Stanley travelled to Minch on a rare,
sunny Saturday.
Stanley won the toss and invited the
home side to bat first on a damp, soft wicket.
Cresswell and Wilke opened for the
hosts and were soon in trouble with Cresswell being caught,
by the ever youthful John Priestly, in the third over for 2.
Wilke was bowled by Kinman-Pearmain's slower ball in the
12th over for 10 and captain Alex Waring was bowled by Nash
one over later. The in-form Tom Horrell cruised past his
fifty and was abley supported by R. Wakefield, on his way to
a stylish 93 before he was caught and bowled by Fry. P. Wand
didn't trouble the scorers and J. Waring was bowled by
Groves for 4. Tom Sherman (14) showed some big hitting
before he was also bowled by Groves which left Wakeman 37
n.o. and D. Woodrow 1 n.o.. The Minch innings closed at an
impressive 174 for 7. Kinman-Pearmain took 2 for 13 from 6
overs with spin twins Fry and Groves taking 2 wickets each.
With the wicket drying and batting
seemingly getting easier, Stanley set about the run chase.
Uzzell patted one around the corner to
be caught for 0 in the 5th over which brought Clemence in to
join Groves. These two put on 52 for the second wicket
before Groves was bowled by Turton for a hard hit 46 (9x4),
in the 18th over. Clemence was bowled by Turton for 30
(4x4), 4 overs later Fry tried to finish the game in one
over but was caught for 16 (1x4, 2x6). When Andy Brennan
joined Gabb, the ship needed steadying. Sadly, Gabb got a
bit carried away and was bowled by Sherman for 27 in the
following over and John Priestly was out one over later for
0. Chris Oakes was run out for 6, going for an over
ambitious second run in the 31st over, Scott Kinman-Pearmain
needed a shovel rather than a bat for the very low one that
bowled him and Marcus Collins failed to score. So with 7
overs to go, 18 runs were required and the last pair were at
the wicket. With nerves fraying and scorers pens shaking the
runs were whittled away. Brennan was dropped in the 36th
over and so it got down to the final over with 2 runs or one
wicket deciding the outcome of the game. No11 Ed Nash was on
strike and played the first three balls straight to the
close fielders. The fourth ball he managed to pierce the
field and the ball ran away for four through mid on. Stanley
winning by one wicket with two balls remaining and no
fingernails. Andy Brennan 21n.o. and Ed Nash 12n.o.
J. Turton took 3 for 46 and Tom
Sherman 3 for 19 for Minch.
In light of recent events the game was
played an a superb spirit, both teams entered into 'the
spirit of the game', which made for an enjoyable afternoon's
cricket between two teams who were vying for second place in
the league. There is certainly no animosity between Leonard
Stanley and Minchinhampton!
Paul Gabb
Leonard Stanley C.C. Captain and Press
officer.
