match dressing room went out of the window. MMM then started to put on his pads as Rigger walked to the middle. It did not bode well, and what followed bore this out. Madden was out to a positively dreadful lbw decision for just 2, and then Peter Crowley spooned a catch to be dismissed for the same score. At 17 for 2 Russ Wild strode to the middle and proceeded to play all of those hooks and pulls that he practiced to good effect in front of his mirror. Now, as then, the ball was not really involved, but he settled down to repair the early damage. Rigger perished for 26, then Gibbo and Russ put on 80 before they fell in quick succession for 48 and 29 respectively. Curiously, Scholesy had umpired the whole innings up to this point, his explanation being that he did not want to talk to anyone, but with Shaw and Thompson at the wicket he sprinted off to get some pads on. He needn’t have rushed as Shawy used all of his experience to calmly guide the score to 176 before he was out for 31, whilst Scholesy was run out for a frenetic 21. Ed Kitchen played out a maiden with just 3 overs to go, but he rectified this, finishing with 20 not out. Tommo was also unbeaten on a much needed 34, giving Whaley the remarkable total of 242 for 7, but after recent fielding displays we were still not confident. The consistency throughout the batting could have been down to the insight of the captain in constructing just the right batting order, however news came through from Whaley that Lee Jones had been hospitalised on a dodgy pitch. This meant that there could be a place in the firsts next week, and this is probably why nobody really wanted to pass 50. Shawy regaled us with tales of his latest date, a woman that he’d not seen since 1975 when he was traumatised at a barn dance, but who he was now about to escort to a Michael Buble concert in Hamburg. “Never heard of him” was the response when Shawy was asked for his opinion of the crooner. Tea was a magnificent affair, with several players going into wedding buffet mode. So much so that as we took to the field, Fid was still munching despite the fact that he was due to open the bowling. Whaley started well with Fid and Ed Kitchen both taking a wicket to leave the hosts at 18 for 2. Peter Crowley also claimed a victim, and when the energetic Scholesy predicted he would get an lbw, and then remarkably did, the game could have been over at 100 for 4. Scholesy was likened to Derren Brown, or at least Derren Ginger for his prediction. Action man Scholesy then caught their danger man off Fid, whilst Jake Drayson picked up a wicket that the batsman could not quite believe. Ed Kitchen claimed another wicket, T.R. Wild took a catch off Fid, then the same bowler bowled a wide one that somehow nipped back and hit middle stump. “Sorry” Fid offered by way of condolence as the startled batsman trudged off. At 163 for 9 it was all over, until the Charlesworth number 11 smashed Ed for several sixes, and it was only when 38 were required off the final over that we all breathed a sigh of relief. 219 for 9 may have only got us 19 points, but it was the first victory of the season, and maybe the opening of the floodgates.

Good battiong oprder
Jonesy injured so no one got 50
Shawy Hambrg

Whaley Bridge 2nd XI v Buxworth at Buxworth 8th May 2010
It was a curious day at Buxworth, with the pitch looking dodgy even though it was extremely close to the pavilion side boundary. Madden won his third consecutive toss and stuck the home side in, with Colin Wild bowling like a god in his first spell. Unfortunately Fid could not support him, and was replaced after 3 overs for 31. Col removed Sam Hall and Whaley were amongst them, but things were about to get an awful lot worse. A chance went to Peter Crowley who failed to hold on to it, giving the Buxworth opener a second life. The score moved along rapidly with a fast outfield and a short boundary, then a chance went to Peter Crowley who failed to hold on to it, giving the Buxworth opener a third life. The two incumbent batsmen both passed 50, then a chance went to Peter Crowley who failed to hold on to it, giving the Buxworth opener a fourth life. Neil Shaw, a welcome addition to the squad and hopefully a regular member this season, psyched Chris Pike out of a century as Fid bowled him for 97, then a chance went to Peter Crowley who failed to hold on to it, giving the Buxworth opener a fifth life. Colin got the second and third wickets that his bowling deserved, including a catch by Crowley, but the Buxworth score had by this time sailed past two and then three hundred. Gibbo’s three overs cost 41, whilst Sean Pyke threatened to end his own career by bowling two for 28. Fid dismissed the opener after a very lucky 162, Colin taking the catch, as Shawy admitted he’d never played in a game where the opposition got 300. As it turned out this was still the case, with Buxworth finishing their 45 overs on 401 for 6, Colin taking 3 for 129 and Fid 3 for 109. Whaley were never going to reach this figure, with the captain giving clear instructions that 175, for maximum batting points, was the target. Madden and Latham got off to a brisk start before Madden was caught for 21 with the score on 24. Latham and Crowley then both notched solid 50s before Latham fell for 53. Thompson didn’t last long for his 3, then Crowley was run out in a comical mix up with Gibbo for 54. This was probably not too surprising as Gibbo’s pre batting warm up consisted of him chatting up a Buxworth supporter who seemed strangely open to his advances. Shawy and Gibbo played very sensibly to inch the score to 175, then Gibbo went berserk, obviously trying to impress his ladyfriend, as 28 came off the final over. 204 for 4 was a solid reply, and it meant that the deficit was reduced to less than 200. It also meant that Whaley had comprehensively won the second half, and in the process they claimed more bonus points than the poorly captained home side.

