The weather was sunny and quite warm but the wicket was a state, the only indication of which strip of grass was the wicket was the run up marks in the outfield. So the wicket looked green and soft with the outfield looking decent.

Wilson walked out to the middle to toss … (should I rephrase that?). And like Paul the octopus he predicted correctly again (4 in 4) and BAC put the home team in.

As we took to the field we noticed 5 batsmen padded for Whitte, maybe a sign of things to come? The usual opening pair of Cam/low tower and Andy/Merve Hughes started off and hit early as Cam snuck one through bat pad to topple Bolton’s middle peg. Andy didn’t hand around either getting the other opener, O’Donnell, caught fantastically by Zeddy Zedster at cover. The Proctors then came to the crease and both looked ok putting the short ball away. Gaskell and Dougie then came on and Gaskell soon took a wicket, getting Proctor number two caught behind for 12. A run out then came two balls later as the seemingly inexperienced Hardman stayed stood out of his crease as Willow kicked the ball onto the stumps, maybe it was a little harsh but Wilsons competitive side shone through. Gaskell then got another wicket within his spanking with the ball, a superb diving caught and bowled did for Denning but after going for 20 in 4 overs Gaskell was replaced by Willow. With 4 quicks having already bowled Zed and Wilson both began to bowl some spin and Zeddy soon got Proctor 1 out caught after a nice 30 including a straight 6 that was called 4 due to the sight screen being inside the boundary. Wilsons spin didn’t last long as he reverted to bowling a mixture of cutters and quicks. Willow had no luck but Zed picked up another 2 wickets getting Flater and Dave caught brilliantly for 26 and 0 respectively. Whittle made a valiant 105 which was pretty competitive on this wicket and BAC may rue some missed run out chances and a couple of tough dropped catches.

Chasing 105 was never going to be easy on a pitch that had been ripped up during the first innings but we had 53 overs to play with and Doug the Jug was due a score.

Doug opened with Gaskell who was on the back of an innings of 50 in the seconds the day before but didn’t last long as he was caught behind for 0. Steinson then came and went for 0 bowled by an inswinging Yorker. This was all going on while Jonny/Dougie was going about his business at the other end blocking a few then hitting the odd four ball. Tingle was number 4 and stuck around for a little while pushing the score towards 20 until he was caught at cover for 9. With the score 20 for 3 we seemed to be up the creek without a paddle. Co-capitan (spelt wrong purposely) Willow joined Doug and was dubbed Trott for the innings as he blocked and blocked grinding the innings out. These two put in the hard work, defending and picking up singles and pushed the scores up to 50 for 3 by the 20^th over then began to accelerate a little with Dougie slapping a couple of pulled fours and hitting a lovely straight six while Trotty trotted down the track to the spinner and put him away for a couple of fours on the leg side. Doug the jug lived up to his name once again and passed 50 and took BAC passed 100 but with only 3 needed he was caught at point al a Martin Hothersall. He was devastated but knew the partnership with Wilson had got BAC the win, a 83 run partnership had carved the victory for BAC. 3 needed and the opener came back on, Trott drove for a single to put Scotty on strike who after saying he was going to block swung like Happy Gilmore at the first 3 balls with no luck, the 4^th was a wide tying the game, Scott then went off for treatment via his chiropractor and came back on to thump a magnificent straight six to win the game and leave BAC Nelson for 4.

Moment of the game would be Scotty’s six, maybe he was a little rash but it was a bit of excitement to end the game.

A few good individual performances Zed once again putting the opposition in a spin with 2 for 23 off 8.2 including a top class catch. Gaskell with two wickets even if he did get a bit of tap but a brilliant caught and bowled was the highlight. Andy and Cam also (once again) opened the innings well getting 1 for 16 and 1 for 15 respectively.  

Batting wise Tingle got a valiant 9 but didn’t go on to get a few more, Scott hit that lusty six but Hothersall’s 55 was the key off 83 balls, a well paced innings with a few beefy shots. Also Wilson’s patient, gritty and determined 25 off 69 was slow but required and to be unbeaten at the end was a right touch, if I do say so myself.  

