Last updated 17:35, Thursday, 21 August 2008

THE weather relented just enough to allow a handful of Dickinson Dees West Tyne League matches to take place on Saturday.

HUMSHAUGH vNEWTONHumshaugh won by 2 wickets

In the first division, Humshaugh welcomed Newton to an extremely green Chollerford on Saturday.

The toss was won by the home skipper who quickly inserted Newton into bat.

Humshaugh made the dream start with both openers being dismissed with only two on the scoreboard.

The pitch helped the bowlers a little, but positive play from Bowery and Balkwill ensured that Newton’s initial problems were soon forgotten.

The partnership was broken by a superb run-out by Elliott managing to get the throw to Bowery’s (22) end for the bails to be whipped off.

The run-out brought about two more wickets with some tight bowling from Arnup and Purvis inducing the mistakes.

Balkwill remained during this mini collapse, and would end with 58 ,despite offering some chances that the Humshaugh fielders could not take.

His partnership with number seven Robson added 49 which meant that Newton passed the 100 mark.

Whitaker accounted for Balkwill to end with figures of 2-18.

Opening bowlers, Elliott and Williamson returned at the end and managed to bowl out the remaining Newton batsmen for a respectable 128.

Humshaugh’s reply could not have got off to a worse start with their openers suffering the same fate as Newton’s.

A sorry 5-2 soon became 17-3 with Robson claiming the wicket of Whittaker.

This wicket brought Neale Arnup to the crease to join his captain and some positive cricket from captain Williamson got the scoreboard moving.

The captain failed to stick around and on 31 was dismissed by the bowling of Lawrence.

Again a flurry of wickets fell with opening bowler Telfer returning to claim two quick wickets and finish with the figures of 3-33.

Humshaugh were 54-7 and looked out of the game.

However, Arnup remained and began to exert his presence.

Some big six hitting which endangered Humshaugh’s electricity supply saw Humshaugh edge towards the target.

Weeks stuck around with Arnup giving him the support he needed.

Weeks’ dismissal in the 40th over with 17 still needed meant that Purvis had to go in and finish the job.

With one over left Humshaugh required only six and a wide with the second ball meant it was five from five.

Arnup wanted to end it quickly but Rooney bowled well and ensured that only two could be scored off the next four balls.

One ball was left and Humshaugh still needed three.

Arnup’s teammates waited with bated breath but Arnup would not fail.

A huge six to mid wicket meant victory had been grasped from the hands of defeat.

Arnup ended with 59 and was easily the man of the match.

Both teams shook hands knowing that they had seen something special and retreated to the pub reminiscing.

NEWTON: M. Reynolds c Whitaker b Elliott 0; A. Jeffrey run out 2; A. Bowery run out 22; J. Balkwill c Murray b Whitaker 58; J. Rooney c S. Arnup b N. Arnup 6; J. Bennett c and b Purvis 4; D. Robson c Whitaker b Elliott 17; P. Lawrence not out 6; C. Telfer c and b Whitaker 2; S. Taylor run out 3; Vinu b Williamson 4; extras 4; total 128.

Bowling: A. Elliott 10-2-28-2; M.Williamson 6.5-2-27-1; R. Purvis 9-1-21-1; N. Arnup 11-2-34-1; A. Whittaker 5-0-18-2.

HUMSHAUGH: A. Murray lbw b Robson 3; J. Gradwell c Robson b Telfer 0; A. Whitaker c and b Robson 7; M. Williamson c Jeffery b Lawrence 31; N. Arnup not out 59; R. Witchell c Reynolds b Bowery 2; M. Adams b Telfer 3; A. Elliott b Telfer 1; J. Weeks b Rooney 11; R. Purvis not out 3; extras 12; total 132-8.

Bowling: C. Telfer 10-2-33-3; D. Robson 12-5-17-2; P. Lawrence 8-1-26-1; A. Bowery 5-1-7-1; J. Rooney 5-1-29-1; Vinu 2-0-15-0.

Humshaugh 12 pts,Newton 4 pts.

MATFEN HALL vBENWELL HILLMatfen Hall won by 4 wickets

The conventional conclusion following a quick skim through the scorecard for this low scoring game would be that the wicket was a dodgy one.

Actually that was not the case; the wicket was predictably damp and soft but the bounce, if low, was certainly true.

The combination, however of the slow wicket and a green, wet outfield provided conditions where patience and perseverance rather than flamboyance was the right approach.

This point was fully understood by the Benwell Hill opening batsmen, B.R. Evans and G. Harrison who applied themselves with diligence to their task of keeping the accurate Matfen attack of Jimmy Maughan and Simon Buckton at bay.

The approach met with some success but run scoring proved tough and although the openers were still there on 30 overs, the scoreboard read only 47 runs.

After the more aggressive Evans was bowled by Liam Bartholomeusz for 26, the manner of the innings changed markedly and wickets fell quickly and regularly as incoming batsmen struggled to settle against the clever spin of Peter Younghusband and the seam bowling of Douglass.

The pick of a good crop of home bowlers was Younghusband, who contributed five wickets for 21 runs from his 11.1 overs.

If the Benwell Hill start was slow but steady, the Matfen experience was slow but very rocky with the first four batsmen out for a total of only 18 runs.

This was due, no doubt, to the complacency that often accompanies the pursuit of a modest target and also some very good opposition bowling, particularly from Drainer, coupled with enthusiastic fielding.

