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On the warmest day of the season there was contrasting fortunes for our senior teams.
The 1st XI had a chastening experience on their visit to Kirk Deighton. On winning the toss the homesters elected to bat. They lost a couple of wickets getting to 28. Their third wicket fell 136 runs later as Gavin Mills went for 64. Jonathan Watkins went for 81 at 210. Then from 220 for 5 there was some tail wagging that pushed their score to a very impressive 276 for 9. We got off to a reasonable start of 42 for the first wicket. However, any momentum was snuffed out and we stuttered to 116 all out in the 22nd over. Mo Saghir scored 28, Andrew Foulds 24 and Nathan Barrett 19. We languish in 11th spot in the division with 20 points.
Meanwhile the 2ndXI looked to be suffering a similar fate when Whixley 2nds visited Shires Lane. They won the toss and elected to bat and stuttered to 36 for 3 in the 9th over. However, that was the only stuttering they were going to experience as the next wicket fell at 163 with Barnaby Hawkins out for 79. Two more wickets fell for the addition of 16 runs. Joe Baines was the thorn in our side as he crashed 104 not out (9 fours 6 sixes) as they reached the dizzy heights of 252 for 7 in their overs. Josh Robinson took 2 for 36, Sam Keane 2 for 67 and there were wickets for Thomas Mountain, Ben Jolly and Gareth Wooler. It was going to take a gigantic effort to win the game and that is what we got. Gareth fell for 7 with the score on 17. Sam for 9 at 57 and Leighton Meeking for 16 at 106. They had all been keeping Josh company as he plundered the bowling. Bob Bateman, making his season’s debut, made 29 as the score shot to 247 at a great rate of knots. Two overs later we had achieved our highest total ever batting second – 253 for 4 in 33 overs. Josh ended his superb knock on 162 not out (16 fours 10 sixes) – his highest score ever. To say they were shell shocked is a vast understatement, as they oozed confidence at the start of our innings. The Division Six table shows six teams covered by just six points, with us on 43 points in sixth place. The game was sponsored by John Bower Consultancy and Scott Robinson Electrical.
Earlier in the week our under 11s had got their season off to a winning start as the beat Barnoldswick u11s by 77 runs. WE batted first and made 95 for 8 (net score 255) with Hudson Meeking making 15 and Ellie Walters 11. We dismissed them for 58 (net score 178). Jessica Hudson took 3 for 0, Billy Collins 2 for 9, Rueben Barrett 2 for 2 and Hudson 2 for 14.
Trevor Coe – ECC Chairman
