Finally the Cavaliers scored a point in the Twenty20 league last night however through away a great chance of victory. Well we should be thankful for small mercies, after fielding fantastically and Andy knocking a quickfire birthday 26* we managed the usual cock up to ruin all our good work. However David Lever heroically saved the game and almost got us over the line... Click here for the full match report.
One more Twenty20 match before the big Stuart Cup final, can the Cavaliers claim their first victory? The bookies odds aren't good!
Wednesday 20 June 2007
Sunday 17 June 2007
First FCL defeat
Disaster! After a week of rain and two 2020 match postponements we were all pleased with the break in the weather allowing us a match at home to Fleetwood on Saturday. With Captain Alcock winning the toss and electing to field, we felt we had a good chance of getting some early breakthoughs in bowler frinedly conditions. After dropping their opener first ball and then with him not walking after a clear edge caught behind, things were not looking good. We battled on and Dave Lever took 4 wickets to end the innings with Fleetwood posting 148/8. A total we felt we could get, even though it felt like it had taken a lifetime to bowl the overs!
Having initially been put into bat at 3, I asked to drop down the order to get warm again and be able to give a good batting performance. However batting at 5 I was in after 5 overs after Coker took a hat trick to demolish our top order in a weakened team! The name of the game had instantly turned to salvaging a draw and remaining undefeated if possible. Mike fell to a Cottam Hall shooter but I managed to stick around for an hour and score 18. But when I yorked myself we had an hour to go with 5 wickets in hand. Scott, Lefty and Kenny hung around well but with just under half an hour left, Coker came back on to finish the game. A disappointing end to the game and the unbeaten run is over. Such a shame as a win would have sent us top of the league with a game in hand, what would have been a very strong position. Anyway we must regroup and use the Twenty20 to get back in form and ready for the Stuart Cup Final.
Having initially been put into bat at 3, I asked to drop down the order to get warm again and be able to give a good batting performance. However batting at 5 I was in after 5 overs after Coker took a hat trick to demolish our top order in a weakened team! The name of the game had instantly turned to salvaging a draw and remaining undefeated if possible. Mike fell to a Cottam Hall shooter but I managed to stick around for an hour and score 18. But when I yorked myself we had an hour to go with 5 wickets in hand. Scott, Lefty and Kenny hung around well but with just under half an hour left, Coker came back on to finish the game. A disappointing end to the game and the unbeaten run is over. Such a shame as a win would have sent us top of the league with a game in hand, what would have been a very strong position. Anyway we must regroup and use the Twenty20 to get back in form and ready for the Stuart Cup Final.
Tuesday 12 June 2007
Tiring weekend
What a tiring yet fantastic weekend of top class FCL cricket. Rather than think since my brain hurts, here's my match report from our website:
"Legend Pete Snape MSM and Scott Taylor produced match winning performances, taking 9 wickets in 8.4 overs, to turn a game heading for a draw into a fantastic win for the champions against a competitive Thornton side.
Wyre were put into bat and Gregson and Moyes (recovering from a day at Old Trafford watching the Test match) produced a solid start on the astroturf wicket, combatting some good tight bowling. However they fell to leave Wyre 29-2 and needing some good middle order batting performances, which Cartwright (49) and Abbott (52) produced, to take Wyre to 112-2 and looking at a big total. However a middle order misfire meant the lower order needed to bolster the total which Wright, Lever and Snape (5* including a nice 4 through mid-on) did to post a total of 167/9. Paul Diver the star of Thornton's bowling with a complete innings spell of 23-8-55-7!