Finally Jack Mansfield was very good behind the stumps only conceding a few byes and took a catch aswell.

A great 12 points for the team and it was very well earned.

The last game of the season will be played in 2 weeks time (5^th Sept) against Kirkham & Wesham who are bottom of the league. It’s a big 12 pointer if we want to kindle any hope of promotion so lets hope the weather is good.

Opener Andy Hollinhurst is absent for this one but has had a productive season for the team finishing with 26 runs at 13 and 11 wickets at 11. Well done Andy.

Yours in Cricket,

Willow

As mentioned the weather wasn’t the best, it was overcast, cold and looked asif a little bit of rain could dampen the day. However it was reported the wicket played OK the day before which would have been encouraging for the batting side in bowled friendly conditions.

The captains went out to the middle and Wilson (due to last weeks toss win) was out there again to call. Heads was the call and it was a head. We were there to field and hopefully make some early inroads.

Skin head Cameron and Holiday highlights Hollinhurst were to open the bowling for the visitors and both started ok but bowled too many short balls and they just sat up for the Withnell openers who put them away easily. But early into Hollinhursts spell came a moment of madness, the number 2 batsmen played the ball into the leg side and immediately called for 2, Dougie, who clearly heard the call, strolled towards the ball to lure them into a false sence of security and once they had set off for the second fired a bullet to Jack behind the stumps to whip off the bails with the batsmen out of sight. In came the number 3 who didn’t last long courtesy of a sharp slip catch by Chadders at gulley off Hollinhurst. Number 4 (Chapple) came in and steadied the ship with the dangerous number 1 batsmen and they both looked in complete control. Wilson and Hothersall replaced Hollinhurst and Cameron respectively and after a slow start and some lusty blows Wilson removed Chapple with a slower ball for 20 odd and Hothersall got the dangerous Evans caught Steinson for 30 odd.

With two fresh batsmen at the crease Steinson and Chadders came into the attack. Steinson should have had a wicket first ball as the batsmen top edged it down to fine leg where Chadders misjudged the catch and it fell to the ground. Both Chadders and Steiny bowled well but the batsmen kept it ticking over at a good rate. When Steiny had the number 5 caught at square leg by Cammy. Chadders then got the number 6 caught by Jack Wilson and got another quickly after from a sharp caught and bowled.

Cam then replaced Steiny and took the wicket of Walker caught at gulley by a diving Hothersall. And Holiday highlights took the last two wickets both bowled after a dangerous looking number 11 came in and looked to try and accelerate the rate.

After teas Dougie went out to the middle partnered by Sol to open up for BAC. Jonny went second ball for 1 and Eddie entered the arena. Sol was sticking around blocking and blocking while letting Steinson knock the ball around and accumulate the runs. Steiny started to put the ball to the boundary with ease but after a good fight back we lost Sol (9), also caught behind then Jack Mansfield came and went for 0. Wilson came to the crease and also didn’t last long gifting a leaning edge to mid-off for 4. Tingle, Nathan George and Jack Wilson fell soon after for 1, 1 and 4. While this was happening Steiny had passed his 50 in emphatic style but was struggling with a wrist injury and succumbed to the pain haling out to deep mid-on going for a big shot on 55.

With Cam and Andy at the crease and 60 still needed it seemed a bridge too far but they stuck around playing some shots and trying to amount a comeback, this didn’t last too long as Cam fell for 6 caught behind then Chadders fended a short ball to slip off his glove for 0. Andy the unbeaten man with a well made 14 not out.

So another poor batting performance by BAC, with the top 5 not really contributing apart from Eddie who batted well but threw his wicket away at a crucial moment.

Moment of the game would be Andy “Robin Smith” Hollinhursts four over cover. Magical shot.

All the bowlers did their part with Andy taking 3, Chadders 2 and Wilson, Hothersall, Steiny and Cam all taking one. As far as batting is concerned only Eddie and Andy contributed with 55 and 14 not out respectively.

