Saturdays Action (Or Lack Of)

For the second Saturday running, the 2nd XI were the only side to avoid the bad weather, even managing to start on time against Cheadle at the UCG. Tommy Maguire won the toss and invited the visitors to bat. The visiting skipper, Nick Reid opened the batting with Richard Nicholson, whilst Rich Battersby & Tommy took the new ball. The first 2 overs were maidens as the Cheadle openers took their time to assess the pitch and it was the 15th ball of the innings before a run was scored. The batters were made to work hard for their runs and it was a further 15 balls before the next run came off the bat. Nicholson took 19 balls to get off the mark whilst Reid was stuck on 6 for 23 balls.

Cheadle were 8-0 after 8 overs when Nicholson decided some acceleration was required. He took 5 runs from the 9th over and 6 runs from the first 5 balls of the next when he became the first wicket to fall, Graeme Keenan taking a smart catch at mid-wicket off the skipper. Nicholson made 12 off 29 balls and Cheadle were 19-1 off 10 overs. Jack Langley (highlighted on Friday as their leading run scorer) joined the skipper but he too found it tough to score, only managing a single in his first 12 balls faced. The first bowling change came in the 14th over, Callum McCormick replacing Tommy with Cheadle on 20-1 off 13 overs. Callum picked up his first wicket with the 4th ball of his second over, having Langley caught at slip by Mike McGreary for 8 off 17 balls.

Batts came out of the attack after bowling 8 overs, 4 maidens 0 wicket for 18 runs and was replaced by Keeno. Ben Samuels was in the minority on the day, successfully showing aggressive intent, being quick to punish anything loose and he quickly moved to 12 off 13 balls and along with Reid moved the score to 71-2 after 25 overs and drinks. Callum continued after the break, going for a couple of singles before he removed Samuels courtesy of a catch to Alex Livingstone at point with his 4th ball. Samuels made 20 off 29 balls and he was replaced by Charlie Mitchell. 4 balls later, he was back in the pavilion being run out by a Batts underarm throw to G Mac who did the rest. In the next over, Callum removed the skipper, Reid thanks to a second catch for Mike at first slip for a hard working 32 off 85 balls. Next ball, Shah was out stumped by a very alert G. Mac who saw Moin Shah wander out of his crease and whipped off the bails as shown in the video clip. Cheadle had collapsed from 73-2 to 73-6 in the space of 13 balls.

Callum was now on a hattrick but Tony Whiteley managed to dig out the yorker and along with Alex Read they gradually moved the score along to something that could be defended. As at the beginning of the innings, both batsmen were willing to dig in and work hard for their runs recognising that scoring was not easy. Whiteley in particular faced 31 balls before getting off the mark. Batts was reintroduced in the 33rd over and Tommy in the 36th,however, whilst the scoring rate had slowed, they could not find the elusive 7th wicket. Keeno replaced Tommy after a 3 over burst and in the next over Batts finally got his reward when he bowled Whiteley for a defiant 8 from 40 balls. In the next over, good work from Dave Stewart ran out Wells for 1. Batts removed Read (Luke Williams taking a catch off a skyer) in the next over for 24 off 62 balls and Keeno finished things off by removing Panter for 2, Graeme claiming his 2nd stumping. Cheadle were all out for 109 off 45.4 overs, leaving Upton 54 overs to get the runs.

Sam Talbot & Graeme McGowan led the Upton response and made a steady start until G got a ball from Panter that rose a little more than expected and he was caught behind by Wells for 3 from 11 balls, bringing Mike McGreary to the wicket. Upton were 12-1 after 4.3 overs. Unfortunately, Sam fell to the first ball of the next over, LBW to Read for 6 off 17 balls, 12-2. Alex Livingstone was cleaned bowled by Read 2 balls later (12-3), Dave Stewart survived a huge LBW appeal to the 4th ball but wasn't so lucky to the 6th giving Read a triple wicket maiden and leaving the Upton innings in tatters at 12-4 off 5 overs. Mike was joined by Luca and they worked hard to establish a base, however, to the 2nd ball of the 8th over, Mike tried to hit Panter straight and only succeeded in skying a catch to Shah at mid on. Mike was out for an 11 ball duck and Upton were now 12 for 5.

Luca batted sensibly and was unlucky to be bowled by a short ball that he played down only to see it roll into his stumps. Luca made 8 off 19 balls and Upton were 21-6 after 11 overs. This soon became 21-7 when Callum was bowled by Panter. Luke Williams and Batts dug in and showed that you could survive on the wicket but neither batsman was getting anything to hit. Luke was eventually out (bowled by Read) for 1 from 22 balls and Upton were 25-8 off 17.5 overs. With Panter tiring, Tony Whiteley was introduced and he started with a maiden. in his second over, Whiteley had Batts caught on the deep mid wicket boundary. Batts was very unlucky to pick out the only fielder in the deep after battling so hard, however, he was out for 1 from 33 balls leaving Upton on 26-9 in the 23rd over.

After taking 16 balls to get off the mark, Tommy hit a few lusty blows (including consecutive 4s off Whiteley)and Keeno played probably the shot of the innings pulling a short ball from Read for 4 but this was mere consolation as we were eventually all out for 53 from 31.2 overs. Keeno was the last man out (bowled by Panter) for 5 from 26 balls whilst the skipper finished undefeated on 22 from 41 balls. Panter & Read finished with 5-18 & 4-18 respectively. Tommy top-scored, the 10th wicket partnership of 27 more than doubled the score and of the 188 balls the innings lasted, Batts, Tommy & Keeno faced 100 of them. Not a good day at the office! The scoring App report can be accessed below.