"the voice of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire cricket" in association with
Pure Cricket, - 'supplying cricket equipment to the professional amateur'
Pure Cricket, - 'supplying cricket equipment to the professional amateur'
|
"the voice of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire cricket" in association with Pure Cricket, - 'supplying cricket equipment to the professional amateur' |
|
|
Great cricket - at all levels Cricket is one of those games that always provides something of interest, no matter what level of the game you are playing or watching. That's what I found yesterday as I wandered around four of my local grounds. From division E/F cricket at Underwood to Premier action at Kimberley, there was plenty to see, photograph and report on. First port of call was Underwood who were taking on Chilwell in the South Notts division E/F. I had not visited Underwood for around 15 years, when they were in the top flight of Nottinghamshire club cricket. The ground has hardly changed since then.
Underwood is an attractive little village ground, although the amenities can best be described as basic. The pavilion is the local welfare, just across the road, but cricket being the game that it is, the lack of modern facilities doesn't deter the players, or the handful of spectators who showed up for the game. In the game itself, Chilwell were no match for the home side and they plummeted to an all out total of 53. William Knutson did the damage for Underwood taking a fine 5 for 19. Underwood knocked off the required runs for the loss of four wickets. Scores: Second match of the day was at Awsworth who were entertaining Plumtree 2nds. It's always good to meet site regulars and put 'faces to names' and I was delighted to be greeted by Gary Edginton on arrival at the ground. Gary gave me a brief history of the club, and brief it was as the club have only been going for 12 years. They must be the 'baby' amongst the South Notts League. The club are very ambitious, but are restricted by their small ground. If they are to continue their progress up the ladder, they will need to make some major alterations. Some clubs are happy to remain at the level they are playing, but I got the impression that Awsworth want to 'go places'.
The ground is very pictureque with views out over countryside made famous by Eastwood born author D H Lawrence who based some of his works in nearby Cossall. The wooden pavilion, which has been a part of the ground for the last seven years, was provided by one of the club sponsors.
The track is one of the best batting tracks around the area and Gary informed me that it's all down to the groundsman who is at the ground rolling the pitch three days during the week. Without these unsung backroom boys, the game at this level would not survive. Awsworth started slowly averaging less than two runs an over for the first half of their innings. Darren Shaw, close season signing from Hucknall, was batting well, but when he was out for 41, Awsworth's innings capitulated. From looking set to make 180 or so, Awsworth could only finish on 145 for 9. Even allowing for the damp outfield, 145 was never going to be enough and Plumtree knocked off the runs for the loss of only four wickets. Mark Oldham top scored with 51 and Murphy Ali contributed an unbeaten 40. Scores:
If anyone can shed any light on what this strange object was, please let us know on the message board. Kimberley Institute sat proudly at the top of the Nottinghamshire Premier going into the weekend's fixtures. Having played last Saturday, when all other games where washed out, Kimberley have sneaked an early advantage over there rivals. Saturday saw the visit of Welbeck Colliery to Newdigate Lane. Welbeck are arguably one of the strongest sides in the League and home supporters were expecting a very tough test. Could Kimberley maintain their run of good form and their early season advantage? At tea, you would have thought that Kimberley's run of good form had come to an end. Welbeck's openers John Wakeling and Paul Johnson had put on an opening partnership of over 180. Johnno was particularly impressive, despite being dropped early on. Noel Gie chipped in with an unbeaten 25 late on, and despite losing late wickets, Welbeck closed on a convincing 266 for 7. Johnson scored 96 before being caught by Vaughan Hamilton off Jon Shaw. Skipper Shaw had Wakeling caught and bowled for 60 and went on to take 5 wickets for 99 runs.
Kimberley started steady, but former Notts and Worcestershire star Paul Pollard was in scintillating form. Despite losing Tom Collishaw for 10, Pollard struck up what proved to be a match winning partnership with Mark Dale. When Dale went for 59, Pollard continued to bat with confidence until he finally fell leg before to Richard Hodgkinson for 128. By this point, Kimberley were well on the way to a memorable victory and it was left to Shaw to hit the winning runs with 20 balls to spare. Hodgkinson led the way for the Welbeck bowlers with an expensive four wickets for 73 runs. Scores: Kimberley Institute v Welbeck Colliery scorecard Surprising early leaders in South Notts Division A are Eastwood Town. Having defeated Rolls Royce Leisure in the first game of the season, the Town came up against a Radcliffe-on-Trent side who many think will do well this year. Under the leadership of John Birch, the young Radcliffe side could be a force to reckon with in a couple of years. Radcliffe won the toss and elected to bat on a damp track with an outfield that was still very sticky. Anything hit in the air ground to a rapid halt once it hit the deck. The ground, which had been like a bog a week ago, looked short of work and a low scoring game looked on the cards.
Radcliffe started well with openers Sutton and Hawley building an opening partnership of 78 before danger man Rob Sutton fell to John Buckley for 37. Hawley continued in fine form and, with Buckley proving particularly expensive, the Radcliffe opener moved on to his fifty before falling to Dean Blake for 65. Brooks contributed an excellent unbeaten 69, including 6 fours and 2 sixes. The final score of 196 for 5 from the 48 overs looked enough at tea.
Buckley went for 30, one of two wickets for Mark Taylor, and Ikram Ul-Haq steadied the ship with an unbeaten 30. Despite losing a few wickets in the run chase, the usual Eastwood middle order collapse didn't materialise and the home side reached their target with just three balls to spare. Scores: Eastwood Town v Radcliffe-on-Trent scorecard After the game, there was time to catch up with site regulars Tea Bag and Jimmy Rodrigez. Unlucky guys - on another day, your score would have been good enough. This left only to relax with a beer or two and reflect on a glorious sunny day that had produced some great cricket - at all levels. 
|
To advertise here, fill in the feedback form.
CHARLIE FRENCH BATS  |
Strangest site of the afternoon was a largest inflatable black bag which floated across the ground before disappearing high into the sky. Looking like a giant black sausage, the inflatable hopefully didn't cause any problems for low flying aircraft. 
Eastwood weren't about to sit back and watch their early season lead slip away. Openers John Buckley and Ejaz Ahmed started well. Ahmed was first to go, unluckily run out for 45 with the score on 83. Buckley was joined by the big-hitting Neil Gregory (pictured right) who took control of the game racing on to 65 which included 5 fours and 3 sixes.
