DCCL Division 3 North - 31st May 2003

Clay Cross 172-8 (Miller 48, Carley 39*)
Ilkeston Rutland 153 All Out (Jones 54)

Clay Cross (27 points) beat Ilkeston (7 points) by 19 Runs

"Out On The Tiles"
Did anyone confess to having a few sherbert's the night before?

"I'm Gonna Crawl"
The traffic on Derby Road was solid ! The happy trio of Branson, Miller and Nottingham were ultimately late for the scheduled meet at 12:30. "Sorry skipper" didn't seem to appease the man in charge. Oops !

"The Lemon Song"
Having watched his fellow opener, Nottingham, trapped LBW by the inswing of Palfreyman, Paul Lemon was soon to suffer a similar fate when Mark (Huggie) Baker claimed his first wicket. Clay Cross were 18-2.

"Dazed And Confused"
Captain Rich Greenhalgh joined Steve Else and on passing was asked by the successful the bowler "Right hand mate?" One cannot begin to imagine what was going through his mind as he replied "No, left." The field was therefore set to accommodate the 'two left handers' only for the new batsman to take guard in his customary right hand manner. 

Baker soon gained further success, trapping Else LBW and then bowling Greenhalgh to make the score 40-4. At the end of his first spell Mark Baker had the impressive figures of 9-3-11-3.

"No Quarter"
Paul Benison and Ian Miller then set about the recovery operation. They dug in, occupying 97 balls in a partnership of 28 before Benison was caught and bowled by Jeff Lockhart in the 31st over. 

"That's The Way"
With 15 overs left and only 5 wickets in hand some selective hitting was required to set a challenging total for the home side. Zone 6 has often been favoured by ex-Broom boy Dring and so it proved again as he sent the 4th ball he faced sailed over cow corner. It should have been a six but on this occasion the umpire was not so accommodating to the batsman. However, the fortunes of the veteran would swing in his favour later in the game. 18 from 24 balls helped to set the tempo even though John Green was dismissed quickly after Dring had holed out to deep square leg. "Good shot !!"

"Heartbreaker"
99-7 in the 38th over and plenty of repair work was still needed. Ian Miller was still out in the middle although the oppressive heat was beginning to take its toll. James Carley, having put in a little extra work during the week, had joined him and used his pad to good effect for the first few balls. He then set about playing in the 'V' or Zone 5 as it is referred to by Statto. However, on the last ball of the 43rd over this tactic revealed its downside. Ian Miller was backing up when Carley smashed one back straight, the bowler got his hand to the ball and deflected it onto the stumps. Ian Miller tucked his bat under his arm and trooped back to the pavilion, dismissed for the first time this season. 48 from 90 balls was a fine effort for his team in difficult circumstances. 

"Stairway To Heaven"
As Jon Branson joined Carley, the Ilkeston skipper recalled Baker to bowl two of the remaining 3 overs. At this stage it was throw the bat at everything. The pair did just that taking 11 from Baker's first over, 16 from Henshaw bowling the 45th and 13 from the final over of the innings bowled by Baker. 40 runs from the final 3 overs to take the score to 172-8 gave Clay Cross the belief that this game wasn't over.

"Communication Breakdown"
By hitting the first ball of the innings to the mid on boundary, D Jones had made his intentions clear. He was in a positive mood, striking the ball well even though he offered encouragement to the fielding side when hitting in the air. He gave one chance that wasn't taken and things were looking ominous when he had reached 50 out of a total of 76-2. Games often turn on a piece of good fortune. Having taken a quick single to square leg the ball was thrown to the non strikers end and with nobody backing up a couple of overthrows seemed likely. However, Carley retrieved the ball and threw it to the keepers end as Jones was struggling to make his ground. It was an unfortunate way to get out but the Clay Cross team could now see a glimmer of hope.

"How Many More Times"
"Would that have any possibility of being out umpire?"
"It would ! Well I am delighted that you believe that to be the case."

The veteran is picking up wickets again and the game is swinging in favour of Clay Cross. A Henshaw set about recovering the situation and looked to be well in control until he aimed another big shot off the bowling of Dring and holed out to deep extra cover. Another straight ball from the veteran saw Lockhart LBW. At 153-9 the final Ilkeston pair had 7 balls to survive. 

"Thank You"
The final over was bowled by James Carley. B Moulds had few alarms negotiating the first five but was called upon to play at the final delivery. It took a slight edge and looped invitingly to first slip. Nottingham, despite previous discussion with his wicket-keeper and captain was stood in exactly the right place to stoop forward and take the catch. PANDEMONIUM !!! There was squeals of delight as the fielders did a jig of joy having picked up 27 points.

"Gallow's Pole"
Did the last man out really swing?

"What Is And What Should Never Be"
Do we never learn? I thought it was agreed that Darrell would never be allowed to lead us to a watering hole again? However, we'll let this one pass by in that anywhere would have been a perfect place for reflection and refreshment.

Champagne Moment 
The last ball

The Oak Legend of Gold Man of The Match 
Everyone ...... for being there !

PS - According the writer of the match report all the headlines are titles of songs from a certain artist...do you know who!?!?