B-LOOM-ING LOVELY...THE WIZARDS DO IT AGAIN! Chris Siddall reports on Whitley Halls eighth Whitworth Cup final triumph It was nailed on from the start. The Wizards couldn’t lose. The moment the team-sheet was pinned to the notice board at Baxter Field with the name Chris Verity clearly present, the Wizards knew it was in the bag. Chris “Ron Weasley” Verity holds the world record for the ratio of medals to cup appearances... and Sunday proved no different. On a glorious afternoon at Aston Hall, armed with their lucky loom-bands from Millie Bethel, The Wizards took the field to defend “their trophy”- won eight times in the last seven years (according to Lynn Wilson!). A somewhat interesting format was rolled out in what can only be described loosely as MC’ing for the day from ex- umpire Mac, who reported to the watching spectators throughout the afternoon. On the field, both teams were left to manage without their missing stalwarts-- captain (Philips) Alex Fletcher for Whitley and Steve Foster for Treeton. They were both on holiday (but not together). Up went the coin with an entourage 20 strong watching on. Two captains, one mascot, an MC, sponsors and a partridge in a pear tree saw Scott Cunningham elect to bat first (which seemed a sound decision at the time). A couple of nervous live interviews followed from the captains, and the game was all set. Cunningham and Davies opened for Treeton, with Fletcher and Castle taking the new ball for Whitley. After seeing the first ball of the innings dispatched to the boundary, the Whitley boys could have been forgiven for thinking they were in for a long afternoon. However, Castle knuckled down and removed an unhappy Davies lbw for 11. Fletcher bowled in his traditional Sunday fashion, and the importance of a performance of nine overs for just 30 (sorry, I mean 10) runs cannot be underestimated. Cobb arrived at the crease but was soon on his way following an extremely smart piece of wicket-keeping from old Iron Mits himself, Sam Chatterton, who pounced on a loose ball and quickly removed the bails to the delight of jubilant Whitley players and supporters. Castle was now finding some movement through the air and appeared to be settling into a steady spell until Kemp had other ideas and produced some smart shots, which resulted in Castle taking his sweater. Fletcher however was still producing some extremely tight bowling, drawing comparisons to Roy Sanderson’s wallet; and when he trapped Kemp in front for a sprightly 21, the Wizards sensed a victory could come sooner than expected especially after Fletcher removed Cunningham some 10 runs later following an uncharacteristic slow innings. Middle-order batsmen Norton and Mirza steadied Treeton’s ship with some good cricket, adding 95 for the fifth wicket, but just as Treeton appeared to be pulling away, an inspired bowling change from stand-in skipper Tasker turned the match on its head. Longhurst was removed from the attack for the safety of his bottom lip, young James “Bieber” Brown took over and soon got the prize wicket of Norton --an edge through to Chatterton, who took a fine catch and appealed with both elation and sheer disbelief. A repeat of this feat four runs later proved it was no fluke, Chatterton again taking a smart catch to remove Clarke off the inspired Brown (two for 34). The Wizards met some late resistance from Fenn, but Castle came back to finish off the tail with a fine spell to finish up with five wickets for 38 off 7.2 overs. All of Whitley’s bowlers must take great credit for restricting Treeton to a below-par 199 on a reasonably flat pitch, while Chatterton deserves praise for some smart keeping. The tea interval sparked interesting debate amongst the ranks as the table had been moved from its traditional centre location to a corner slot resulting in a queue reaching back into the conservatory. The cheese and ham croissants did, however, save the day. The second innings began with opening pair Milburn and Siddall facing up to overseas bowler Azhar Attari and Dave Burden. Milburn began in his usual fashion, attacking the bowling at every opportunity, and he could consider himself unlucky to be given out lbw for a score of six. Longhurst arrived at the crease, and he and Siddall resumed where they left off two weeks earlier at Tickhill, going on to share a partnership of 119. Cunningham changed his attack with increasing frequency, and used nine different bowlers; but Treeton were unable to find a way through and both Siddall and Longhurst steadily chipped away at the required target. An interesting passage livened up play halfway through the second innings when a number of supporters decided to suggest they had lost all cricketing knowledge by wandering in front of both sightscreens with increasing frequency. And, as if to compound the situation, Mac on the mike then chose to pipe up with more “live commentary” just as the bowlers were running in to bowl! The game was all but sealed by the time Longhurst departed with the score on 131, falling lbw to Cobb for (as always) an impressive 63 from 77 balls (9 fours, one six). Jim Tasker then joined Siddall and the pair saw Whitley home, with the captain managing a fluent 24 from 36 balls, while Siddall carried his bat, reaching 88 not out off 112 balls (15 fours) and hitting the winning runs through extra cover with six overs to spare. Spark wild celebrations amongst the Whitley players and supporters --supporters who, as always, turned up in large numbers and were a credit to the club. The presentations concluded the day with Siddall being named Man of the Match. An amusing note occurred when match manager Dave Ward seemed to suffer a temporary memory lapse by forgetting that the presentation of the Whitworth Cup was the next item on the agenda, but happily he was reminded in time, and all ended happily as the trophy was handed over to Jim Tasker! The post-match antics were, as usual, memorable. The naked Tug-of-War match between Bethel and Webster was quite possibly the most hilarious moment of the season, with Bethel the eventual winner after finding himself in some interesting positions with young Ben! The WOW award went to Sam Chatterton for behaving more like one of his pupils throwing his toys out of the pram halfway through Treeton’s innings. Later in the evening, with the Whitworth Cup back at its rightful home, the Baxter Field HQ again witnessed the usual massacre of Jaeger with the lads celebrating well into the night –and, in some cases, into the next morning. Well done, Wizards...roll on the League title! ***Everyone at Whitley Hall Cricket Club would like to wish Martin Sayles all the best for the future. Martin, a highly respected and popular figure in local cricket, was standing in his last match before retiring from umpiring. Chris Siddall, July 27 2014
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 10:39:30 +0000
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