The Ken Hammond show was cut short, with Lilley just 12 runs short of victory,
after the umpires, batsmen and fielding side agreed that light had become so
bad that it had become too dangerous to play on.
It was a tough call on a Lilley side that had delivered some of their
best cricket for a while, notably in the field, in extraordinary conditions.
Lilley arrived at the ground to the bizarre sight of an outfield which would
have been better suited to grazing cattle than Lilley's prime thoroughbreds.
Bourne End's grass cutting equipment had died during the week and as a result
the outfield was shocking. The wicket, which yielded so many runs last
year, was a story in itself; bumpy, uneven, damp at one end, it didn't look
like the sort of wicket that would have Geoff Boycott salivating at the
prospect of batting on. Bizarre then that having lost the toss, Lilley
were asked to field!
GT and James Ashby opened up again and once again endured the sort of luck you
would expect in this Ken and Tim-fest of a season. GT particularly was
unlucky, beating the outside edge for fun, finding the edge through third slip
area and seeing a scorcher of a chance put down by the athletic Perry at
short-ish backward square leg. His twelve overs went for just 18 runs,
but the number of authentic strokes contributing to that figure was
negligible.
Off to sulk in the covers went Ashby, muttering "Bloody Hammond's going
to take five now" and sure enough, Mr Kipling obliged. Hammond's
exceedingly good pies accounted for Proctor as he rocked back and pulled a
Midland Mainline long hop straight to the safe hands of Perry at mid-wicket.
He then followed it up by clean bowling Hill, who had played and missed
virtually all of Ashby's spell - it's one of those years! With GT
bowling well, Perry was pacing like a madman in the covers waiting to get into
the action and curtail Hammond's romp up the wicket charts. Perry
eventually got his chance, but found Bourne End skipper's Ahktar in full flow.
Hammond meanwhile was at it again, this time the impressive looking Escuber
holing out to Taz Qureshi at mid off, a neat palmed in the air and caught
second time catch. Perry bagged his first wicket at the other end, Brad
Tompkins, who kept the gloves despite the return of Taz, obliged with the
simple catch after Ahktar ballooned one up. He then added an lbw and a
simple catch by GT at point to his list of wickets, as the two leading wicket
takers for Lilley this year battled it out for supremacy. Bourne End,
comfortable victors in last year's match, were feeling the heat.
Not to be out-done, Hammond bounced back with two more wickets, two smart
catches off an outside edge and an under edge by Brad Tompkins behind the
stumps to give the big man his second five wicket haul of the year, much to
his delight. Perry again dug deep and clean bowled Scillitoe, to leave
him within a wicket of a five for, but ruthless Hammond clean bowled Turin to
end the innings, posting figures of 14 overs, 4 maidens, 6 for 24.
Perry, for the record, bagged 4-30 from nine overs.
Tomsett and Perry set off chasing the target well, moving along steadily in
the early stages. Bourne End tightened the screws however and really
piled the pressure on the openers with some tight bowling on an uneven wicket,
increasingly offering variable bounce. The funeral march run rate saw
Lilley move from 18 without loss in the 7th over to just 27 without loss
by the end of the 19th over, 9 runs in 12 overs. This was largely thanks
to Scillitoe, who bowled unchanged throughout the innings from the road end,
bowling four maidens in five overs at one point.
Tomsett (11) and Perry (17) were both put out of their misery in
quick succession and Taz Qureshi and Brad Tompkins followed for 1 each as
Lilley slipped to 34-4 from 27-0. Ashby and Hammond then set about
upping the run rate, Ashby making ten before popping one to mid wicket.
With big hitters in the middle order, Lilley were still in with a shout as GT
proved, leathering two Hill deliveries for four in one over as Hammond worked
the ball round at the other end. Tompkins was caught for ten, bringing
in in form Steve Eyres with Lilley 67-6. Hammond unloaded some great
shots and Eyres looked comfortable and assured as he supported the big man
comfortably.
