Cutthorpe v Cuckney

Bassetlaw Division 1 4th August 2007

At Recreation Ground: CUCKNEY (20) 168 for 9 (Will Butler 96, Steve Bentley 35 n.o., Andy Knowles 3 for 43) beat CUTTHORPE (5) 149 all out (Steve Randal 5 for 33) by 19 runs.

Cuckney Bears travelled away to Cutthorpe last weekend finding it tough before even getting to the ground. Cutthorpe away is a dreaded fixture as not many teams come away with 20pts from there. With a very uneven surface and loads of grass on the wicket it was decision time. Luckily we lost the toss again! (The skipper Butler has only won 3 tosses all season) as we didn't have a clue what to do on a different looking pitch. We were asked to bat first.

I could tell there were nerves around before the game as Joggers had brought his Mrs down to the ground for everyone to meet and also after Butts found out 5 of the lads had got hold of his work mobile phone and made calls to a adult chat line!! There was bound to be nerves. Cuckney got off to a rather shaky start after losing Joggers in the 4 th over and no surprises when he was later heard saying he wanted to spent time with his Mrs rather than batting! Brown soon followed Joggers as he was given out LBW. This Brought Butler to the crease with the in form Stroh. A few overs passed and the two Cutthorpe openers were doing a great job with wickets falling and not many runs being scored before Stroh inside edged one onto off peg with his score on 5. The Bears at this stage were in deep trouble at 35 for 3 with Bentley striding to the crease. A good partnership was required on a pitch that you never felt in on. Butler and Bentley played well and took there time moving the score on. Bentley played some glorious strokes before being well caught behind for an important 35. Randall arrived at the crease and was out soon after as he chopped on for 0. Next in was Teabag Ullyott, who came off a midweek ton and unfortunately he was out 2 overs later chipping one to mid-off. At this time Cuckney looked defeated as in came the Rubber lip Hind who nicked off 1st ball for 0 . Next in was Cliff the cowboy Adwick who played a rather loose shot straight up in the air for 1 . Butler at this stage looked stranded at the other end as the score was 120 for 8! With great support from Stephenson who hung around for 15 balls while Butler at the other end was trying to find Boundaries and turning 1's down farming the strike, might have looked like it was the wrong option ,as he ran his partner out at the other end looking for a second run that never was! Musgrave then stepped to the crease and only having batted 3 times all season showed what he is all about by having to face the Cutthorpe openers from one end as Butler and Musgrave batted for 10 overs for the last wicket , This as it turned out was a match winning partnership which added 45 Runs for the last wicket Musgrave finishing on 1 not out and Butler 96 not out overs up. As the Bears finished on 169 for 9.

Cuckney knew it was going to be tight and every run was going to be vital! Again as the week before the openers started badly and went for a few, with Cutthorpe bringing the attack to the Bears! But as you all know the Bears never give up and fight hard as a unit till the end. The whole team buzzing all afternoon made it easy for the bowlers to deliver! Stephenson and Butler opened up and wickets fell at regular stages to start with as Stephenson picked up 2 wickets in quick succession. Butler then rang the changes and brought on Randall from one end and Adwick from the other. Adwick struck in his first over breaking a vital partnership,before going down injured in the next over. Randall totally dominated all afternoon from one end and bowled the best spell of the season, under massive pressure, from the other end Musgrave got a vital wicket in the middle order as well and bowled with good control. Ullyott followed Mushy in a pressure spell and coped really well as he too got a vital wicket towards the end in a close game . The game was never safe for the Bears until Randall too the final wicket of the day and his best figures for the season of 5 for 33.

It was a great result for the Bears who as ive said were never safe as Cutthorpe took us on till the very end! A game played in great spirit and very competitive all round and Cuckney do the double on Cutthorpe, beating them twice in a season. Cuckney 20 pts Cutthorpe 5 pts.

Well Done the Bears keep it up!

WB

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