At this stage, the result was far from certain and the application earlier demonstrated by the Benwell Hill openers was essential from Matfen’s point of view.

This was duly delivered, firstly by the father and son combination of Hugh and Henry Blackett, adding 22 runs for the next wicket and then by skipper Buckton and Eddy Charlton who, together, resolutely saw the game through in Matfen’s favour in the 13th over.

The bowling and fielding effort from Benwell Hill was competitive throughout, despite having to defend such a small total.

BENWELL HILL: B.R. Evans b Bartholomeusz 28; G. Harrison b Younghusband 17; S. Rushton c Charlton b Younghusband 0; G. Chambers b Douglass 5; A. Dawson c and b Younghusabnd 8; S. Garry b Douglass 0; R. Drainer not out 5; B. Angus st Charlton 2; D. Archbold b Douglass 0; A. Teseswar b Younghusband 1; J. Gulridge lbw b Younghusband 1; extras 6; total 71.

Bowling: J. Maughan 6-3-6-0; S. Buckton 8-5-14-0; L. Bartholomeusz 10-2-16-1; P. Younghusband 11.1-2-21-5; H. Douglass 4-2-8-4.

MATFEN HALL: L. Bartholomeusz c Archbold b Drainer 8; P. Younghusband c Archbold b Drainer 2; I. Pilkington c Garry b Archbold 0; H. Blackett (jun) c Dawson b Gulridge 22; H. Blackett (sen) b Evans 4; S. Buckton not out 14; E. Charlton not out 9; extras 17; total 74-6.

Bowling: D. Archbold 6-1-10-1; R. Drainer 10.8-0-19-3; B.R. Evans 5-0-18-1; J. Gulridge 4-0-8-1.

Matfen Hall 12 pts,Benwell Hill 3 pts.

DIVISION TWO

PRUDHOE vSTOCKSFIELDStocksfield won by 1 wicket

Two days without rain made an unlikely game of cricket possible at Prudhoe on Saturday and credit must go to the groundsman for preparing a wicket, that, save for the first 10 overs, played well.

Neither side has played much cricket in the previous few weeks and that perhaps explains some of the low scores during the day.

Stocksfield won the toss and looked to take advantage of the potentially poor wicket by putting Prudhoe in.

The opening batsmen found early runs hard to come by as Shaw and, pick of the day’s performers, Marshall kept the ball in the right areas.

It wasn’t until the 12th over that the pressure turned into a wicket, Marshall taking the first of his five wickets by having Heslop caught at slip by Walker.

The Prudhoe batsmen that followed did not play the conditions very well and regular wickets fell from that point onward, as 26-1 became 45-6 by the 24th over.

Only contributions from Mitchell (7) and Stokoe (12) were of any support to opening batsmen Howdon, who had been watching his team mates come and go with alarming regularity.

Howdon’s patience and shot selection should have been an example to other, as he finished unbeaten on 47as Prudhoe crawled to 92 all out.

Special mention should go to Marshall who made the very best of the conditions to claim 5-12 from 10 overs. Walker gave excellent support taking four wickets of his own in nine overs.

There may not have been much confidence in the Prudhoe dressing room as the teams took tea but the result was much closer than many might have expected.

Opening bowlers Bell and Weight did exactly what was needed early on, each picking up a wicket, in their first over.

Morrison, coming In at number three, made what would turn out to be an invaluable 16 before he was caught behind by Gilroy off Wright in the 13th over leaving Stocksfield on 35-4 (Bell had clean bowled Russell for four in the interim).

Walker (11), Wood (20) and Thompson (11) all chipped in to move Stocksfield within sight of victory but at 74-7 the game could still have gone either way.

When Shaw was caught at point, and Marshall given lbw, the visitors were 84-9 still needing nine runs to win.

A tense seven overs followed as Castelow (1) and Peane (11) defended solidly and despite a couple of close calls, Castelow edging just over slip, the pair guided their team to victory in the 37th over.

Pick of the bowlers for Prudhoe was Bell taking 4-30.

As always a massive thanks to match day sponsor S. Holidays Sign Erection for their continued support of Prudhoe Cricket Club.

PRUDHOE: G. Howdon not out 47; M. Heslop c C. Walker b Marshall 11; J. Burns c Pearse b Marshall 4; M. Gilroy lbw b Marshall 0; H. Wright c Pearse b T. Walker 4; S. Wilson b T. Walker 0; J. Alnwick c Balmbra b T. Walker 0; R. Stokoe c Shaw b T. Walker 12; R. Mitchell b Marshall l7; A. Bell c Wood b Marshall 0; M. Coulson b Castelow 6; extras 7; total 92.

Bowling: K. Marshall 10-4-12-5; D. Shaw 9-1-31-0; T. Walker 9-2-32-4; D. Castelow 10.2-4-13-1.

STOCKSFIELD: M. Balmbra c Gilroy b Wright 0; T. Walker lbw b Bell 4; A. Morrison c Gilroy b Wright 16; C. Russell b Bell 4; C. Walker c Gilroy b Mitchell 11; P. Wood b Stokoe 20; M. Thompson c Dobson b Bell 11; D. Shaw c Howdon b Bell 4; A. Pearse not out 11; K. Marshall lbw b Stokoe 1; D. Castelow not out 1; extras 10; total 93-9.

Bowling: H. Wright 12-1-25-2; A. Bell 12-3-30-4; R. Mitchell 4-0-22-1; R. Stokoe 9-2-9-2.

Prudhoe 4 pts,Stocksfield 12 pts