Burton Leonard v Blubberhouses

A beautiful blue skied Peter Lane Oval was the setting for Burton Leonard 1st XI to get back to winning ways, following their defeat the previous week. The visitors, Blubberhouses were out to do the double over their counterparts but the mood was bright in the Burton camp and it was all set up to be an epic match.

Having won the toss, Blubberhouses took to the field, leaving a six-point chasing Burton ready to post a big score on another cracking batsmans wicket. At 2.05 the Burton opening batsmen, Mickey ‘The Mouse’ Wray and Craig ‘Minus’ Eustace strolled through pavilion gates and took to the crease. The game exploded into life with Craig smashing the hapless Blubberhouse attack to all corners of the ground, notching up a quick-fire 16. At 2.08 however, it was all over too soon for the destructive Eustace and he was back in the hut, having top edged to mid-off.

It was time for the in-form Mike ‘Stanner’ Stansfield to enter the arena and join Mickey out in the middle. The two batsmen set about building a score, aware that Burton needed upwards of 240 against what was a good Blubberhouses batting side. The score rose to 66 when, at 2.58, another big blow was landed on Burton’s hopes of a big total with Stanner misjudging a delivery from the wily Brown and getting bowled for a valuable 18.

Skipper, Neil Blaken stepped out to the middle and was soon off the mark with a deft cut for four down to the playground corner. Shortly after, a club-like smash through covers adds four more to the Skippers total. The Burton batsmen were looking comfortable and a tickle for four brought Mickey ‘The Mouse’ Wray ever close to another milestone 50.

With the score at 89 for 2 from 22 overs, Blubberhouses threw the ball to their Muralitheran-esque off spinner. This was no worry for the imperious Michael Wray however, who, at 3.11 drove through the on side to bring up another 50. Not to be outdone, however, Neil ‘A. Hall’ Blaken creams through covers for another four. The score moves on to 105-2 and Burton are looking comfortable.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines conversation is king as Foxy brags to A. about how fast he can wind up a car window. A. seems unimpressed and attentions are soon re-focused on the batting master-class taking place out in the middle.

Another blow however at 3.24 as the Skipper departs with a big inside edge onto his stumps. With the score at 110-3, the man with the big hands, comes to the crease. His plan is to work the ball Thorpe-style around the field and give as much of the strike to The Mouse as possible and he’s soon off the mark with a push through extra. A comfortable three strides gets him to the other end and takes the score onto 130-3.

Mickey ‘The Blubberhouses-Brayer’ Wray continues to stroke the ball to all ends of the field whilst Manhands’ innings is cut short with a questionable lbw decision.

With the score at 132-4, its time for Mark ‘Foxy’ Fox to take to the crease. A well judged faint shot from Foxy takes everyone by surprise, not least the Blubberhouses keeper, who sees it fly through his legs for four. Soon after, a glorious drive through the leg side sees another four runs go down for Foxy, he’s in and he’s looking good.

Never overshadowed, however, Mickey ‘The cannon’ Wray fires the ball back over the bowlers head for a huge six. Then, another blow, as Foxy is despatched, with the score at 175-5.

It’s the turn of Rob ‘Gunther’ Murray, recently promoted to number seven, following a run of good form. Still there at the other end, Mickey Wray glides up to ninety four with a push to long off. The crowd are poised to celebrate another epic century for the Burton stroke-master after another four straight down the ground, takes him on to an unbeaten 98. They don’t have to wait long, as two balls later, Mickey ‘Paul Collingwood’ Wray blasts it into the wheat field for an almighty six. That’s another hundred for Mickey and with no signs that he’s about to throw in the towel, the Blubberhouses fielders are looking understandably down-hearted.

At the other end, Rob ‘Muzza’ Murray takes on the Blubberhouses attack with a big heave into the tennis courts. Going all out now to try and push the score on, Muzza top edges an attempted hoick down to third-man/fly slip and is caught out for 9.

Neil ‘Spunky’ Carass is the next man in, with some recent high scores under his belt, he’s full of confidence and is off the mark with a caress down to the bowling green a comfortable two. With the end of the innings now in sight, Spunky is taking no time to bat himself in and is spraying the ball around the ground, even running a four. The classic pinch-hitter innings is over soon after however and Chris ‘Cooky’ Parker walks to the crease, no doubt hoping for some pies…
The Chef serves up a defensive shot for starters but unfortunately, his innings is soon over with an adjudged LBW.

Ally ‘A.’ Wilson is the next man in and it seems there’s no tail in sight to this Burton line up. A Dot to start the innings with a defensive push to mid wicket, then a sublime drive through covers for four, takes him off the mark and brings us to the last over.

Having smashed the ball to all corners of the park all afternoon, Mickey ‘The Mouse’ Wray is run-out on the last ball of the innings, with a characteristic show of unselfishness, going for one last single. But it draws to a close an innings to remember from Mickey Wray and a personal best score of 135!

2nd Innings

Following a spectacular tea courtesy of the Parker’s, we’re all buzzing and ready to defend an imposing total of 251.

P Dalby and the dangerous B Davis open up for Blubberhouses with A. and Muzza opening up the bowling. Dalby and Davis notch up a nifty 44 for the first wicket, with Rob ‘Gunther’ Murray trapping Dalby infront for 19.

It’s a cracking breakthrough but the big prize in the Blubberhouses line up is Davis and when we need a man to step up to the plate, who better to look to than the big man himself, Mark ‘Ace’ Fox. Taking Davis by surprise and delivering the knock-out blow to send him back to the pavilion for 38.

Burton’s spirits were up and a captains bowling display from Neil ‘Blakes’ Blaken put Blubberhouses further onto the ropes, with the young skipper bagging neat figures of 12 overs for just 27 with two key wickets.

But Blubberhouses weren’t dead yet and they were racking up the runs, Burton needed a change of pace…

Enter Chris ‘Cooky’ Parker, the king of Spain. More used to bowling tricky swingers, the Chef bowled his first Saturday spell of leg spin and dazzled the Blubberhouse batsman with a supreme display. Following in a distinguished lineage of Burton Leonard leg spin bowlers, The Chef served up a tasty spell of 2 for 34, slicing through the middle order. Clearly stamping his name down as leg spin legend of the future.

From then on, it looked ominous for Blubberhouses and another LBW for Muzza and a well deserved wicket for Ally ‘A.’ Wilson sealed their fate. They cut their losses and dug in for the point, seeing off the last few overs to lose the game by 55 runs.

So all in all a sound performance from the Burton first team, five points in the bag and some promising signs for the future…

Kris Burtwistle

This entry was posted on Sunday August 3rd, 2008 at 4:51 PM and is filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.

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