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Ashley vs Northwich Date: 05/07/2009 Venue: Ashley Toss won by: NorthwichBatted First:Ashley |
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Fresh from a resounding winning draw against Tattenhall two weeks prior, and a week off, a youthful Northwich rolled into town as Ashley looked to continue their promotion push. After being invited to bat first, Ferris and Brownhill dodged a lively new ball burst from the self proclaimed “Ginga Ninja” M Whitehead. It was a welcome return to action for Si as he quickly began to put bat to ball. Brownhill soon followed suit and anything full or short was dispatched to the boundary. Ferris looked set for a big one until left armer Leigh sneaked one past. Big hitting Griffiths was unfortunate to fall soon after when he played on and suddenly the game did not seem a foregone conclusion. James Semple batted calmly and with a great maturity until the dangerous off spin of S Plant saw him bowled through the gate. Oldbury played a delightful straight drive to the boundary and was sadly caught shortly after. Burt cracked a couple of mighty blows until skying one that was eventually well held. Skipper Burgess quickly succumbed to a dodgy hamstring (or was it calf ?) and needed a runner. This seemed to liberate him and Pete saw it fit to only deal in boundaries. Brownhill who had been quietly accumulating, then clicked through the gears to show the disbelieving crowd that he could score off his legs. The Burgess cameo came to an end but his knock came at just the right time. The returning Whitehead was determined to intimidate the Crouch / Wright Phillips partnership of Brownhill and Smith, sadly he fell victim to two lusty hook shots off Brownhill – the first time in his career he had ever tried such a shot – and a resultant slower ball was drilled over the boundary board. Although Smith was removed by the hardworking Plant and Brownhill eventually succumbed to a caught & bowled, M Burgess batted well and our eventual total of 193 was a decent effort. It must be pointed out that the innings took almost three hours to bowl, due to constant field changes and pointless chatter amongst our opposition.
Buoyed by an always pleasant tea, Agrawal opened proceedings and quickly realised that anything short at Plant would be deposited to the boundary rope. The confidence of the Northwich man may have been his downfall as Burt bowled his first ball full and straight with Plant being bowled neck and crop. Next over saw Rish clean bowl Plant junior and a collapse looked likely. A curious spell of cricket then took place as opener Hughes created a cricketing first of the sledging batsman. Seeing fit to comment on the state of slip fielding, bowling etc, he even found time to play the occasional half-decent shot. The young man learnt a valuable cricketing lesson when he hit a rank long hop from Wardle to be well held by Burt at fine leg. Hanging his head in shame, Mr Hughes had several Ashley players passing suitable comment on his way back to the pavilion. M Burgess continued his re-emergence as a bowler by removing Maddock with a delivery that moved away sharply. If Ashley thought this was now an inevitable victory, then they needed to think again. Whitehead and Glaze batted very well and soon began to push the scoring very quickly. Heads were down and noise was minimal, it needed someone to pull one out the bag. Luckily, skipper Burgess dismissed Glaze with his subtle quicker ball and after some strong words by several senior players, the chance to go top of the league was seized. Whitehead’s exceptional innings, he was threatening to win the game on his own, came to an abrupt end when his attempt for a maximum was well held by Burt on the boundary off the excellent bowling of M Burgess. A returning Agrawal beat Dufty for pace and the lower soon capitulated. A swift throw from Ferris ran out Leigh whilst last man Riley could not repeat his big hitting heroics from May and his dismissal gave Ashley a welcome 25 points. Special mention too for Matt Wardle and his impressive attempt to injure skipper with a throw at the stumps. To catch him full on the knee when he was miles away from the intended target was no mean feet. Maybe an elephant gun will do the job next time …….
This was an important victory which further cements our promotion credentials. We are now hitting the business end of the season and wins are going to be needed in order to keep up with the likes of Oulton Park and Tattenhall. It was pleasing to beat a team that have the potential to rival Alsager III’s in future years, if only for their on-pitch behavior, but it was clear that we made hard work at times of what should have been a routine victory. Body language and application must improve if we want that top spot.
Many thanks to Stuart Naylor, former player and current supporter of Ashley, for his matchball sponsorship. |
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FIRST INNINGS |
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SECOND INNINGS |
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Result: Ashley won by 55 runs |
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