In one of very few matches to beat the wet weather, a swashbuckling 139 no. by all-rounder Michael James inspired the Willowers to a towering 115 run victory over visitors Belper Meadows. The success repaid several club members whose efforts and determination to prepare the pitch and outfield was key to the match taking place, albeit a reduced one of 42 overs per side. Work commenced at 8a.m. so take a bow Mick Haynes, Clive Jacobs, the James brothers, Alex Britton, Dave Woodburn and helpers.

The visitors were pleased to win the toss and invite Rolleston to set a target on what the umpires deemed a perfectly playable track with the boundary rope brought in to avoid the wettest areas of the outfield.

A mix-up between Mark James and Gareth Marshall led to the former batsman being unable to recover his ground, allowing Tom Buckley to complete an early run out. Young seam bowler Matt Jones escaped punishment when he sent down a couple of full tosses but he soon found a good length, leaking just two runs from his first seven overs. Matt Murfin bustled in at the other end and bowled an out-of-sorts Marshall (9) with the score on 23 in the thirteenth over. The left-hander had made just four scoring shots from forty deliveries, next man in Tom Rutter always likely to speed up the run rate.

Paul Allen (18) stroked three delightful boundaries before surviving a loud leg before appeal as he looked to force Murfin through mid-wicket. But under-15 spinner Ben Buckley offered Allen a free hit which the veteran failed to middle, Ben McGonigal moving sharply in the deep to take an excellent catch.

At 56 for 3 in the 21st over, James strode purposefully to the crease and the fun began. Rutter (42) had previously hit sixes off both Jones and Buckley, and looked a banker to be the first to purchase a celebratory jug of ‘social orange’ for notching a fifty. But it was not to be. Having ruined Jones’ figures with another pair of sixes, the batsman fell to the part-time spin of McGonigal, the game evenly balanced at 107 for 4 and fourteen overs remaining.

One over later, a most unfortunate Scott Baker could only watch in disbelief as Murfin removed his stumps with a good length ball that failed to bounce above ankle height.

At 112 for 5, a target of 160 to 170 looked a possibility, but what was to follow had local statisticians re-visiting their red-hot calculators on an over-by-over basis! James’ first maximum moved his score onto 35, McGonigal the victim. A four and a six from Ryan Buckley’s introductory over prepared the ground for a firmly clipped single to reach fifty off just 52 deliveries. Time to accelerate…….

Elliott Lawley cleverly nudged singles to give the senior batsman the strike and Rolleston’s car park soon became a dangerous place to be. Three consecutive sixes off McG’s sixth over were swiftly followed by four consecutive maxima in his seventh, the last of which took James past the ton in 68 balls. (Yes, that’s right – his second 50 came from 16 deliveries!!)
In the meantime, Lawley, Alex Britton and Rupert Sanderson all fell on their swords, run-out in selfless pursuit of allowing James the opportunity to entertain the crowd. With onlookers rushing to remove their vehicles from the postal sector, Belper invited occasional bowler Pete Brookes to ride the storm and send down the final over. Another four sixes to James, lost balls a plenty and total carnage on the scoreboard ended in an unbeaten 139 (5 fours, 15 sixes, 79 balls) and surely one of the most impressive attacking innings ever seen at the Willows. Rolleston closed on 249 for 8 after 42 overs but of course, the job was only half done.

Belper openers Ryan Buckley (18) and skipper Adrian Marsh (38) looked in no hurry to start chasing the total and both appeared solid in defence until Britton (1-29) had Buckley dropped in the slips in the seventh over and came back to trap him leg before in the ninth. Number three batsman McGonigal had returned to the Meadows following some impressive performances for Swarkestone, and was regarded as a major threat to the hosts. He soon signalled that sixes were also on his menu by launching Luke Nelson towards the pavilion.

Marsh survived an appeal for caught behind off James and an lbw claim from Britton as the pair moved into the twentieth over on 78 for 1. The first delivery of the next over saw Nelson’s appeal for leg-before spark an extended pause for thought from umpire Eric Lummis, a nod of the head and, finally, an upraised digit to dismiss a disappointed McGonigal (15). Tom Buckley batted back the next two deliveries but the third did far too much and Marshall dived forward to take a peach of a catch at short leg.
Captain Mick Haynes (2-17) replaced Baker (3-53) at the Dovecliffe end and, having taken an over to set his sights, encouraged umpire Roberts to uphold a leg before appeal over Marsh (38). Youngsters Joe Slater and Tim Williscroft quietened things down, the former looking very secure and playing many shots with soft hands to limit catching opportunities. Williscroft survived a dropped catch at third slip off Britton, eventually falling in the next over when Baker’s mystery spin nailed him in front.

Wicketkeeper Chris Henson struck the first ball of Baker’s next over to the rope but missed a full pitched one two balls later to become Belpers fifth batsman to leave lbw.
Slater had spent ten overs in the middle before he was deemed to have nicked Nelson (3-22) into Lawley’s gloves, several fielders racing towards umpire Roberts in what some may consider an over-zealous manner.

At 108 for 7 and nine overs to go Rolleston fielders moved much closer to the bat. Murfin clobbered both Nelson and Haynes to the boundary but soon edged the skipper to Lawley, triggering another exuberant celebration. Pete Brookes (14) seemed to be the right man to save Belper, taking no risks and refusing to be lured in by Baker’s box of tricks. Inexplicably, he called for a second run off a wide and was never favourite to reach the crease before an accurate piece of fielding by Mark James reached gloves and bails.

Jones played out a Haynes maiden to leave Ben Buckley facing the ‘Wizard of Aus.’ The youngster lost his stumps on the fifth delivery and the visitors’ reply ended on 134 all out after 39.5 overs. Rolleston gained a hard earned 27 points, Belper’s 6 points equal to that allotted to other teams in Div.2 whose games were all cancelled.