Notts & Arnold triumph in real thriller
by Paul Barker, 30th May 2006

In a match where if you had written a script it couldn’t have turned out to be any better, Notts. & Arnold Amateurs and Edwinstowe fought out a tremendous match which the former won with just one ball to spare.

The weather which has blighted this summer struck again immediately after Ian Flood’s first over and sent the players scuttling back to the pavilion for almost one hour. When play resumed Edwinstowe found it difficult to ‘up the ante’ and after 25 overs only 47 runs were on the board. This was mainly due to some brilliant swing bowling by Mark North who clean bowled Paul Benson, James Hooper and Asif Zakir in a tremendous spell.

However from this moment on John Garnham and Craig Saxelby put together a magnificent partnership with some fantastic running between the wickets and some flamboyant stroke play. Saxelby finished with a magnificent unbeaten 77 and Garnham his partner was dismissed for a valuable 51 as Edwinstowe’s reached a highly satisfactory 182 for 5. Mark North with 3 for 21 in 15 overs really was the stand out bowler for Notts. & Arnold, with the other wickets being taken by Leigh Baldry and Paul Murphy.

This set Notts. & Arnold quite a task in 40 minutes plus 20 overs but they made their intentions obvious with David Evans going after the bowling from ball number one. A great partnership between Evans and Leigh Baldry took the score along at the right pace until Baldry was bowled for a stylish 39 and this brought skipper Ian Flood to the crease and the score increased rapidly.

Flood struck some mighty blows but Notts. & Arnold suffered a major blow when Evans who had batted brilliantly was run out for a superb 67 and when Flood was dismissed for 26 the chase looked as good as over. However this was Mark North’s day and he added to his performance with the ball with a tremendous 35 n.o. with the bat and it was only fitting that he smote a tremendous straight drive for four to secure the victory.

As well as a win for Notts. & Arnold this was also a win for cricket and both sides deserve credit for the way the match was played. This might be scant consolation for Edwinstowe but if they continue to play in this vein things will get better and rightly so.

The weather plagued the game between Farnsfield and Killamarsh but not before some fine individual performances were registered. For the second time this weekend Sam Malpass played a magnificent innings of 86, and was well supported by Adam Burgess (44), Paul Burdett (30) and Pramuka Liyanage (31) as Killamarsh declared on 202 for 4.

Farnsfield after losing four wickets, then decided wisely that this was asking a little too much and stood at 100 for 4 when the match finished. This match had all the makings of a good game, but once again the weather was the deciding factor.

Glapwell are stranded at the bottom of the table and their plight is getting worse after they succumbed to another comprehensive defeat for the second. Batting first Glapwell were well served by Lee Topham (36) and Nick Bircumshaw (30 n.o.) but the rest caved in to some fine bowling by Mark Davies who took 3 for 30 and were 135 for 7 when the overs ran out.

This target was well within Marshalls grasp and another great innings by Australian Gareth Yelland (55) effectively saw them to victory on 136 for 5. However the Gainsborough side have now suffered an awful blow for the second consecutive season with Yelland having to go back to Australia this week because of family problems. They have registered someone else, but this guy was looking good and will surely be badly missed.

Worksop came back from their narrow defeat on Saturday to register a winning draw against Blidworth in a low scoring encounter at Central Avenue. Batting first Worksop mainly thanks to Glen Pym with an assured 63 totalled 154 for 5 when the overs ran out. Dan Willcock once again underlined his enormous potential for Blidworth bowling well to take 3 for 31.

It looked however that this score would be far from adequate as Blidworth moved serenely to 86 before the first wicket fell. The one problem was that the rate was a little on the slow side and a touch of panic seized them and a few risky shots began to land them in trouble and they closed rather disappointingly on 138 for 8.

Ritchie Gibbons (43) and Matt Slade (31) were the Blidworth batsmen in form whilst the Worksop destroyer was Ramesh Sanjay who bowled brilliantly to claim 4 for 30 as Worksop continue to confound the critics.

In Division 2 only one match survived the weather and this was another cracker at Papplewick. Batting first opponents Whitwell, thanks to Alan Draycott (37) and Darren Westerby (39) managed to post a highly impressive 177 for 7 with Steve Alford capturing 3 for 38 in his usual economical spell.

After Saturday’s disaster when they were bowled out for just 48, one might have thought that a feeling of trepidation would have set into the Papplewick hearts but there was no sign of it here. Tremendous innings of 83 by Steve Waite and Matt Dear (65 n.o.) steered them to a memorable victory at 178 for 3 with seven wickets to spare.