Whaley Bridge 2nd XI v Hawk Green 2nd XI at Whaley 1st May 2010
For the first home match of the season Whaley again won the toss and elected to bat. It was an even better start than the previous week, with Madden and Latham putting on 81 before Latham fell for 15. Tommo should have been batting at 3, but his hangover meant that he promoted Ed Kitchen instead. This backfired spectacularly as Ed was out first ball, Then Tommo came in at 4 which matched his score. Gibbo, freed from the shackles of captaincy, took the lead, then MMM fell for a marvellous 60. Scholesy was also suffering from the after effects of the night before, and it was a relief to all when he went for 4, whilst Sam Slack dispelled the nightmares of last season’s run of ducks when he was dismissed for 1. Gibbo bludgeoned 32 before being caught and bowled, then Andrew Bailey and Nige Morten took the total to 155 for 6 after 45 overs, a respectable score but one which never looked to be enough. Fid started well, but it was the ninth over before he made the breakthrough with a catch by Bails, and by then Hawk Green had reached 36. Ed Kitchen was loose at the other end, and he was replaced by Sam Slack after just 4 overs. Sam and Scholesy both went for 5 an over without success, whilst Fid kept chipping away with another two wickets. Gibbo gave away 19 in his two overs, but when Ed Kitchen fashioned a run out the visitors were just 15 runs short with plenty of overs left. Fid claimed another victim, caught by Sam Slack, to finish with 4 for 56, whilst Harry Bold, an under 13 in the team as Peter Crowley thought a performance by the Liverpool Philharmonic was more important than cricket, bowled two overs for 7 including a maiden. Whaley lost by 5 wickets with 10 overs to spare, but at least the bonus point tally increased.

Whaley Bridge 2nd XI v Chapel 2nd XI at Chapel 24th April 2010
It was an unseasonally warm day when the seconds rolled up for the opening game of the season at Chapel. With the retirement of Gibbo from the captaincy, it was the dawn (no pun intended) of a new era, with Mike Madden bringing his experience to the captain’s role, whilst grooming future captain Marc “Test Match” Thompson in his role as vice captain. Whaley won the toss and elected to bat first on a firm pitch. They started well, with the skipper putting on 44 for the first wicket when Nick Latham fell for 11. Madden went for 41 with the score on 75, but Peter Crowley and Gibbo took the score into the nineties before Gibbo fell for 11. The scoring rate slowed as Tommo eased himself into the new season, whilst Peter has never been one to hurry. Crowley eventually fell for a blatant jug avoidance 49, though this enabled Elliot Simmonds to join the party. Tommo went for 14, whilst Simmonds blasted a rapid 18 before being bowled. Ed Kitchen and Scholesy continued to run for everything, and the Whaley innings closed on a respectable 190 for 6, a big improvement on batting performances from last season. The feeling was that we were perhaps twenty runs short, but with a good bowling display, including the return of Fid, we should be ok. Fid opened the attack and kept it tight, whilst Danny Ashworth began with a sensational, if unpredictable wicket maiden, Nige Morten taking the catch behind the stumps. This was about the last good thing that happened to Danny, as two overs and twenty three runs later he was duly removed from the firing line. Ed Kitchen steadied the ship, then Fid claimed a wicket with another catch behind. The captain spilled a couple of sharp chances, but when Ed bowled the other opener Chapel were struggling at 38 for 3. Peter Crowley conceded just over 5 runs per over in his seven, whilst Gibbo and Scholesy had one thing in common, they both gave away 14 runs, Gibbo from 2 overs and Scholesy from just 1. Fid had trouble with his footwear, exchanging his boots with Gibbo to enable him to complete a second spell but without success. Chapel ran away with it, with some dreadful misfields, and some even worse bowling, and their 7 wicket victory with 4 overs to spare was an inauspicious start for the dream team that has been installed into the captaincy.