Scorecard

Newport Pagnell CC 1st XI v Olney Town Cricket Club Olney Town CC 1st XI on Sat 30 Aug 2008 at 1:30pm
Match was Drawn

Match report Match Report:

We started the day knowing that the minimum we could do to try and stay in the league would be to win. As it was and as news filtered through from other grounds it became apparent that our efforts would no matter what our result be in vain!

It didnt start to well as guess what, I lost another toss. Only one won all season means there'll be plenty of tossing practice for me during the winter!! Puns aside, we were put into bat on what looked a green but good wicket. There were to be early problems however as opener Soul and Hallum fell relatively cheaply however that was to be as good as the day got for Newport. As undisputed man of the match Mike "charlie" Brown and the returning prodigal son Sibley set about the attack with little compassion amassing a massive 233 third wicket stand. Brown eventually out for 127. Sibbo wasnt far behind and duly made 104 not out. At this point the skipper Keeping, without facing a ball declared with 3 overs left with a team total of 261 for 3. Securing maximum batting points should the need arise.

At tea the only thought was to bowl the opposition out and secure the maximum 30 points that would be available. News came through that MK City had scored equal and more of what we had so at which point the game and league status was pretty much up, however that did not deter us and we went about our fielding and bowling with the sort of aggression and intensity that had we of done this for the whole season then we may not have been in this situation.

Captain Keeping and Smith took the new ball and both made it move in the air and off the seam, Smith being particularly unlucky as edge after edge eluded the slip cordon which at its greatest contained 4 waiting fielders. Keeping broke through the other end, and the introduction of Mike "im the new hero of the team" Brown bought 3 wickets including the opener that had ridden his luck for the best part of 15 overs. Keeping junior once again bowled well without reward and was once again unable to work out how there wasnt a number in the wickets column. Brown made way for Captain Keeping who peppered one time Olney player Sear with an array of short and yorker length bowling, to his credit though he stood firm (or somewhere near square leg) for over an hour to almost definitely move the game away from OIney. However one ball did find its way through the staunch defence and the returning Brown took another 2 wickets to leave Olney needing a wicket in the last over to win the game. Alas it wasnt to be and a heavy maximum point winning draw was all we could take from the game.

Special mention on the day though to Mike Brown, missing on Holiday for three weeks he returned to score the highest individual score of the season and also his first 5 wkt haul this season. Without doubt man of the match!

So there it is, the end of another season and one that rather disappointingly has ended in relegation for the first team. Pluses from the season are the end of season form of all batsmen, the progression of Christian Smail. The unluckiest pace quartet in the league of Smith, James, Keeping Jnr and Snr who if there was an award for beating the outside edge then we'd have bowled each team out at least 3 times a game! However you dont get points for that.

My thanks to the host of umpires ive used. Nev for his umpiring at the start and scoring at the end, perhaps a winter course beckons as there are no umpires in the 2nd division!

Above all, thanks to all the players for giving up there saturdays, whilst the season has ended in frustration, going forward we know we have a team that could and should have competed at the top of this division but also one that next season has an excellent chance of bouncing straight back.

Till next year!

Captain Keeping!

Olney Town Cricket Club Olney Town CC 1st XI Batting
261 for 3
Player Name RunsCatchesStumpingsRun outs
Chris Soul Caught  11
Mark Hallam Caught  3
Mike Brown Caught  127
Leigh Sibley Not Out  104
Stuart Keeping Not Out  0
Ben Cadigan  
Dave Gibson  
Christian Smail  
Stuart Griffin  
Iain Keeping   1
Paul Smith   1

Newport Pagnell CC 1st XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Newport Pagnell CC 1st XI Batting
175 for 9
Player name Runs
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Olney Town Cricket Club Olney Town CC 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Stuart Keeping10.032337.672.30
Paul Smith10.0170170.007.00
Iain Keeping10.032400.002.40
Mike Brown8.002454.803.00
Stuart Griffin5.031500.003.00
Dave Gibson3.02900.003.00