Whaley Bridge Cricket Club

Saturday 5th July 2008 Buxton, Home

We have decided that, rather than toss a coin, we need to find an alternative way of deciding who should bat first. Heysy's suggestion is that the opposing captains should enter into a bout of jousting. The rest of the team agreed, especially as Gibbo lost the toss on a very difficult pitch. The covers had probably saved the game after a lot of rain in the morning, but one end was very lively (as Ed demostrated by top edging one into his eye) whilst the other end had the sort of bounce that can only be described as subterranean. Indeed the Buxton opening bowler from that end might just as well have described his action as "right arm under".
It came as no surprise then that wickets fell regularly at the top of the order. Without Dec Ryan, we di not make much progress. Luke again batted with great responsibility and Ed was on 20 and looking to cut loose when he mistimed a dreadful long hop straight to point . Again the innings looked like collapsing before Peter Crowley, batting very sensibly, pushed us past the hundred mark. He was last out, for 21, with the score on 124. We had managed to use 44 of our overs.
Batting was no easier for Buxton, however. Heysy removed the opener in the first over, but the other Buxton opener held the key to their innings. At 57 for 2, things looked bleak, but an inspired decision from the skipper to switch Colin and bring Pikey on paid immediate dividends. Pikey's reduced pace was unplayable and 4 wickets from him (including the crucial lbw decision that got rid ot their opener) paved the way for a victory. Colin also took 4 wickets as the oppostion were dismissed for just 102.
Another tight game at New Horwich Park and another victory for us defending a releatively small total. 4th place now. Let's see how things go over the summertime. Assuming we get a summertime, that is....

Saturday 28th June 2008 Charlesworth, Home

Guess what? Gibbo lost the toss and we were put in to bat. And guess what? Apart from Dec Ryan, the Whaley top order failed again. Dec made a useful 31 and Luke Schofield scored a very encouraging 22, batting responsibly and showing the promise that has been evident in his progress in junior cricket this season. However, Whaley were teetering on the brink until we were rescued by a magnificent innings of 48 by Alex Atkins. Scholesy hit the ball to all parts and his very entertaining partnership with Colin Wild (26 not out) meant that Whaley made a respectable total of 170. The highlight of the innings was a lofted off drive from Colin which stopped just short of the boundary. Unfortunately, both Colin and Scholesy felt that running was not required and a curious combination of high-fives, morris dancing and ballet ensured that only 1 run was taken, amidst great mirth from the pavilion.
When Charlesworth went out to bat, however, the Whaley bowlers ensured that wickets were taken with regularity. Only the Charlesworth opener managed to stick around, and with Colin taking three wickets and the rest being shared around meant that Charlesworth never really kept up with the clock. Eventuially they were dismissed for 114, with the Whaley second teram season starting to show signs of recovery.

Saturday 21st June 2008 Hollingworth, Away
Quite remarkably, on one of the wettest days of the alleged summer, Hollingworth represented something of an oasis in the desert. Not a phrase, often associated with the Hollingworth ground, I know, but the rain managed to stop enough for us to make a start. As is traditional, our skippper lost the toss and we were put in to bat on a difficult pitch. Only Mike Madden really came to terms with the track and his 43 formed the bedrock of a total of 159. Tom Cottell, who has made the No.11 berth his own this season, batted with great responsibility at the end, taking a wild swing to ensure that we (a) missed another batting point by 1 run and (b) failed to use up our overs.
After tea, a tight but unlucky opening spell from Nick Heys kpet the pressure on. Mick took a great catch in the first over but Hollingworth batted steadily. Their opener was starting to cut loose when he fell victim to a brilliant flying catch at cover by Matt Morten. In the meantime, Matt Slack and Heysy were both bowling with consistent hostility. How Slacky did not take several wickets I will never know. Whaley were bowling and fielding well and the match was delicately poised with Hollingworth needing another 36 with 5 wickets standing of the last 9 overs before the rains finally came and killed the game off.

