Cricket Report -Sunday 24th August

Sunday 24 August Audlem CC .v. Wellington CC

Audlem welcomed Wellington to the Gorse Croft on Sunday with resources stretched a little as the league X1 were also involved in an important fixture at Stafford which left the team without the talents of Jake, Bertie, Dave P & Irfan who are regular members of the Sunday X1. Audlem still managed to put together a formidable team which triumphed on the day by 4 wickets in a 35 over contest.

Skipper Ollie Banfield uncharacteristically lost the toss which inevitably saw the team being asked to field first in batting friendly conditions. Opening bowlers James Cottrell and Steve Neale gave the early batsmen all kinds of problems with their contrasting bowling styles and Wellington were soon in a spot of bother as wickets began to fall. A change of bowling brought little respite to the beleaguered batsmen with Conor Howard and David Cottrell taking over the reins. Only Tarun Rajesh ( 54 ) & Jamie Webb ( 24 ) were able to make any meaningful contribution to the under-par score of 133 all out in the 30th over. James was the chief destroyer claiming 4 scalps for 33 runs off 6.5 overs with brother David finishing with 2 victims for 26 off 8. Conor 's 2 for 27 off 5 and Steve N 1 for 20 off 8 overs + a sharp run out from Alfie Hardy completed the story.

The reply did get off to an edgy start with Steve Ellsmore and Matt Furber back in the pavilion in quick time but a good partnership between Hamish Howard ( 20 ) and Alfie ( 15 ) got the innings under way. With a mini collapse mid innings, the game looked in the balance but with skipper Ollie Banfield ( 26 not out ) and David Cottrell ( 24 ) putting together a fine stand the game was almost wrapped up. With David's dismissal brother James as able to enter the fray and finish the game with a straight 6 to bring proceedings to a close in the 24th over.

Next Sunday Audlem welcome Lilleshall CC to The Gorse Croft with a 1.00pm start.

John Wainwright

Audlem Cricket Club