Lilley were closing in on victory when, with light and visibility getting
worse by the minute, Ahktar made the decision to bring himself back into the
attack. At medium pace on an uneven pitch and in this light, it was a
questionable decision and left Hammond fuming. Unsavoury comments were
made and then, perhaps the straw that broke the camels back, Hammond smashed
the ball with some power into the covers at one of Bourne End's fielders and
only amazing reactions and evasive action stopped the ball thundering into his
skull and leaving the match with a very serious injury.
With the above in mind, the umpires, batsmen and fielders consulted in the
middle for a few moments before agreeing to abandon the match as a draw
because of bad light, Lilley just 12 short of winning the match.
Frustratingly close, the way it was going Lilley would have walked out
winners, but the right decision.
Ivanhoe
(158-7, Ashby 2-29) beat LILLEY (163-3, Perry 33) by seven wickets
Lilley's fine run of form came to an abrupt halt at sweltering South Mimms
yesterday with a sound thumping from Ivanhoe.
The home side won the toss in the time fixture and elected, curiously, to bowl
first in searing heat. The move appeared to have back-fired somewhat, as
Doug Tomsett and Tim Perry resumed their good opening stand from last week,
puting on 71 for the first wicket in the first 18 overs.
Tomsett's demise for 20, bowled by the workhorse Christy (who eventually got
through no less than 21 overs off the reel!), set the Lilley knees wobbling.
Perry, who had moved on to 33 and was looking in fine fettle, decided to try
to hit Christy out of the attack, succeeding only in edging to first slip.
James Ashby's poor season with the bat took a turn for the worse, bowled by a
full toss from spinner Dancer and when Gareth Tompkins was next out, bowled
middle stump for 11, Lilley had slipped from 71-0 to 85-4. Brad Tompkins
and Ken Hammond then steadied the Lilley ship briefly before the former went,
LBW, to medium pacer Christy.
Hammond and new man Steve Eyres then set about trying to drag Lilley up to a
defendable target on a reasonable track and did a brilliant job, puting on 53
in eight overs. Hammond responded to comments of 'mind the windows
Tino' after swiping and missing by launching Dancer straight back over mid on
for four next ball and Eyres at the other end looking in good touch.
Eyres opened his six account for the year, slamming Dancer over long on for a
mighty maximum as Lilley passed the 150 mark. Nothing could be done
about the ball which eventually dismissed Eyres for 22 in the final over, as
it literally rolled along the ground and into the stumps - particularly harsh,
given it was the only ball that misbehaved quite that badly all afternoon.
Hammond could only watch from the other end as Joel Mellor came...and went
first ball, caught in the gulley to give Christy his five wicket haul in his
21st over. Dave Carman survived the hat-trick ball, but couldn't add
anymore runs as Lilley finished on 158-7.
Ashby and GT opened up again with the ball for Lilley, but the Ives batsmen
chanced their arm and had some outrageous fortune as the opening stand moved
to 36. The skipper was struggling with a dead leg sustained in a
pre-match football game at Stockwood and GT was unfortunate as the openers
edged the ball, played and missed and never looked at home. Doug Tomsett
put down a relatively easy chance at mid on off Tompkins as did Joel
Mellor at short leg. One of the openers, Dancer, was less than nimble on
his feet however when Ashby banged a short one in during his fourth over and
the opener could only glove the ball to short leg and the man under the
helmet, Joel Mellor. JA bagged a second in the over when fellow opener
Kenchington, who's infuriating slogs across the line were finally brought to
an end in almost identical fashion, Ashby banging one in short and the batsman
was only able to spoon the ball in the air, this time to stand in wicketkeeper
Brad Tompkins.
Ivanhoe's new pairing Collins and Phil Parnell endured a tough time initially,
both playing and missing against both bowlers. Lilley looked to the
second half of the pace quartet, Perry and Hammond, to provide some more
wickets. Sadly Collins and Parnell were starting to find their feet and
began looking extremely comfortable, particularly off the back foot.
Hammond eventually took Parnell's wicket, bowled, but new batsman
Bridgeman looked comfortable.