Saturday 14th June 2008 Broadbottom, Home

A cool day at New Horwich Park and Gibbo lost the toss, meaning Whaley were inserted on a hard, wearing pitch against a young but very enthusiatic Broadbottom team. Dec Ryan made an excellent 51 as Whaley made steady progress at around 3 an over through the innings. Unfortunately, no-one could get a hold of tight bowling towards the end of the innings and wickets fell steadily to leave us on 140-8 after 45 overs.
That total seemed to be rather inadequate as the Broadbottom openers picked off TC and Matt Slack in the early overs. In fact, when Ed took the first wicket, Broadbottom were 57 from 12 overs and things did not look good. An inspired decision from the skipper to bowl a prolonged spell himself paid dividends though. Gibbo had no luck as a series of chances fell just short of the fielders and a couple of curious umpiring decisions went against him. Ed was managing to take wickets at the other end though, and Broadbottom got increasingly bogged down. By the time they lost their 8th wicket, they still needed 10 or so to win and overs were running out. With two overs to go, Gibbo had taken 3 wickets and Ed had 6. The opposition needed 2 to win. Unfortunately, their last man lofted Gibbo towards the boundary for the winning runs and we had lost by 1 wicket.
A great game to play in was spoiled by the result. However, we all felt a lot better after Mrs Schofield's magnificent cakes at tea time. Gibbo took it upon himself to ensure everything was sampled and pronounced himself very satisfied. Have we found, at last, the solution to the problem??!!

Saturday 7th June 2008 High Lane, Home

A cool but mercifully dry day and Gibbo winning the toss were the ingredients to a solid team performance. An inspired decision to insert the opposition led to an uninspring opening as High Lane failed to score a run of the bat for the first seven overs, Tom Cottell and an inspired Nick Heys putting the ball on the spot. Nick finally got the breakthrough he deserved and the High Lane batsmen continued to struggle against steady Whaley bowling and one or two inspired umpiring decisions. Ed Kitchen was the main beneficiary, claiming 4-19 and some suicidal running meant that High Lane were eventually dismissed for just 97 with about 10 overs to spare.
Nick Latham and Dec Ryan opened for Whaley. Dec took a three early on and Rigger, obviouosly deciding that his days of running threes were over, took a swipe at the next ball and got bowled. This brought TR Wild to the crease. Fresh from celebrating no dropped catches, TR played an anchor role while Dec laid the foundations of the innings, scoring a polished 28 before he was out. Mick Madden then joined TR and, as a steady drizzle set in, it seemed that Whaley may become stranded. Normally such daring strokemakers, both Mick and TR seemed content pushing their ones and twos until Mick was out for 27.
Whaley still needed 26 to win and the 2nd team's notoriosly fragile batting meant that High Lane were sniffing an unlikely victory. Ed Kitchen, though, scored the next 22 runs before TR played an elegant leg glance to complete a comfortable 7 wicket win.

Saturday 17th May 2008 Hadfield, Away

Arriving at Hadfield in a fairly steady drizzle, hopes were not high that we were going to get much of a game. The mood was lifted shortly afterwards by the arrival of TR Wild who admitted to be suffering from a severe case of piles. The only cure, apparently, being to drink bitter. Russ seemed quite happy to pay the prescription charges!
Whaley lost the toss and we were inserted on a fairly wet and uneven track. TR and Nick Latham opened and both got starts but it was the sort of pitch where batsmen were never going to feel entirely comfortable, especially as the outfield did not look as if it had been cut in May, so runs were hard to come by. Sure enough frustration led to the fall of most of the Whaley batsmen, with only Mick Madden being able to hold his head up with a score of 24. Once again, though, wickets kept on falling at regular intervals and an unsurprisinglylow score of 93 all out was posted, with Whaley failing to use up the last 11 of their overs.
5 overs into the Hadfield innings, though, made us feel like 93 was a massive total. Young Tom Cottell opened the bowling and in no time had reduced the opposition to 4 - 4. He bowled 2 brilliant spells with a lot of pace, bouce and hostility, ending up with 5 - 13 from 10 overs. It was this which did the damage and Hadfield never really recovered. Only towards the end of their innings did they show any application, but by then it was too late. Ed Kitchen with 3 wickets and Colin Wild with 2 mopped up the tail to leave Hadfield all out for 65 and a first win for the seconds was well deserved. Lets hope that TC continues to improve and build on his success, and that Declan comes back to keep wicket, so giving Russ "Ooh, me Chalfonts" Wild a well deserved break behind the stumps.

Saturday 3rd May 2008 Woodley, Home

We Lost!!!!!!