Hinckley v BOTWCC 2nd XI

Saturday 1st September 2007

Having lost the toss on this the last match of the season, Burton were asked to bowl and the Season Finale was under way.

This week's opening pairing of Ryan Dawson and Chris Langham bowled well, swinging the ball a yard and seaming all over the place. Dawson seemed to have a spring in his step this week and had a bit of extra pace, causing some difficulties with balls whizzing past the edges for fun. Between them they only gave away 21 runs in the first 12 overs.

At this point Steve Layzell came on to replace Langham and things started well with a wicket maiden and a fine diving catch from the day's new comer, Ryan Walker. A keen young chap with some Merryweather-like agility, speed and an arm that delivers accuracy and distance without any apparent effort. We look forward to seeing more of him next season.

Layzell continued his spell and bowled superbly, giving nothing away and watched in anguish as he maneuvered the ball beautifully, confusing batsmen almost ball by ball, but still only rewarded with a brace of scalps. Well done he though, clearly the best bowler on the pitch this week and has been so for a few weeks.

Morley was at the other end for a while and although in his first spell didn't get any wickets only went for 4 runs and some pressure was being applied to the Hinckley XI. One of their more experienced campaigners, J Beasley, was now at the crease and he showed the young players what an old head can do on a pitch, and in the face of some tight bowling picked his shots well and managed a well deserved 65 before being run out by Sonny Warne behind the stumps.

Oh yes, I should mention, we were now playing with 10 men since girlie Kelvin Creasey went home with a poorly pinky finger having took a ball on the end of it (like that hurts) and Sonny had taken the gloves from him. That's that cleared up.

Anyway, having taken a good catch off the bowling of Dawson, a high catch from a wild slap and thick edge off the bowling of Langham AND the Beasley run out, Sonny Warne was clearly after his man of the match award. If there was one. But surely he couldn't do anything else to make the match more entertaining, could he? Eh? Can you guess where we're going here? More later...

Penton and Morley ended the 45 overs with a couple of wickets from Penton and 1 from Morley in a wicket maiden at the last and Hinckley had set a total of 165 for 8 for the youngsters of Burton to attain.

After tea, Dawson and Stenning opened the session with a couple of squeaky voiced nippers bowling at either end for Hinckley. But let not the youth fool you. These 2 guys bowled very well and in their few overs took out both the Burton openers for a duck a-piece. Taggy soon followed in his final match for the club with a lowly 5 runs, being bowled around his pads and clipping the leg stump.

Not to worry though, Sonny Warne was here. And he wouldn't give up the game without a fight. Despite the loss of three very key wickets Sonny chose not to play it steady and bide his time, use up the overs while still needing only 4 an over to win the match. Oh no. Thankfully, Hinckley put a young leg spinner on to bowl at him and, well, lets just say he got enough easy pickings to allow him to both get his eye in and start knocking the runs off the total in double quick time. Really quick. He'd reached his 50 by the 13th over and only 64 runs were on the board.

Along side Warne, young Ryan Walker was playing the support role with some competence, magnificently farming the strike to the eager Warne at every possibility, never facing more than one or two balls an over, thus allowing him to hit runs at his leisure.

And so this partnership continued until in the 22nd over he hit the big one and his century was on the board. This was the very first century by any player at the club this season, including the first team players. So a very well done to the little fella for firstly taking the gloves, then his three catches, a run out and finally a magnificent 103 runs before being bowled by the experienced Beasley.

That'll be the last time we see him in the 2nd XI.

After Sonny's departure and with a vastly reduced total to achieve, Ryan Walker soon followed for his 11 runs (he really WAS farming the strike), Langham came out and smashed a quick 13, Higgins a healthy 11 including a lovely cover drive and the Rob Morley and Steve Layzell finished the game off with an impressive 12 overs to spare.

Burton win!

Well done to all those who played, as once again each player has made a contribution in some form or another. A trait that has been evident all season in the Seconds and one that makes the difference at the end of the season.

Well done all for all your efforts this season.

A special mention goes to Mike Tagg who played his last game for the club on this day. He's been a loyal member of the club (in all its guises) since about the time when God was a baby. Many of us have had the pleasure of watching him score runs for fun in that time and show real skill and genuine cricketing ability at the crease. He will be missed by the club both as a player and on the committee where he has served for some years.

Good luck in your retirement Mike. It's been a real pleasure.

As for the rest of us, get some rest and we'll be back in the nets in early 2008.

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