Next week we have Gregson Lane at home, a must win after 2 poor defeats. Contributions from the top 5 are imperative to setting/chasing a total.

Aufedersein

Willow

Myself and Chadders reached the ground on at around 12:20 only to be greeted by the faces of two utterly disappointed youngsters, the troublesome twosome Cammy and Scott. Due to the overnight and morning showers the pitch was deemed unplayable by groundsman/cricket oracle Dave Wilcock. So that was that, match abandoned, go home, 2 points each…… or was it?

The abandonment of the game meant a Sunday of team bonding started with 4 a-side football on the muga where Ed-mile Heskey/Ed-mileson/Ed Steinson seemingly dominated proceedings with his strength, pace and finishing ability. Then came a game of hit and run with Tec falling one short of a well deserved 50, getting giddy and running himself out.

All in all a disappointing day but the festivities were enjoyed by all.

Next up is St Annes (away) on the 25^th July, this will be a toughie so heads need to be well and truly on, but co-captain and Hunzan native lover Hothersall shall be returning to add strength to both the batting and bowling aspects of the team and Pilks has got the weekend off work and wife carrying duty to partake in the days festivities. Let’s just hope a certain Mr Flintoff hasn’t decided to turn out on a Sunday for them!

Finally, I hope you have all been onto the website and sampled Chadders and my hard work with the player profiles. If not get on it… http://www.baceeprestoncc.co.uk/  ….. go into post/news then player profiles and pick who you would like to learn something new about. Enjoy.

Shalom,

Yours in Cricket,

Tom “willow” Wilson

Congrats to the first ever Riverside 6 a-side tournament winners Get On It captained by Danny Billington. The team consisted of Danny, John Mounsey, Jonny Hothersall, Zack Wilkes, Rick “Chadders” Hammel and Chris Isherwood. They beat second placed side MASSIVE “come on!” in the final after they went through joint points with The Con Men but beating them in the head to head.

Team runs totals:

MASSIVE “come on!” = 248 runs

Working Away Mate = 171 runs

The Con Men = 173 runs

HEHE oish = 185 runs

Get On It = 218 runs

Top runscorer for the Tournament was Jamie Skeoch who scored 107 runs in 5 games, the only player over 100. He was only out once and retired twice including in the final. Andy Hogarth scored 89 runs from 4 games, retiring once and not being dismissed throughout the day. Danny Billington came third with the most runs, 77 in 5 innings, averaging 19.25.

The best bowler of the tournament went to John Mounsey who took 4 wickets at 8 in his 5 games, only conceding 32 runs. Tom Wilson then took 3 wickets at 10.6 in 4 games and Jack Wilson and James Gaskell also took 3 apiece at 14 and 15 respectively.

Also a mention to Tec who got James caught and bowled first ball!

Well done everyone who competed it was a very competitively fought tournament without loosing its element of fun and entertainment. Also thanks to Les and Dave for umpiring, Tec, Jerry and everyone else who got the BBQ roaring, HT for bringing the food and everyone else who contributed to the day whether it was setting things up, scoring, umpiring etc.

Watch this space for more inter club matches.

Team 1 – MASSIVE “come on!” (blue)

Jamie Skeoch, Tom Wilcock, James Gaskell, Scott Hamill, Jack Wilson, Liam Tingle

Team 2 – The Con Men (colour to be desided by Chaos)

Eddie Steinson, Steve Lodge, Mike Keane, Graham Skeoch, Cammy Westworth, Shawsy

Team 3 – Get On It (yellow)

Danny Billington, Jonny Hothersall, John Mounsey, Chris Isherwood, Rick Hammel, Zack Wilkes

Team 4 - HEHE OISH (thanks arse) (red/white depending on ball colour)

Andy Hogarth, Stu Pilkington, Tom Wilson, Dave Steinson, Jack Mansfield, Rick Holmes

Team 5 – Working Away Mate (black)

Jamie Hogarth, Mark Whelan, John McKeever, Mike Salisbury, Andy Hollinhurst

We are all meeting at 11 for a 11:30 start… first game is … MASSIVE “comeon” v The Con Men (11:30)