2XI Match Report; 13/05/17 Ashton (a) - Win, 5 pts

Saddleworth 2XI were missing 6 of their regular players as they made the trip to Rayner Lane, looking to maintain their winning form. Even against a side who have had a difficult start to the season and with selection issues of their own, nothing was certain. The 10-men of SCC who took the field included the courageous Adam Smalley, playing with a still broken finger, two emergency call ups for Rick Hall and Emerson Whitworth, and 3 of our U15s in Nathan, Tom and George. Getting the job done on days like these is what good teams are made of. Were we up to it?

This looked in doubt having won the toss and giving Ashton first knock, boy did they get off to a flyer! The returning Taylor, making his first appearance of the season, came out blazing and struck 7*4s and 3*6s in a whirlwind innings. A short time later we were relieved to see him go for a spectacular 58, excellently caught by Rick off the avenging Tunnicliffe, who had been deposited over the train line by his foe a few balls earlier.

Gary Pemberton had replaced Kyle Clayton at the Rayner Lane end just before that and had begun to put the brakes on. Taylor's demise in the 13th over, taking the score to 73-2, brought a rapid deceleration in run rate. This was in no small part due to Pemmy's run of 3 consecutive maidens at that very juncture, 2 of which were wicket maidens (including a double). From there he bowled out his full 12-over allocation, ending with superb figures of 4-25.

At the Train line end, Yifter finished with 2-40 from his 9-overs. Emmy bowled a tight 3-overs when replacing him and Nathan followed up with 4 overs for only 8 runs. Between these were two blasts from the returning Clayton, in which he snagged 4 wickets, closing the innings with 2 in consecutive balls and good figures of 4-42. Ashton were 130 all out in the 37 over. Tom Hughes had fielded excellently throughout and there was generally good fielding and catching, including one by Adam and his broken finger!

We took tea facing a tricky total on a wicket which had gone up and down and sideways. This wasn't going to be easy.

And so it proved, erratic bounce and some good bowling from Jalil made things difficult. Clayton and Dickson took the score to 32 before the former fell, struggling with a toe injury having "middled" (it looked like an edge to me at the other end) a full toss onto his foot, bowled trying to smash another 6 to match his feat of a few balls earlier. KFC's 16 had been an eventful knock, he'd also been dropped 4 times en route!

Smalley came to the crease, his awaiting partner slightly fearful for his damaged digit having seen the erratic bounce so far. Unfortunately, or fortunately from the viewpoint of his finger, he knicked off after only a few balls. No shame having not picked a bat up for 5-weeks and very brave of him to put it on the line at all.

Yifter joined Dickson and looked solid as a rock. We looked to see off the dangerous Jalil, but his knock was cut-off in it's prime by a questionable run-out decision (Yifter said he was passed the wickets never mind the crease!). Young Gallagher replaced him and played very well indeed, good defense and a mature mind, lasting 27 balls against opening bowlers and scoring 5 valuable runs along the way. Great knock Nath!

102-4 - tense! Could we get home?

Have no fear - Hall is here! Looking like he'd never been away, Rick proved well up to the challenge, mixing steady defense with some good running. Together with yours truly he steered the ship home, 131-4 in the 34th over. Get in!!! Dickson finished 70 not out off 93-balls, including 9*4s, having batted through. In his post-match interview he confided to me that "he was rather chuffed" ;0)

So, we had proved up to it. Well played all, a good win on a difficult day and tricky wicket. Of course - we celebrated with a beer!

And that's it for Ashton away, except to say a huge thank you to Graham Oldham for excellent scoring and a beautifully presented record of the game.

Daily Lesson: A good sense of direction is not that important for a fast bowler after all. Ryan McGrath passed by on that same trainline during the game and was hoping to catch a glimpse of the spectacle, unfortunately he missed the action as he was looking out of the wrong side of the carriage.