22 August
Shireshead & Forton 219/6
Windermere 145
Colin Twiname (55) and Tom Jacques (79) gave Shireshead a near perfect start adding 106 in 23 overs for the first wicket. There may be 24 years in age between the openers, but this was their second century partnership of the season and the fourth time they have given Shireshead a start of more than 50. It was Twiname who made the early running striking three boundaries from Park’s first over, a feat he was to reprise against Jono Cooper (0/40) who was struggling with injury and bizarrely finished the innings behind the stumps. Twiname was the first to fifty made from 67 balls (10 fours) and after he was caught by Chris West from the bowling of Steve Carruthers (2/49) Jacques took the lead role. After a slow start he had a purple patch where 23 came from 10 balls and he didn’t look back. Since his hundred at Silverdale, he has looked out of sorts at times, but, abetted by sage words from Stuart Law about his technique, he made 79 from 104 balls striking twelve sumptuous boundaries. Rob Jacques fell cheaply but Paul Yates made a busy 42 not out from 47 balls, supported by Michael Armstrong (21) to ensure that a challenging target was set.
Joe Stephenson (7) and West (15) started cautiously against David Jack (1/36) and Mike Park (2/22). Park bowled Stephenson with his trademark leg-cutter and Mike Lewthwaite (6) was caught at cover by Robert Charles. Had a fines system been in place, Charles would have been in serious deficit managing to juggle the ball not once, not twice, nor thrice or even what comes next, but five times before finally, at full stretch hanging on to the catch. Farce followed when Jimmy Carwford hit his first ball to backward square, set off for the single only to find that his partner had not moved. Crawford scurried back, but not before, Rob Jacques, with clinical precision had thrown down the stumps. Two overs later Cooper called West for a single. This time the veteran responded only to find that Tom Jacques’ accurate throw to the wicket-keeper had outpaced him.
Cooper (27) showed judicious counter-attack and briefly threatened to repeat his superb innings of two seasons before. Rob Jacques (3/46), whose bowling resembled Andrew Strauss’ summary of England’s play during the Ashes, produced a peach to dismiss the Windermere man. With Tom Jacques (1/6) dismissing the obdurate Park (11) the last pair came together with 128 needed from 17 overs. Rather than bat out for the draw Simon Walker produced a superb 52 not out from 56 balls that included nine cultured boundaries that belied his lowly position in the order. Mike Laidler (9) resisted for 45 minutes in more traditional tailender fashion, but had taken the visitors to within 17 balls of a draw when he edged a Dave Jack delivery to Park at third slip who took a good catch at third slip to secure fifteen points.
2nd team report awaited
Ambleside A 157 for8 dec. Shireshead 3rd 59
Shireshead won the toss and asked Ambleside to bat. The innings opened very slowly with 4 wickets falling to Oliver Yates (1/38) and Graham Rand (3/8) helped by some fine catching, for a mere 19 runs. Then, with the departure of these opening bowlers, the weakness of the home side’s bowling attack became obvious, depending as it did on junior players, with even Yates, in his second spell, failing to contain the batting. Opener Peter Dodd (51) was joined by Nick Tollady and together they put on 121 for the 5th wicket until, in desperation, veteran, occasional bowler, Geoff Hornby (4/7), was brought into the attack. The batsmen were tempted to hit out and N. Tollady sent a skyer which was very well taken by David Riley. Tollady’s 50 came in 62 minutes off 60 balls and his total of 66 included fours fours and one six. To his and the Shireshead’s delight, Hornby then proceeded, in his second over, to mop up the next 3 batsmen, at which point skipper Dodd declared.
Rand’s three victims brought his tally of wickets for Shireshead to 501.
Shireshead’s reply looked as if the game would soon be over. However, it was left to the young players to make a fight and though the totals were not large, their courage in the face of the adult attack was to be admired. The 9th wicket fell when the score was 34 in the 17th over and skipper Tony Richmond (16) was joined by Rand (4no). Together they frustrated the bowlers for 14.4 overs until Liam Tollady finally bowled Richmond in the 33rd over and ended with 5 wickets for 18.