Thornton went at the opening bowlers with abandon, the wicket not helping Captain Rawcliffe or Bamford very much. However chances were being created regularly, but with two fielders short and chances finding gaps or being fumbled, frustration was mounting and the fight was well and truly on. A moment of inspiration from Wright producing a direct run out to remove big hitting Higson invigorated the team. But with Higson, Partington and Smith all having good innings to take Thornton to 90-1, a draw or Thornton win looked on the cards. Last hour called and only 16 overs remaining. Rawcliffe and Bamford toiled on to no avail and soon after the change bowlers came on. With only 12 overs to go containment was the order of the day, but Snape had other ideas, demolishing Thornton's middle order in figures of 5-0-13-5. Not bad for a 73 year old legend. But with experienced Paul Diver at the crease marshalling the batting and rotating the strike well with only a few overs to go, the atmosphere was tense. Then Scott produced one of the finest C&B's you will ever see. Last ball of the 3rd from last over and Diver drills the ball back towards the bowler, only a few inches off the ground. Taylor dives forward and takes a stunning catch to remove the Thornton danger man, genius! Scott then caps a fine bowling performance by taking the 10th wicket and winning the match with 8 balls to go and ending with figures of 3.4-0-14-4. What a fantastic match and a massive win for Wyre."
Not a bad start to the weekend! Sunday brought the big one, the Stuart Cup semi final v Baxi, who had brought their big guns out to play since they were struggling in the league and up for the cup! However after being put into bat, Mike and Greggy put their bowlers to the sword, scoring heavily and both making half centuries in Wyres total of 168/7. With 25 overs and some big hitters in their side it was shaping up to be a good contest. However that soon changed after four ouvers where Mike and I took four wickets, leaving them 10/4! Whilst their middle order hit out, the result was never in doubt and we coasted into our first final for many years, and my first since being at the club. Bring on Thornton at Blackpool CC on 1 July, two innings, 20 overs each, genius!
"Legend Pete Snape MSM and Scott Taylor produced match winning performances, taking 9 wickets in 8.4 overs, to turn a game heading for a draw into a fantastic win for the champions against a competitive Thornton side.
Wyre were put into bat and Gregson and Moyes (recovering from a day at Old Trafford watching the Test match) produced a solid start on the astroturf wicket, combatting some good tight bowling. However they fell to leave Wyre 29-2 and needing some good middle order batting performances, which Cartwright (49) and Abbott (52) produced, to take Wyre to 112-2 and looking at a big total. However a middle order misfire meant the lower order needed to bolster the total which Wright, Lever and Snape (5* including a nice 4 through mid-on) did to post a total of 167/9. Paul Diver the star of Thornton's bowling with a complete innings spell of 23-8-55-7!
Thornton went at the opening bowlers with abandon, the wicket not helping Captain Rawcliffe or Bamford very much. However chances were being created regularly, but with two fielders short and chances finding gaps or being fumbled, frustration was mounting and the fight was well and truly on. A moment of inspiration from Wright producing a direct run out to remove big hitting Higson invigorated the team. But with Higson, Partington and Smith all having good innings to take Thornton to 90-1, a draw or Thornton win looked on the cards. Last hour called and only 16 overs remaining. Rawcliffe and Bamford toiled on to no avail and soon after the change bowlers came on. With only 12 overs to go containment was the order of the day, but Snape had other ideas, demolishing Thornton's middle order in figures of 5-0-13-5. Not bad for a 73 year old legend. But with experienced Paul Diver at the crease marshalling the batting and rotating the strike well with only a few overs to go, the atmosphere was tense. Then Scott produced one of the finest C&B's you will ever see. Last ball of the 3rd from last over and Diver drills the ball back towards the bowler, only a few inches off the ground. Taylor dives forward and takes a stunning catch to remove the Thornton danger man, genius! Scott then caps a fine bowling performance by taking the 10th wicket and winning the match with 8 balls to go and ending with figures of 3.4-0-14-4. What a fantastic match and a massive win for Wyre."
Not a bad start to the weekend! Sunday brought the big one, the Stuart Cup semi final v Baxi, who had brought their big guns out to play since they were struggling in the league and up for the cup! However after being put into bat, Mike and Greggy put their bowlers to the sword, scoring heavily and both making half centuries in Wyres total of 168/7. With 25 overs and some big hitters in their side it was shaping up to be a good contest. However that soon changed after four ouvers where Mike and I took four wickets, leaving them 10/4! Whilst their middle order hit out, the result was never in doubt and we coasted into our first final for many years, and my first since being at the club. Bring on Thornton at Blackpool CC on 1 July, two innings, 20 overs each, genius!
