BOTWCC 2nd XI v Burbage

Saturday 14th July 2007

Okay, so by now people are fully aware of the fact that the Burton Seconds won the match. Handsomely.

But the question we should be asking ourselves this week is how, in fact, could a team of players who could barely turn out on a Saturday afternoon at the start of the season turn things round so dramatically and beat two of the top three teams in consecutive weeks?

The answer is simple. Youth.

Not to take anything away from the old duffers at the club (Morley, Penton, Shipman Senior, Stenning, Neal etc) who each contribute on a regular basis, but more the shift in attitude and approach to the game of cricket at the club.

These last two weeks have seen a complete change in atmosphere on and around the square and it is an atmosphere filled with rich enthusiasm and a grim determination to perform well on the pitch.

For the match against Burbage this last weekend no fewer that 7 of the 11 that played were under 20 years of age! Oh yes! UNDER 20. The likes of which hasn't been seen in a Burton competitive League match for many an year. And the youthful exuberance was evident throughout the entire game.

Pauline was on fire as usual keeping everybody amused with his smiley, child-like antics (including a full triple salco over the boundary rope, Christ knows why), the returning Sonny Warne was chomping at the bit for a game and another of last seasons regulars, Ali Love, who must have been standing in horse crap for the last 6 months has grown about a foot since we last saw him. These were accompanied by the more regular Shipman boys, Tom and Sam, (dad was relegated to the Firsts this week) Ed Everett Stewart and Ryan Dawson, and all played a part in the overall result of the match.

So what happened in the match? Here goes, and it won't take too long...

Ryan Dawson opened the bowling with one of the oldies, Grant Penton, and was as tight and aggressive as always offering nothing to the opening Burbage pairing. A few runs were made but nothing significant. Burbage were a mere 11 for 0 off 8 overs.

But it wasn't long before the typical Burbage suicide mission got under way of course, and a lack of runs has always tended to bring these things on. Dawson started the rot when he clean bowled their skipper and two overs later forced about the most casual run out in cricketing history from Rob Morley to remove the number 2 bat. Ryan then tightened the screw even further and removed the off stump of the number three, troubling the scorers with only 1 run.

And so the collapse began.

Penton had seen a couple of edges go through the slip cordon and a catch dropped by the club Jester Ian Merryweather and was now getting some serious sledging from young Tom Shipman for not having got any wickets while Ryan Dawson was 2 up. But Penton responded to this well (I would say that of course) and started on his path to a hat-full of wickets. The first was clean bowled, the second was caught Sonny Warne (that's how you do it Pauline!) and then 2 more bowled leaving Penton on a hat trick for the second time this year, the first also courtesy of Burbage.

As the fielders crowded the new batsman and despite accusations of "bottled it" from young Sam Shipman, the hat trick ball was defended nicely, popping up almost in catching range of Adam Archer but not quite. Speaking of Adam Archer, do we class him as one of the older youth players or the youngest of the oldies? Hmm.

Rob Morley, now replacing Dawson at the Towles Road end, was unfortunate to have to bowl at the only player who showed any real intention of making any runs but he soon removed him (bowled) for a Burbage highest score of 10.

Sam Shipman finished the innings off by taking the last wicket of the match caught and bowled on only his second ball, thus really buggering everybody else's averages up. Another casualty was his very own kid brother, Tom, who had worked tirelessly in the field and was just about to be brought on to bowl when the last wicket fell. Nobody realized that Burbage were only playing with 10 men.

Still, that minor heartbreak aside, the Burton Seconds had turned over the league number 3 for a club record 36 runs. Yes, that's right, all out for 36.

So, as only 30 overs had been bowled, Burton went out to bat with Ryan Dawson and Rich Stenning at the helm. Tea would have to wait.

Suffice it to say, there's not much to say about the batting innings other than the runs were made quite quickly. In 10 overs in fact. Ryan Dawson played confidently, finishing on 15 not out, Sonny Warne 4 not out and Rich Stenning (9) was the only Burton player back in the club house. 37 for 1 and game over.

Almost that is. After tea, lovely as it was, we then got a 20-20 match in (and lost) and we were still finished by 7.15pm. That was good fun too. We posted 77 runs and they knocked them off with 2 overs to spare. Great spirit between both teams and fair play to Burbage who could have quite easily gone home with the sulks after the League match fiasco.

So, to summarize, despite the result saying all it needs to about the match, there was a real buzz about the team on Saturday. Lots of chatter, fielders attacking the ball, firing it in quickly to the rapidly improving Ed E Stewart and putting the batting side under real pressure. With tight and penetrative bowling from all involved and the fun mentality of all those on the pitch, it was a real pleasure to be a part of it.

Long may these young lads play at the club.

Next week, away to Whetstone. Should be a slog-fest. It usually is.

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