Elvaston dreams sunk by the ship
by Alan Rowley, 1st September 2002

Elvaston's fourth attempt at lifting the Village Trophy, and their third in successive years, resulted in failure at Lord's this afternoon. On a hot late summer's day, on a perfect batting track, the Derbyshire lads were no match for Shipton-Under-Wychwood, their Oxfordshire challengers.

Elvaston won the toss and elected to bat in slightly overcast conditions with the sun bursting through on occasions to lift the temperature dramatically. They got off to the worst possible start with young opener Charlie Ault soon on his way back to the pavilion with just four runs on the board. The 16 year old had contributed only two.

Elvaston's biggest partnership then followed between Lee Archer and Paul Birch who put on 43 for the second wicket before Birch holed out to Bates off Shipton skipper Hemming's first over.

In the next over, Archer was decieved by Phil Garner's spin and was next to face the long walk back to the pavilion. Elvaston were struggling on 48 for 3 with half of their 40 overs gone.

In the 23rd over, Elvaston skipper Richard Johnson was brilliantly stumped by Shipton keeper Shane Duff for just one. Elvaston were on the rack with the score standing at 54 for 4.

Andy Brear and Rob Kettlewell put on a mini revival to take the score on to 77 before Brear was bowled off Chris Panter's first ball in the match. Panter, not living up to his nickname of "Pants", then had Rob Torry trapped leg before off his second ball. His hat trick was denied when he bowled a wide ball to James Bodill.

Shipton-Under-Wychwood, National Village Champions 2002

With 10 overs to go, Elvaston were looking glum on 78 for 6. They were batting nervously and were not batting with their usually fluency. The Shipton supporters, if not out-numbering Elvaston's, were certainly more vocal.

Things went from bad to worse for the Derbyshire lads when Rob Kettlewell was next to fall to an amazing catch on the deep mid-on boundary. Going for a straight six over the bowler's head, Kettlewell was spectacularly caught one handed by Steve Bates who ran fully 20 yards to make the catch. A brilliant effort which left Elvaston on 89 for 7.

With four overs left, opening bowler Jason Constable returned at the Nursery End and had Andy Barrett clean bowled off only his fourth ball for two. Ian Hall came in at number ten, and he and Bodill threw their bat at everything in the vain attempt to add quick runs to Elvaston's meagre total.

Bodill chanced his arm once to often and was bowled by Constable in the 39th over with the score on 113 for 9. This brought 15 year old Gareth Charlesworth to the crease, returning from a Spanish family holiday to make his Lord's debut.

The lad was warmly applauded by the sporting crowd, but there was little the tail enders could do other than attempt to hit every ball out of the ground. Inevitably, Charlesworth was last out for two, with the score on 121. Ian Hall finished unbeaten on seven.

During lunch, general opinion was that Elvaston's score was a good 40 runs short of being a match winner and this is how it was to turn out. Opening bowlers Hall and Barrett bowled well, and when Constable skied a ball to Rob Kettlewell at mid-on, Elvaston were hopeful of a surprise comeback.

Hall had Gillett clean bowled for one in the fourth over and Shipton were looking shaky on 17 for 2. Skipper Paul Hemming steadied the ship, and after 10 overs, Elvaston introduced off-spinner Charlesworth into the attack. This was a make or break move by the Elvaston skipper, but, unfortunately, the occasion proved too much for the young lad as he was clobbered for 22 runs from his 4 overs.

Paul Birch replaced Charlesworth, and when drinks were taken at 20 overs, Shipton were well on top at 78 for 2. Lee Archer breathed some life back into the Elvaston attack with a lightening stumping of Steve Bates (40), but by then, Shipton looked away and gone.

Ted Dexter presents the trophy to Shipton skipper Paul Hemming

The Shipton hundred came up off 186 balls, and when Hemming went for 33, caught behind by the athetic Archer, Shipton needed just 22 more to win from 50 balls.

Surprisingly, the next few overs resembled more like a team batting out for a draw than a team searching for their first Lord's triumph. Derbyshire supporters would say that Elvaston were clawing their way back into the game, whereas Oxfordshire supporters would say that Shipton were just pacing themselves. Whatever the reasons, the Shipton progress was painfully slow.

Phil Garner broke the deadlock with a four to the square leg boundary which took Shipton on to 104 for 4. Garner was brilliantly run out by James Bodill, but by then the game was lost to Elvaston.

Rob Kettlewell came on at the Nursery End, but couldn't produce the miracle the Derbyshire fans were praying for. James Bodill came back at the Pavilion End only to see Duff hit the winning runs with 16 balls to spare.

Another disappointing trip down the M1 for Elvaston. Where did it go wrong? Some might say that it was foolish to field two youngsters in the side and then to give them prominent roles to play. Others might say that the Elvaston batsmen went far too slowly in the opening overs.

Whatever your opinion, Elvaston were on the receiving end of another Lord's drubbing. But the game was played out in a marvellous spirit, as you would expect from village cricketers, and the Derbyshire contingent returning up the motorway were soon talking about a return in 2003.

The match scorecard can be found here.