Bath Swords blunted by mighty Sandiacre (1)
by Alan Rowley, 4th September 2003.

Sandiacre Town are the ECB National Club Cricket Champions for 2003. They defeated Bath Swords by one run in one of the most thrilling games you are ever likely to see in the final at Lord's.

Batting first, the Derbyshire outfit recovered from a slow start to close on 214 for 7 from their 45 overs. The West Country lads looked to be cruising to victory when a dramatic collapse saw them stumble from 173 for 4 to 213 all out.

On a hot and sunny September morning, Bath won the toss and put Sandiacre in to bat. This was the first visit to Headquarters for the Derbyshire lads, but the Swords made their way onto the hallowed turf for the third time, having being beaten in 1998 and 2001, the latter occasion by a mere four runs. Would today be third time lucky, or would fate be cruel to the West Country Premier champions again?

Any fears of early movement were soon dispersed along with the early morning mist and low cloud. As Sandiacre skipper John Trueman, and fellow opener Ian Hopkins made their way to the middle, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and any morning dew was long gone.

Bath opening bowlers Tom Stayt and Phil McComish were wayward in early exchanges, and Sandiacre were able to capitalise and settle into a steady rhythm. Trueman hit the first boundary in the fifth over when he clouted Stayt to the square leg boundary for four. Hopkins followed in the sixth over pulling McComish to the long on boundary for four. Hopkins then had the Derbyshire fans on their feet with a six into the heavily populated Mound Stand.

Bath opening bowler Tom Stayt appeals after hitting Ian Hopkins pads

McComish conceded 17 from his first three overs and was propmtly replaced by Stuart Barnes at the Nursery End. Starting with a wide, Barnes recovered well to beat Trueman several times in his opening over. Fears that Barnes would prove troublesome were confirmed in the tenth over when he had Hopkins caught in the covers by Swinney with his score on 13. Sandiacre were 34 for 1.

The spin of Simon Gwilliam replaced Stayt at the Pavilion End, and this move slowed the Sandiacre batsmen down considerably. Chris Attwood came in at three, and after 15 overs, the run rate had steadied to 3.2 per over. Trueman had contributed just 18.

Bath were beginning to get the upper hand. The 50 came up in 94 balls, and after 20 overs, Sandicare had struggled to 60 for 1. Sceptics in the Sandiacre crowd were beginning to feel that the match was slipping away from them.

Trueman opened up in the 21st over with two boundaries which took his score into the 30s. A delicate edge past first slip saw his fifth boundary race away to the ropes in front of the pavilion.

Spin was now the order of the day at both ends with the introduction of Gordon Swinney at the Nursery End. Sandiacre were still crawling along at slightly faster than snail's pace and when drinks were taken at 24 overs, their score had reached 80 for 1.

The Sandiacre faithful were praying for an increase in the run rate, and their prayers were answered with a mighty six from Trueman which landed in the midst of the Bath supporters. Hopes were raised that this would silence the dumb blonde in the Executive Box who persisted with the cry of 'stay cool Barth' after seemingly every other ball. However, she would not be silenced, much to the annoyance of the Sandiacre fans in the terracing below.

Bath's Simon Gwilliam can't believe his luck as he finds Chris Attwood's edge

At 92, Attwood was caught at deep mid-wicket by Stayt, off Gwilliam, for 16. Meanwhile, Trueman was inching nervously towards his fifty. He reached the target off 94 balls, including 5 fours and a six, but not before Immy Ahmed had been run out by McComish going for any impossible single.

The 100 came up in 181 balls for the loss of three. The second of the Attwood brothers, Rob, joined Trueman in the middle and the pair ensured the run rate ticked along steadily. Phil McComish returned at the Pavilion End, bowling to a 7-2 field trying to protect the short boundary in front of the Mound Stand. Attwood expoited this on a couple of occasions with fine boundaries which left the Bath fielders with long chases to retrieve the ball.

With 10 overs to go, Sandiacre had only amassed 124 runs and the afore-mentioned sceptics were now becoming very uneasy. Trueman gave a chance to deep mid-wicket on 66, only to see the ball slide under the luckless fielder and rush off for another four.

Attwood was dropped whilst on 12 at deep extra cover off McComish's last ball and Trueman was entering the 70s at the other end. He moved on to 80 with a single off a Barnes full toss as Attwood saw the 150 up with a top edge which shot to the Pavilion boundary for four.

Disaster struck for Sandiacre with the score on 171 when Trueman was brilliantly run out by Staunton, just twelve runs short of what would have been a memorable century. The was the signal for Attwood to swing his bat at everything.

Attwood went to town in style with 11 runs coming from the 42nd over before he was, not surprisingly, caught at point by Murrie off Stayt for 39. 187 for 5. This brought in Irfan Ul Haq (pictured right), who threw everything into a cameo knock of 17, including a huge six which almost knocked Old Father Time off his perch.

Jordison got out to a juggling catch by Staunton off Barnes which brought Ady Taylor to the crease with one over to go. Taylor and Irfan took the score on to 214 before Irfan hit the final ball straight up in the air to be caught by the keeper Hankins.

Sandiacre had recovered well, but would a score of 214 be sufficient to defend against a strong Bath batting line-up?

Match report 2 | Scorecard