Bolsover produce the shocks
by Paul Barker, 31st May 2003

Without a win in their first six matches despite three centuries from Pakistani star Tariq Rashid, Bolsover pulled off the impossible when they went to Farnsfield and pulled a most unlikely winning draw out of the hat.

What made matters even more impressive was that Tariq didn’t dominate their innings as he has done throughout the season and the side must be given enormous credit for the gritty way they stuck to their task even when the odds seemed stacked against them.

Batting first Bolsover reached a creditable 209 for 8 with Chris Cowley (36) and Eddie Grant (35) both battling hard against a steady Farnsfield attack in which New Zealander Mark Silcock bagged an impressive 54.

This target looked well within the reach of Farnsfield however and Mick Hodgkin (52) and Paul Delaney (68) saw them inch ever closer to victory. However a middle order slump saw them fail by seven runs as they closed on 202 for 8 with Tariq Rashid doing the damage with the ball taking 4 for 56 and he was aided and abetted by Steve Wooley with 4 for 72.

Bolsover always put up a fight and they gained their reward for an excellent display when the chips seemed stacked against them and this may be the turning point for them. We shall have to wait and see.

Cutthorpe simply decimated the Mansfield Hosiery Mills attack scoring 346 for 5 with Chris Marples registering his third century of the season with a blistering 133 and good support came from the ever-reliable Andrew Thompson who made a sound 85. Asadullah Butt weighed in also with 69 and an extremely weary Hosiery Mills side were glad to troop off at the half way stage after a real grueling.

To their credit Hosiery Mills stood firm and denied Cutthorpe the victory at 166 for 7 with new Sri-Lankan recruit Asela Jayasinghe making an impressive unbeaten 80 on his debut. Jeff Appleton added a further 31 and Asadullah Butt crowned a fine all round match for himself taking 5 for 77 as Hosiery Mills held on for the draw.

Table topping Arnold acquired another maximum points haul as they demolished a disappointing North Wheatley side. Batting first Arnold reached 194 all out with skipper Andy Hobbs making 68 and Australian Justin Foss 41 whilst South African import Tiene Maree kept up his outstanding form for Wheatley taking 5 for 45.

Then the procession began as Wheatley were dismissed for a miserable 46 runs. Andy Rann had the incredible figures of 4 for 5 and was well backed up by Rick Peacock with 3 for 10 as Arnold kept up their catch us if you can policy!

Cuckney were in terrible trouble at Glapwell and staring down the barrel of a gun at 45 for 6 before Andrew Jackman (104) and Gemmal Hussain (46) pulled the innings round to 207 all out. Former Notts star Andy Pick caused most of the damage taking 6 for 38 in a very impressive spell but Glapwell did let things slip rather and Cuckney must have been pleased with their final total.

Despite good efforts from New Zealander Andrew Smith (43) and skipper Phil Matthews (36 n.o.) Glapwell never looked much like troubling this target and finished on 159 for 7 as Cuckney took seventeen points for a winning draw.

Kiveton Park have rebounded back from a rather disastrous start to the season and almost captured maximum points against Thoresby Colliery who were holding out grimly at the close. Batting first the brilliant Adam Burgess made a magnificent 98 and was well supported by Richard Grainger who made 64. Aussie Daniel Nash took 3 54 and Steve Collington (3 for 44) as Kiveton closed their innings on 251 for 9.

Thoresby Colliery replied with 203 for 9 with Alan Wilkinson making 36 and Kiwi Ben Winslade an unbeaten 62, but they held out desperately at the finish. Richard Spurr was the pick of the Kiveton attack taking 4 for 59 but the final wicket proved elusive and the home side had to settle for a winning draw.

Retford were another side who just could’nt finish the job off against a spirited Killamarsh side. Batting first Retford were indebted to Nigel Hall (63) and Pascal Broadley (61) as they reached 198 for 8. Dave Barton (5 for 54 and Rodney Cook (3 for 37) both bowled well for Killamarsh who stuck to their task admirably.

Despite good efforts from Aussie Andrew Hognhofer (36) and Sam Malpass (31) Killamarsh failed to reach the target set and closed on 143 for 8 with Pascal Broadley (3 for 30) being the pick of the Retford attack.

Into Division 2 and leaders Marshalls looked mighty impressive as they dismantled third placed Whitwell by ten wickets with the minimum of fuss at the Rookery. Batting first Whitwell were in serious trouble when their South African import Michael Alexander who has two centuries to his tally this season was dismissed with only 1 run on the board. The bowler Matthew Housham made further early inroads taking two more wickets to end up with 3 for 34 as Whitwell slumped to 130 for 9 when the overs ran out. Only a well constructed 69 by Darren Westerby saved them from an even worse fate as Marshalls turned the key very tightly.

The target proved virtually no contest as the two Australians Paul Van den Heuvel (81 n.o.) and Tim Down (35 n.o.) saw Marshalls home with all ten wickets to spare in just 18.4 overs. Everything loose was flayed to the fence particularly by Van den Heuvel who totally dominated the innings and made batting look ridiculously easy.

Edwinstowe kept second place by gaining a winning draw against Biwater Clay Cross. Paul Benson top scored for Edwinstowe with 48 out of a total of 179 for 8 whilst Nigel Hibbert was the pick of the Clay Cross attack with 4 for 48.

Biwater made a good dart at this target but when they lost Steve Cracknell (45) the writing was very much on the cards. Ally Rhodes was Edwinstowe’s best bowler but several others chipped in as Biwater concluded on 144 for 8

Blyth gave Pilsley their first win of the season in a low scoring encounter at Oldcotes Road. Mark Limb (4 for 14) bowled superbly for Pilsley as Blyth were dismissed for just 108 and despite a good effort from Andy Barthorpe (3 for 36) Pilsley reached their target with four wickets to spare at 112 for 6.

Eckington surprisingly came to grief against lowly placed N.S.K. by five wickets at Staveley Lane. Batting first Eckington reached the respectable total of 194 for 9 with Andy Davies (66) and Terrence Pearson (51) both batting well.

This target proved little problem to N.S.K. with Nigel Murray (44) at his very best leading the charge as they reached 197 for 5 to knock off the required runs with ease.

The powerful Worksop side moved menacingly into third place with a comfortable eight wicket success over basement side Ashover. Batting first Ashover reached 140 for 9 thanks to Russell Cooke who played a little gem of an innings to reach 76, but the rest of the batting had no answer to the wiles of left arm slow bowler Paul Burton who captured 7 for 34.

This target proved no contest to Worksop and they knocked off the required runs for the loss of two wickets with the brilliant Jamil Hassan making a cultured 66 as his side reached 143 for 2 with the minimum of effort.

Anston have hurtled up the table at break neck speed after a bad start. They won again in good style on Saturday vanquishing Everton by 135 runs after reaching 206 for 9 in their 46 overs. Akilesh Rana (37), Nigel Staniland (54) and Danny Scrivens (40) all helped in no small way to pusg the score to respectability whilst Andy Snell bowled superbly well to take 3 for 46.

Everton were then dismissed for just 71 as their innings turned into a procession. With the accurate Ian Barley taking 3 for 25 and the impressive Akilesh Rana recording the incredible figures of 5 or 5 off just eight over.