20/07/2003 v MONTROSE

lost

Richard won the toss and decided to field first hoping to take advantage of any damp conditions still in the pitch before the sun dried it up any further.

It seemed a good decision as Bob and Neal managed to get a good line and length straight away and some considerable movement off the wicket.

However it seemed that Montrose’s openers were well used to these type of conditions and with a great deal of patience and doggedness slowly started to build a score.

A change saw Martin and Anthony come on and Martin especially bowling up the hill started to worry the batsmen quite a bit.

It wasn’t until the 17th that Martin finally broke through with the score on 85 with Tim taking the catch at deep cover.

Ant soon followed bowling our old mate Grant with the score just moving on to 95.

Then Martin struck once again this time with Ant taking the catch in a glorious spell which saw Ant take another wicket this time courtesy of an lovely big snick that went through to Chris behind the stumps.

Then with Steve Oakden at the crease things went slightly back in Montrose’s favour as once again they started to accumulate runs seemingly at ease.

The score moved on to 145 when Neal having changed ends finally got the wicket he deserved by clean bowling Oakden having scored 58.

The very next over saw Anthony strike once again with Chris as ever in fine form taking the catch.

Once again though Montrose started to get on top with Bailey scoring well. It wasn’t until the score got up to 184 that Neal hit a real purple patch and took 3 wickets in quick succession, (two clean bowled and one once again caught by Chris). Just when it looked like Bailey (54 n.o.) would run out of partners, with only a few overs remaining he and Terry Cook saw out the innings adding a very useful extra 20 runs leaving the target to win a gettable 225.

The turnaround saw Neal and Ant open and set about the task with aplomb. However in the 7th over with the score on 41 Ant survived a dodgy lb. appeal only to be caught plumb very next ball forcing Chris to take over.

Alas Chris and Neal’s partnership didn’t last as Neal was next to go when he managed to pick out the only fielder on the leg side leaving a very simple catch.

Mark joined Chris and both set out a good stall moving the score on steadily. Unfortunately though with their partnership on 49 Chris was tempted by a short one which he never really got hold of and boosted to leg side to an eagerly waiting pair of hands in the deep.

Tim then took up the mantle and as ever soon got into his stride however he seemed to lacking his usual gusto especially after catching one ‘mid wicket’ and having foolishly decided not to wear a box. Much to the consternation of girlfriend Amy who watching from the side declared ‘Well I guess that’s my night ruined!!!’ But I’m sure (ahem!) to everyone’s relief Tim seemed to recover well and carried on where he left off.

The 18th over though saw the demise of Mark who had been playing some lovely shots when with the score on 109 he lost his leg stump.

A few overs later Tim was back on the sidelines having scored what must (this season for him!) been a disappointing 41 after being bowled too.

This left things to Rich and Adam to take up the mantle and both kept their ends up well pushing another 37 on the total when Adam lost his wicket in the 30th over.

This unfortunately heralded the beginning of the end Richard followed after getting caught behind with out adding any more and special guest Tony Gray faired little better when he lost his wicket to a snorter.

This left the Smith twins in the middle and a little resistance was offered with Martin especially scoring a magnificent four before unfortunately clipping one to slip and with Bob only lasting a couple of balls as his replacement. The cup was back in the hands of Montrose once again. Not undeservingly as their bowling performance was especially good.

All in all the two games for the Derek Merrall Trophy this year have been absolute crackers and I’m sure that in the future with the added incentive of the cup these keenly fought fixtures will have a an extra bite to them. Something definitely to look forward too!