Picturesque surroundings and facilities that replicated that of a manor house welcomed the 2nds in a top 4 clash at Wing CC. Elstow were without their Las Vegas bound Bear, Spanish bound Lewy and Drunk Cleb but reinforcements were brought in and bolstered a strong bowling line up.
Elstow fielded first as showers sprinkled, with the wickets soon to follow suit. Steve Russell opened from the bottom end and caused trouble from the off, Wings opener flashing at the ball early on and not being given a chance to settle. James Gurney would give the batsmen no rest bite from the top end with swing beating the batsmen all ends up.
Wickets soon tumbled, Gurney with the breakthrough and Russell the next over with full deliveries the Wing opening pair could only swing at. Clearly flustered, Wing would lose number 3 with another full length delivery crashing off stump and catching the batsmen off guard.
Our very own West Indian Lewy Michael Dickson would then come on to take another two, but two that even the wicket taker himself couldn’t celebrate without cracking a wry smile. One a half track delivery caught behind by Bear Cub, the second will say clean bowled in the scored book but those that were there will know the fortuitous nature of the wicket. Wickets win you matches, and that’s all that matters in this game! Wing at this point were just under 100 for 6.
Skipper Will Wisson would come on to hold up one end with a good economy, but as with the rest of the allotted overs nothing would fall kindly for the field, a foot too high, a whisker away from the hand, a skier caught in the wind. The Skipper unjustly would have nothing to show for 10 overs of graft.
Good work from the Cookettes (Rex Hedges and Ed Wisson) in the field ensured that boundary worthy shots were converted into singles. Breakthroughs had dried up and Elstow needed wickets to close out a lighting quick start from the bowlers and break a settled middle order pair, but even last week’s catalyst Pete Burraway would be unable to take what was going to be a crucial wicket.
Wings middle order had put on over 100 across 3 wickets which was the bulk of their score book, but the vital wicket came from James Gurney who broke the middle order and the score from reaching the 200 mark. Wing would set Elstow 197 to win.
Conditions had picked up and the sun was out, Elstow set off to pick up what would have been a valuable win. Dickson was quick off the mark and started what would be an entertaining performance for the neutral. Vice Captain Nigel Ryalls couldn’t get going and fell early on, with Ed Wisson following soon after. Dickson was still plugging away and looked to have settled with Rex Hedges who started with poise and vigour hitting two classy boundaries. Hedges would soon be undone by Childs who would go on to take 4 for the match.
Dickson would eventually make his 50 in what was the highlight of a lacklustre Elstow batting performance, the game slipping away from a rousing win at the start of the day, to a draw after a few wickets to a couple of batting points by wicket 8. Any hopes of an Elstow result would soon be distinguished pretty quickly, with the middle order and tail wrapped up in under 30 runs, a difficult defeat to swallow.
It was very much a case of what could have been for the 2nds, a week off next week then a crucial top of the table clash with Stony Stratford is going to be pivotal in the 2nds quest for promotion from the depths of Division 5 cricket. Nonetheless we are still firmly up there!
M.O.M – West Indian Lewy/Michael Dickson – 50 and 2 Wickets gets you the gong this week!
D.O.D -
Reported by Sam “Bear Cub” Southwell – Elstow CC 2nd XI Stat & Twitter Analyst