Wednesday 6 June 2007
More Twenty20 woe
After paying an exorbitant transfer fee to get back the talents of Pete Snape MSM from the clutches of Henry's Marauders, the Cavaliers headed into last night's Twenty20 match against Rushale with renewed hope. Having won the toss and agreeing to play an 1818 match due to the late start time, I decided to avoid the potential psychological scarring another batting collapse could cause so put Rushale into bat. Fielding in a glorious sunny evening on a firmed up Cottam Hall pitch was quite pleasant. Only 4 wickets fell, Snape taking 3 on his 2007 season Twenty20 debut but despite the occasional 6 and some aggressive strokes, I felt their total of 107 was par for the course and achievable for our beefed up batting order, especially with Amos and Stephen Taylor back in the middle and good batting down to 8.
How wrong I was, our first over was as eventful as ever with Moyesie going for a duck. Cartwright soon followed and Amos run out. Not good. With a duel Taylor batting line up in the middle, the call for calm was sent out (not a long shout from the 20 yard boundary!) and the brothers played themselves in and started to play their strokes. With a run rate just over 5 per over required it wasn't panic stations yet. However a wild swipe from Stephen to a low bouncing ball ended his time at the crease and sent in captain Bamford.
With my confidence low after 3 below par innings things weren't looking good. Still the pitch was hard and the bowling fierce, always a fun combination so I took the aggressive option, opened the stance and set to the task. A few bashes came from the bat bringing some welcome boundaries. Near death on one occasion to the fielder at silly mid-on... The bowlers response was a few short ones into the chin, nice. I was feeling good and hopefully entertaining the crowds, 3 families viewing, almost capacity at Cottam! However with the run rate rising more aggression was called for. Scott's confident little innings came to a close and the lower order didn't last too long and for all intents and purposes the game was over. This brought Rob into bat and the classic Gregson family technique was soon evident to see with some classy forward defensives. I managed to keep bashing and with my 25 retirement approaching I foolishly got Rob run out taking a quick single to their best fielder. However all due credit to the opposition allowing Rob to continue batting with us requiring 40 off the last couple of overs, certainly well received. So the last few overs provided a few runs off a misture of spin and uber-pace, Snape was left with his pad (singular) on and I walked down the pitch West Indies style to swipe the last ball for four to end on 28* but with another match defeat.
The good thing about the Twenty20 League is that with 10 matches and four teams qualifying, it is far from over and if we can keep going and find our form, we can surely challenge to get into the finals. (He says hopefully, P.M.A!)
How wrong I was, our first over was as eventful as ever with Moyesie going for a duck. Cartwright soon followed and Amos run out. Not good. With a duel Taylor batting line up in the middle, the call for calm was sent out (not a long shout from the 20 yard boundary!) and the brothers played themselves in and started to play their strokes. With a run rate just over 5 per over required it wasn't panic stations yet. However a wild swipe from Stephen to a low bouncing ball ended his time at the crease and sent in captain Bamford.
With my confidence low after 3 below par innings things weren't looking good. Still the pitch was hard and the bowling fierce, always a fun combination so I took the aggressive option, opened the stance and set to the task. A few bashes came from the bat bringing some welcome boundaries. Near death on one occasion to the fielder at silly mid-on... The bowlers response was a few short ones into the chin, nice. I was feeling good and hopefully entertaining the crowds, 3 families viewing, almost capacity at Cottam! However with the run rate rising more aggression was called for. Scott's confident little innings came to a close and the lower order didn't last too long and for all intents and purposes the game was over. This brought Rob into bat and the classic Gregson family technique was soon evident to see with some classy forward defensives. I managed to keep bashing and with my 25 retirement approaching I foolishly got Rob run out taking a quick single to their best fielder. However all due credit to the opposition allowing Rob to continue batting with us requiring 40 off the last couple of overs, certainly well received. So the last few overs provided a few runs off a misture of spin and uber-pace, Snape was left with his pad (singular) on and I walked down the pitch West Indies style to swipe the last ball for four to end on 28* but with another match defeat.
The good thing about the Twenty20 League is that with 10 matches and four teams qualifying, it is far from over and if we can keep going and find our form, we can surely challenge to get into the finals. (He says hopefully, P.M.A!)
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