2XI Match Report; 14/05/17 Moorside (h) - Win, 5 pts

General concensus was that Moorside had brought a strong team to Well-i-Hole to face a Saddleworth side now second in the league (following the previous day's exploits at Ashton). The team skippered by ex-OSA Lloyd Kingston included the Broadhurst brothers and previous 1XI opening bowler Warburton ,amongst others. SCC were stronger too though: McGrath and Jones and Holt (N) available again and Zak Pemberton taking a step down from what all accounts was a good performance in the 1st XI the day before. Well played Zak!

So, a good and competitive game was expected. Lloyd called correctly in his South African twang (there's something about playing cricket against someone with an overseas accent that makes it just that little bit more exciting doesn't it?) and elected to bat. Game on, lets play.

The start of the game lived up to its billing, tight and competitive cricket at a good 2XI standard. SCC bowled straight, MCC batted properly. We passed the edge, they hit a couple of good boundaries, KFC dropped a catch going to his right at slip - would we regret it......

No. Ryan McGrath and Ben "Yifter" Tunnicliffe were superb.The pressure grew, Ryan's 3rd, 4th and 5th overs were all maidens, Yifter was scrooge like too and the screws were turned. Only 14 runs on the board after 8-overs, the breakthrough was made with the last ball of the 9th, a frustrated Percival bowled by McGrath with the final ball of another metronomic, zippy over. The flood gates opened.

Lloyd was expertly caught and bowled for a duck in Ryan's next over, Yifter removed both Broadhursts and Walters soon after, Tom Hughes taking an excellent, steepling catch. Ryan pinned Redmond bang in front of all three. In the blink of an eye, Moorside were reeling at 38-6.

Warburton counter attacked, scoring 31 runs of Yifter's last two overs. Yifter won the war though, his foe was caught at mid-wicket off the last ball of his spell. Ryan followed with two wickets in an over and we had them 69-8. On came the Pembertons and we were done within an over for each, Pembertons Jr and Sr both finishing with one wicket a piece. Moorside 72ao - a fabulous bowling performance. Tunnicliffe had 4-51, McGrath 4-15.

Things had moved so quickly, only 23 overs gone, that the tea hadn't yet arrived! We took drinks and a 15 min interlude and turned straight around. Jones and Dickson resuming their opening pairing for SCC.

Jonah dispatched Warburton's 2nd ball through cover with a magnificent drive and the chase was on. Dickson hit a further two boundaries in the 5th over and SCC had moved serenely to 23-0 when, shortly after yours truly had told him that he was looking superbly solid in his method, Jones chipped a nothing ball to cover and was gone for 10. Kiss of death!

Clayton joined Dickson and, KFC starting less frantically than the day before, took the score along. Kingston's leg-spin replaced Warburton, and Broadhurst replaced Robinson as MCC looked for a breakthrough. Dickson greeted the latter change with 3 consecutive boundaries, all cut towards the pavilion. 50-1 approached.

Unfortunately, having reached 10 KFC chased a leg-side delivery and knicked behind off Kingston. Zak came in at No.4 to replace him, and Lloyd produced two rippers that Pemmy Jr did very well to survive. Zak showed good understanding though, and quickly began using his feet to get to the ball as it bounced, smothering the spin. At the other end, Dickson pounced on another couple of short balls to take his boundary count to 8 and we were almost there. Zak finished it in style, advancing and driving Kingston through cover - job done. Dickson finished 41 not out from 35 balls, and the chase was done within 43 minutes in only the 12th over.

A magnificent SCC performance, a good Moorside XI had been convincingly defeated. As ever, we celebrated with a few beers and had a nice couple of hours in the last of the sunshine, joined by partners, offspring and friends. It was a nice evening.

In closing, I would like to single out a couple of people. Firstly, we would all like to thank Mike Ward for an excellent track. Good pace and carry with a bit for the bowlers when they hit the seam. Even well after the game was over Mike was still out there working on the ground, mowing next week's wickets. As Yifter said, entirely tongue-in-cheek, "For God's sake! Put a shift in will you Mike?"

Secondly, my Man of the Match, Ryan McGrath. He has now played 3-games for the 2XI this season and has bowled superbly in each. He currently averages 3.77 in this Division. It is a pleasure to watch him, his control of line on Sunday was exceptional and, allied to a very good pace for this level, he is a hand-full for any batsman. An added extra though is that Ryan does not just run up and bowl, he knows what he's doing and why. He studies the batsman, he changes his bowling to suit, and his run up is so rhythmic he knew that he'd bowled a no-ball before the Umpire had signaled it. Zak, Sam, Nathan and all you youngsters, watch him carefully, talk to him for advice, learn all you can.

That's it for this week. Saddleworth folk, your entertaining 2XI is at home again this coming Saturday, 20th May. Austerlands are our visitors. The bar will be open - come down and enjoy the game!

Daily Lesson: Trust your instincts. I'd been asking Yifter how he was after each of his 7th, 8th and 9th overs, sensing a bit of understandable tiredness amongst the excellence after two days of bowling. "I'm fine, Skip, just fine!" he says, with a spring in his step and competing with Ryan for wickets. His 10th over began 2, 6, 4, 4, 4. "I'm gone", he declares.