With Lilley staring down the barrel, Ashby turned to Rich Kendall to try and
take some of the pace off the ball to restrict run scoring. The new
man's first over was excellent and despite conceding two boundaries in his
second, there was plenty of promise for the future there. Dave Carman
wheeled away for two overs, but even he could not keep the run rate down,
going for 18 in his two overs. The skipper brought himself back on in
place of Kendall and almost had Collins as he edged behind, but the sharp
chance was put down by Brad Tompkins. The home side eventually won with
four byes, to seal a victory of 7 wickets.
Lilley were soundly beaten here. Not enough runs and, critically, the
pace quartet were lacking. In the previous two games, Lilley's bowlers
have picked up ten maidens (usually eating up at least a quarter of the
batting side's overs), but this week we managed only three. Still, there
were positives - another good opening stand from TP and Doug, Hammond back in
touch with the bat, Eyresie finding his feet with the bat and a decent showing
from Brad Tompkins with the gloves, amongst others. Time to get back on
track with victory against United Counties Bus next week
01.08.04
RAZZMA-TAZ FROM QURESHI TOO MUCH FOR TOTTERNHOE
LILLEY
(167 all out, Qureshi 68) beat Totternhoe (67 all out, Hammond 4-20) by 100
runs
Lilley's 2004 mid season revival continued at Totternhoe today, thanks to Taz
Qureshi's second half century in as many weeks.
Lilley were put into bat in a 'time' fixture and Doug Tomsett and Tim Perry
set the ball rolling nicely, stroking the ball around with apparent ease.
Perry notably hit some searing strokes, straight and through the off side, on
his way to 25. He fell, bowled, with the team score on 43 - and it soon
became apparent that the wicket was behaving far more suspiciously than had
first looked! Brad Tompkins went to his very first ball, clipping the
delivery right out of the middle and to the waiting fieldsman on the on side.
Last week's half centurion Qureshi joined Tomsett at the crease and the pair
put on 41 for the third wicket before Doug was bogged down and frustrated
by the uneven wicket, eventually snicking to the slips for 14.
The Lilley skipper Ashby joined Taz and seemed to be dusting off the cobwebs
which have covered his 2004 season, that was until he lofted a chance to deep
mid wicket for 9, leaving Lilley 114-4. Qureshi continued on his merry
way and seemed to make scoring runs look much easier than his colleagues.
He soon got bogged down by straight bowling on an interesting wicket, but Ken
Hammond appeared to be getting hold of the home attack. Taz eventually
registered his half century having being stuck on 49 for some time with
another four, however Hammond perished shortly after for 18.
Qureshi hit ten fours in his innings, which was next to be ended, for 68,
caught. The knock would prove to be pivotal however in a few hours time,
and he richly deserved the applause he received for his third half century of
the year and best score for Lilley.
Philo Clarke got a peach of a shooter from the wicket, almost rolling along
the floor and Stew Collinson followed shortly after for just one, sadly
tweaking the knee injury which had kept him out in recent weeks in the
process. If Philo's delivery was bad, Dave Carman's return to his
old stomping ground was met with a ball that shot so low, it may as well have
gone underground! With just Paddington for support, Gareth Tompkins
tried to hammer the ball back to Lilley, sadly missing and being bowled for 6,
leaving Lilley 167 all out.
You had to fancy Lilley's pace attack on a wicket such as this and there was
no surprise to see Ashby and Gareth Tompkins beating the bat regularly early
on. Ashby picked up two early breakthroughs, uprooting opener Smy's
middle stump and then bowling fellow opener Stainsby with the score on just
15. GT joined the fun, nabbing a caught and bowled before being replaced
by Ken Hammond. Hammond has bowled well this year, but he picked up a
wicket in the most embarrassing circumstances with his first delivery of the
afternoon, chucking a wide leg side full toss down at around 4 mph which the
batsman spooned straight to Craig Paddington at mid wicket. He went on
to grab another in the over, bowled, before inducing an edge from Hill to
Ashby at first slip to make it three. Tim Perry replaced the skipper
from the so called downhill end (although if you listened to TP, it sounded
like it was bowling from the top of Snowdon with a force 9 gale behind you..),
and bowled a hostile and pacey 4 over spell. He picked up three wickets
in quick succession, two bowled and one caught behind by Qureshi, as
Totternhoe slumped towards defeat.
