Cricket Diary 2009 - Minor Counties coninued

Posted by Tony Hutton

Sunday 3rd May - The trouble with being a follower of Minor Counties cricket is that you have to travel a long way to watch it. However it is usually worth the effort involved and today was no exception. Lincolnshire were entertaining Wales Minor Counties at Woodhall Spa a ground I was put off visiting last season due to an unfavourable weather forecast. As it turned out they played all day and a record breaking last wicket partnership won the game of the last ball.

Never mind the forecast is good for today and despite getting lost in the centre of Lincoln we make it for the eleven o'clock start. A pleasant ground with only one problem - the strong winds blowing. However we fortunately found the one sheltered spot under a hedge alongside the pavilion with an excellent view.

Coffee and biscuits freely available in the pavilion for the many people who had travelled long distances to be here. Ground-hoppers much in evidence and we are joined by Nigel Pullan another keen follower of Minor Counties cricket. Lincolnshire bat first and despite loosing an early wicket score at a good rate throughout the 50 overs with former Notts players Matthew Dowman and Vikram Atri making half centuries.

The innings of the day was played by Dowman with 78 off only 83 balls including seven fours and three sixes into the neighbouring gardens. It seems a long time ago when Dowman played for England Under 19s and despite good performances for both Notts and Derby never really fulfilled his inital promise. Paul Cook weighed in with 56 and Lincoln reached a useful score of 283-8.

The Wales side, which included several players on the Glamorgan county staff, started off in fine style with an opening stand of 121 in good time. One of the openers was an England Under 19 player of more recent vintage in Michael O'Shea who made 73 including three sixes. He was eventually bowled by Gareth Clough, also formerly with Notts despite his Pudsey origins.

No one else played a major innings, every one getting a few and the chase went right to the last over when Wales just fell 20 runs short. So another entertaining game in splendid surroundings with all sorts of other sports going on round about, including croquet. Woodhall Spa is a very attractive place and our walk through the woods during the interval, not only got us away from the wind, but showed us such unexpected delights as the Kinema in the wood and a bowls match going on in a woodland clearing with everyone dressed up in style.

Sunday 10th May - Third successive Sunday for Minor Counties knock out cricket. Will the weather hold again for a another longish journey, this time into Cheshire. One of the advantages of these Sunday morning trips is that there is very little traffic on the roads and we again make good time in getting to Christleton an attractive village on the edge of Chester.

Cheshire are taking on Oxfordshire today. The home side, having won at Cumberland a fortnight ago, are the favourites and Oxford, with no big names, are a bit of an unknown quantity.
Cheshire bat first and are given a good start by regular openers Goodwin and Leech. Veteran captain 'Albert' Hall increases the momentum with 72 off only 69 balls and Cheshire look to be heading for 300. However the two former Derbyshire men, Ben Spendlove and Nathan Dumelow both fail and the innings tails off a bit. The general feeling is though that a total of 284-0 should be a winning score.

Oxford's opening bat Jewell played a splendid innings of 47 but when he was out at 97-4 it seemed that their chase would be in vain. Wickets continued to fall despite a healthy run rate but at 193-7 it looked all over and one or two spectators drifted away. That proved to be a mistake as the game was turned on it's head by a dramatic turning point. The Oxford captain, and wicketkeeper, Ian Hawtin was not scoring very quickly but suffered a very unfortunate accident when as non-striker he was hit a very painful blow by the ball in the adam's apple region and had to retire hurt.

This brought in the powerful opening bowler, Daniel Rowe at number nine. He proceeded to lay about him like the village blacksmith and put on 62 with the help of number 10 Ryan in very quick time. Ryan was run out for 24, having hit two sixes, and last man Gilbert stayed with Rowe, who made the winning hit with an over and a half still left. Rowe went to 49 not out, with two sixes and four fours. A spendid effort to give Oxfordshire a most unlikely victory leaving Cheshire totally deflated.

So another great game in very peaceful country surroundings with a mixture of cloud and sunshine and thankfully no wind to speak of. The village of Christleton proved very attractive with a large duck pond and even a pair of swans nesting on a small island. In fact my directions to find the ground were 'turn right at the duck pond'. A welcoming pub provided an excellent meal after the game, but the highlight for my wife was the park and ride bus into Chester which gave the opportunity of yet another shopping trip.