Just champion - that's Cuckney
by Paul Barker, 16th September 2007

The delightful ground of Hucknall Cricket Club was the setting for the annual Champion of Champions match between Cuckney of the Bassetlaw Cricket League and Plumtree their counterparts from the South Nottinghamshire Cricket League.

Both sides were under strength with Plumtree suffering more owing to an epidemic of holiday-making from their first team squad. However a good crowd which is the ‘norm’ at this match saw some good cricket with Cuckney winning the toss and batting first and making a huge total of 292 for 3 in their 45 over stay at the crease.

Kunil Jogea and Elliot Hind batted superbly and gave Cuckney the sort of start that a side can only dream about and they put on 146 for the first wicket before Hind was caught by Jaffari off the bowling of young Matt Milnes for a splendid 61 runs.

Jogea never looked in the slightest trouble and punished the bad ball severely and with his skipper Richard Stroh for company the score continued to rocket upwards at a very respectable rate. Jogea completed a magnificent century before being dismissed for 103, clean bowled by Plumtree skipper Darren Wright with the score on 221.

Stroh continued to take the attack to Plumtree and he acquired another useful partner with Tom Ullyott arriving at the crease. Ullyott began to pepper the boundary repeatedly and smashed three consecutive fours in one over before Stroh after reaching yet another half century skied a catch to Gamble off the bowling of Dallas Coull and perished for a well-made 58 on 274.

Daniel Brown joined Ullyott who remained unbeaten on 42 when Plumtree’s misery ended with the last ball of the 45^th over, but the Cuckney score of 292 for 3 looked rather potent to say the least.

Matt Milnes (1 for 26), Dallas Coull (1 for 30) and Darren Wright (1 for 50) were the only three of eight bowlers tried by Plumtree to succeed and they were certainly made to work hard for the wickets they took.

The Plumtree innings got away to the worst possible start when with only nine runs on the board Alex Sheriston was pouched at slip by Richard Stroh off the bowling of Andy Stephenson. With this early success Cuckney were well up for things, but an excellent second wicket stand between Mark Oldham who exploded the first six of the afternoon and Dallas Coull took them to 48 before a lifter from Stroh was gloved to wicket keeper Elliot Hind by Oldham when he had made 18.

Full credit goes to Oldham who never looked at the umpire; he simply walked straight back to the pavilion proving once again that sportsmanship isn’t totally dead. The defining moment in the match came with the score on 63 when Dallas Coull who had looked in good touch was caught by Tom Ullyott off the bowling of Majid Verjee for 26 and with this three more wickets fell for just four runs to render the match completely over.

First to go was Plumtree skipper Darren Wright who was unfortunate enough to be caught in stunning fashion by Daniel Brown off the bowling of Verjee on 66, then one run later Michael Tew was trapped lbw by the same bowler and with no addition to the score Nigel Finney was caught by Kunil Jogea to give Tom Ullyott his first wicket.

Paul White and Terry Shaw then took the score to 105 before Stroh held an easy catch to dismiss the former off the bowling of Ullyott and Shaw who had batted excellently and top scored with 27 was finally out to a return catch which gave Ullyott his third wicket with the score on 130.

Another fifteen runs were added until Stroh returned to dismiss James Gamble, bowled for 3, and trap Keith Sheriston lbw with the all out total being 145. This left the youngest player on the pitch Matt Milnes not out on 10 and gave Cuckney victory by 147 runs which completed a terrific season for the club.

One worrying aspect for both sides however when they ply their trade in the Notts. Premier League next season was the astronomical amount of leg side wides that both teams conceded. Plumtree’s account was twenty but that was small in comparison to Cuckney’s incredible 37. Both sides however have now got about eight months to do something about it. The successful Cuckney bowlers were Richard Stroh (3 for 37), Andy Stephenson (1 for 25), Majid Verjee (3 for 23) and Tom Ullyott (3 for 15).

The presentation party consisted of Messrs. Peter McKenzie and Richard Martin both representatives of the Nottinghamshire Cricket Board. Mr. McKenzie firstly paid lavish praise to the wonderful facilities and the organisation of the Hucknall Cricket Club who had staged the match and to Mr. Alan Croome of Mapperley Sports who once again generously sponsored all the trophies and the man of the match award.

Trophies were presented to the two umpires Mr. Mike Smedley and Mr. Rob Newham and also to the two scorers for their efforts. Both sides were presented with individual trophies and Cuckney skipper Richard Stroh stepped forward to receive the Champion of Champions Shield.  The final award judged by the two umpires was for the man of the match and this was presented to Kunil Jogea for his brilliant innings of 103 for Cuckney.

Scoreboard

Cuckney

K. Jogea                                          b Wright ………….………. 103
E. Hind             ct Jaffari                b Milnes…………………..    61
R. Stroh            ct Gamble              b Coull ………..…………   58
T. Ullyott                                        not out ………..…………….   42
D. Brown                                        not out ………………..…….    1

Extras:- Leg Byes 3, Wides 20, No Balls 4                               27

Total                                                                                             292 for 3 Wickets

Fall of Wickets 1 - 146; 2 - 221; 3 - 274

Bowling:-  A. Sheriston 4-0-30-0; K. Sheriston 7-0-34-0; T. Jaffari 8-0-48-0; D. Coull 6-0-30-1;M. Milnes 4-0-26-1; P. White 3-0-19-0; N. Finney 7-0-52-0; D. Wright 6-0-50-1.

Plumtree

M. Oldham           ct Hind                 b Stroh ……...……………  18
A. Sheriston         ct Stroh                 b Stephenson ……...…..    0
D. Coull                ct T. Ullyott         b Verjee …………....……..  26
D. Wright             ct Brown               b Verjee …………...……..    5
N. Finney             ct Jogea                 b T. Ullyott ……..……….    1
M. Tew                 l.b.w.                    b Verjee …………....……..    0
P. White                ct Stroh                b T. Ullyott ……....……….    6
T. Shaw                ct & b                   T. Ullyott …….....…………. 27
J. Gamble                                          b Stroh …………..……….   3
M. Milnes                                         not out ………....…………..  10
K. Sheriston          l.b.w.                   b Stroh ……………..…….    0

Extras:- Leg Byes 11, No Balls 1, Wides 37                              49

Total                                                                                              145 all out

Fall of Wickets 1 - 9; 2 - 48; 3 - 63; 4 - 66; 5 - 67; 6 - 67; 7 - 105; 8 - 130; 9 - 145; 10 - 145.

Bowling:-  R. Stroh 6.5-0-37-3; A. Stephenson 4-0-25-1; M. Verjee 4-0-23-3; T. Ullyott 9-2-15-3; C. Adwick 3-0-16-0; R. Bostock 3-0-21-0; K. Jogea 1-0-7-0.