A Sunday drive down the Derwent Valley
by Alan Rowley, 5th May 2003

Colledge - 4-28 and 51*

What a difference in the weather. Yesterday's cold miserable day was replaced with bright sunny conditions if a little breezy. The plan today was to visit a few grounds along the Derwent Valley starting in Matlock, but a visit to the bikers second home was ruled out due to expected traffic problems. So, off to Ambergate for their game against Allestree. Ambergate have not started the season too well, but Allestree are not a strong side, so the home team went into the match as favourites Ambergate rely heavily on their strong bowling attack and opening bowlers Imran Ullah (pictured) and Phil Mason were soon amongst the wickets, but it was Steve Fisher and Sharid Mohammed who were going to be the stars.

Wickets were falling at regular intervals, so after a quick lap of the ground it was back to the car for a short trip to Christchurch Meadows.

Scores:
Ambergate (22) 95-4 (Mohammed 41, Ullah 30*, Sarton 4-31) beat Allestree (2) 94 all out (Mohammed 3-24, Fisher 5-28) by 6 wickets

It was my first trip to the Meadows, but having heard a lot about the picturesque ground, I was not disappointed. A delightful setting for a cricket match, and with the sun beating down it is a great place to view the action.

Meadows seconds were entertaining Butterley in a division 4N game, and the Meadows innings was well underway when I arrived. The home side were going well. Site regular Paul Bakel had already gone for 39, following on from yesterday's fine knock of 80 in the abandoned game against Clowne Town.

Christchurch Meadows - "delightful setting"

Skipper Pete Brookes (77) was in full flow, assisted by Steve Moran (42), and the Butterley fielders were becoming increasingly frustrated as catches went down. Brookes was despatching the luckless Butterley bowlers to all parts. His innings included a couple of towering sixes, one of which rattled into the pavillion, almost dislodged a blackbird's nest in the process.

When Brookes (pictured) was eventually caught going for another six, Paul Beastall took over hitting a rapid unbeaten 31. The Meadows finished on 234 for 4, but the Butterley batsmen managed to hold out for a draw.

Scores:
Belper Meadows (19) 234-4 (P Bakel 39, S Moran 42, Brookes 77, Beastall 31*) drew with Butterley Utd (8) 182-8 (Dance 68, Topham 33, Fisher 5-44)

Final destination for the day was Eyes Meadows where Duffield were entertaining Marehay. This was a visit that I had been eagerly awaiting after reading about the club on their Official SportNetwork site.

Read: Official Duffield Cricket Club

Eyes Meadows is probably the most picturesque of all the Derbyshire grounds and the view from the balcony looking over the field and down the Derwent Valley is unsurpassed. But was it windy! A near gale was blowing across the ground making batting and fielding very difficult. The site of my mate's Eccles cake blowing away before he had chance to eat it is a sight I won't forget for a while.

Lee Colledge despatches Kris Elliott on his way to fifty

Duffield had already batted and had failed miserably to handle the conditions. Lee Colledge dismissed four of the batsmen as the home side crumbled to 97 for 9. Colledge was in fine form with the bat too, riding his luck to finish unbeaten on 51 as the visitors knocked off the runs with considerable ease.

Scores:
Duffield (1) 97-9 (Colledge 4-28) lost to Marehay (22) 100-2 (D Buckley 32*, Colledge 51*) by 8 wickets

A disappointing day for the home team after Saturday's victory at Selston, and next week is a real toughie for them with a trip to league leaders and title contenders Shipley Hall. With this performance, Marehay will have silenced their critics who claim that they will struggle without Arif Mehmood, last season's star.

For all of Sunday's results, click here.

All in all, a good end to the day. The Duffield lot are a friendly bunch and the chance of catching up on the gossip whilst enjoying an ice-cold Pepsi on the balcony was welcomed. After a chat with Duffield's webmaster Adam Short it was time to head back to Sting Towers, stopping off at my local club for a Carling or two.