Phil spills blood for the team!?
On what promised to be a horribly wet day (BBC weather forecast), we arrived with the sun shining on Marchington’s quaint ground. Unfortunately Matt Parker had invited himself and arrived with a deluge over his head. Suddenly the BBC looked more competent and our ground got very wet. A delay and possible abandonment were now very likely.
Captains eventually went out for a further inspection at 2pm; a coin was tossed with Castle Donnington 2s calling incorrectly. Mick Acton decided to have a bowl, if there were no more showers before an agreed start time of 2:25pm; a 38 over match would commence.
The game started as agreed with Adam Roe (7 overs 3 maidens 0 for 16) running in from the Prison end and falling face first after his first delivery. Sawdust was applied to the crease and Adam tried again with the same result, further sawdust was applied to his follow through and Adam reduced his run up. At the South end Brad Hambleton (5 overs 1maiden 1 for 17) was also having difficulties with the first ball passing the batsman at a little over foot above his head and eventually conceding 10 off the 17 runs he was to have off his bowling for the day. At 28 for 1 off 11 overs Aaron Harper (5 overs 0 for 24) replaced Brad and quickly got into his stride seeing the batsman play and miss several times. At the Prison end Dan Featherstone (5 overs 1 for 13) was 2nd change; in his 2nd over enticed the batsman to lift the ball to backward of point where Henry Parker confidently held on to a sharp catch 46 for 2 off 17. Another 33 run partnership was ended in James Parker’s (7 overs 1 maiden 2 for 17) 2nd over when the comfortable looking opener played all around a good delivery to be bowled for 40. Trevor Foster (7 overs 1 maiden 0 for 28) replaced Dan but did not produce his normal spell, thoughts are obviously on Brasil. James took his 2nd wicket with the score on 98 and was getting rather frustrated by some fielding lapses that prevented his tight bowling from gathering further wickets. Mick Acton (2 overs 2 for 12) thought the time was ripe, as Castle Donnington decided to push on and attempt to reach 150, to enter the fray and with his first delivery removed the oppositions captain, bowled, who had added 30 runs which included sending Trevor over the boundary for 6. Almost ironically Mick took a 2nd wicket with his last delivery and the final bowl of the innings; Castle Donnington Town 2nds 139 for 6.
Mick felt that we had conceded 20 more runs than we should have done, sending Andy Ward (53 not out) and Phil Burrows (7) out to play sensibly to pick off early runs but not to lose wickets so that he could review the situation at drinks. Phil with his blood splattered shirt from some heroic fielding (or was it yet another 4th team blunder) had taken Mick’s words on board swiped out at several balls outside off stump followed by a beautifully executed forward defensive (practice shot) for the cameramen. Unfortunately Phil’s aggressive batting style also led to his downfall when he bottom edged onto his own stumps. Adam Roe (52 not out) entered the arena as Mick’s gamble that clearly paid off although Henry and Spanner where chafing at the bit to join the battle. In the 19th over Andy had reached 48 hitting 4 fours and Adam was 46 not out after hitting 4 fours and 3 large 6’s the score was 122 for 1 giving both batsmen plenty of time to score their 50’s and drinks being taken. The next over opens with 5 wides followed by a 2 for Andy’s 50 in 77 minutes off 55 balls. Another 2 runs then a single for Andy put Adam on strike who immediately took another single; 133 for 1 off 20 overs. Adam needs 3 team needs 7 to win. 21st over, 2 more wides then Adam takes a single and takes the strike; guessing he is close to 50 he clubs the first ball of the 22nd over for the winning runs and his landmark 50 in 64 minutes off 49 balls. An excellent batting performance that indicated in the end that our bowling had been good although our fielding once again left a little to be desired.
The final score: Rolleston 22 points and Castle Donnington 2.
