Chesterfield's short lived reign
by Mike Taylor, 15th June 2003

Chesterfield reign as league leaders came to an abrupt end when they were comprehensively outplayed at Quarndon. Not for the first time this season, a team having achieved top spot enjoyed only the shortest of stays in that position before slipping back into the pack of chasing sides.

With captain David Adams winning the toss and electing to make first use of a good-looking strip on a hot, sunny day, Chesterfield must have been looking to set target of at least 250 against a side that has been scoring well this season.

The Chesterfield openers faced an unusual variation of pace as Mark Tournier and Gary Myers shared the new ball. It was Captain Tournier who struck first with the wicket of Andy Brown (9) and when South African Myers struck twice in his sixth over to dismiss Dean Hopkinson (7) and Adams (0), Chesterfield were in trouble at 23-3.

The arrival of the industrious Simon Lacey (pictured above) afforded the visitors some hope as he combined with opener Alan Gofton, in a rich vein of form this season. A stand of 43 ensued before Gofton (31) was unluckily caught behind at 66-4.

Paul Burdett joined Lacey and the pair had moved the Chesterfield score past a hundred by the half way mark of the permitted 55 overs. With batting to come, the visitors were at last looking as though they could post a score of interest for their varied bowling attack.

Steve Hollis acknowledges the applause as he reaches his fifty

But then a wide from Liam Chapman proved costly for the batting side as Lacey (27) was stumped by an alert Kevin Hollis. Chesterfield’s position deteriorated further as Tournier returned to make deeper inroads with the wickets of Burdett (14), Tim Kirk (4) and Paul Goodwin (0). With Daniel Brightmore bowling the dangerous looking Fran O’Neill (12), the visitors had been reduced to 138-9 with 20 overs remaining.

The last wicket pair used up eight of those overs in adding a comfortable 24 before the dismissal of Ray Karim (20) gave Tournier figures of 5-30 and left young fast bowler Joe Cooper (10*) stranded on his batting debut in the Premier League.

Following an early tea, the Quarndon opening pair applied themselves with a level of resolve that had at times been missing in the Chesterfield batting. Steve Hollis (58) reached his fifty first but it was Adrian Marsh (76) who increased the tempo as they took the score to 142.

Following the departure of the openers, Bill Bagshawe (14*) made sure there were no further hiccups as his side recorded their first win of the season leaving the erstwhile leaders to reflect that below par performances are invariably punished in this competitive league.