Unsurprisingly, it was journeyman Hammond who nicked the last wicket, bowled
again, to leave Totternhoe 67 all out and 100 runs adrift of Lilley, who are
now unbeaten in the six weeks since 20th June. Tellingly, Qureshi
hit more runs in his innings than Totternhoe did in their entire team effort.
So another 'W' and on to Ivanhoe next week...hoorah!
25.07.04
QURESHI & KEN ALMOST STEAL FAMOUS GADDESDEN WIN
LILLEY
(151-8, Qureshi 57 not out) drew with Great Gaddesden (152 all out, Hammond
6-36)
Whatever happened in today's game, it couldn't top the drama of last week's
win at Kempston, could it? Oh yes it could.
Lilley
won the toss and elected to field on a fair looking track at a predictably
overcast Bridens Camp. Perry and Ashby worked well with the new ball,
finding the edge if not the fielders capable of catching the ball! TP
himself spilled a chance at third slip off the skipper early on, as GG
struggled to live with Ashby and Perry's pace and nip with the new ball.
Ashby made the first breakthrough, an lbw decision going his way from a full
length in-swinger. Perry too broke through shortly after, making amends
for his drop by having the same batsman caught by Paddington at short square
leg via a top edge into his helmet.
The father and son combo of Alan Henry and AJ Henry then began to wrestle the
game from Lilley with a series of powerful strokes. Ken Hammond's
introduction to the fray signalled a change in the game and AJ was bowled
shortly after by a fine delivery from the big man. Henry senior
continued and looked ominously in form and had reached 64 when he powered a
Philo Clarke delivery through mid wicket, only to find Chris Horner and a
fantastic catch at full pelt.
Hammond and Clarke continued to scythe their way through the order, with
Hammond nipping the ball in to the right handers and reaping the rewards.
By the time the home side were skittled for 152, Hammond had notched 6-36 in
15.2 overs, his first five wicket haul since returning from Canada.
Chasing 153 was always going to be tricky against a side which Lilley haven't
beaten for a decade.Tomsett and Chris Horner soon found out about GG's
tight bowling as runs were hard to come by early doors. Horner,
centurion in his only other Lilley outing of the year, was frustrated and soon
mis-hit to cover for 2. Perry joined Tomsett and the pair seemed to
steady the ship, however the opener too was soon to run out of patience and he
was caught at gulley for 17. TP and Brad Tompkins took the score past
50, but were struggling to get the ball away. Perry was caught trying to
up the run rate, Ashby followed leg before and Brad Tompkins and Phil Horner
(run out) followed later as Lilley slipped from 51-2 to 83-6.
Again, things were not looking rosy for Lilley but again Philo Clarke strolled
out to the crease to join Taz Qureshi. What followed was beautiful and
almost, almost took Lilley to victory.
Qureshi had already been stroking the ball around come Clarke's arrival and
was ticking nicely. Philo, dogged by a heel injury, got flowing and the
runs began to come. GG's response was to bring their new ball bowler
back into the attack. His first delivery prompted a jumping jab down on
the ball by Clarke, to which the home Captain scoffed "Ahh...rabbit in
headlights springs to mind!". Clarke responded by spanking the next
delivery for four straight back over the bowlers head. Touché.
And so it continued. Qureshi by this time was seeing it like a football
and was hammering the home attacks slow bowlers and their spread fields.
A succession of fine strokes all around the wicket, together with a slice of
luck enabled Taz to register his second half century of the season as Lilley's
run chase continued.
The over before the end and Lilley needed something big. With that in
mind, Phil danced down the track to smack spinner Ambrose over his head.
He connected, but with Gill out on the long on boundary he looked doomed as
the ball dropped. Gill took a comfortable catch on the boundary, but his
momentum carried him backwards and over the boundary line to give Clarke a
second life - and six runs, much to the elation of another fantastic Lilley
following.
Into the last over and Lilley needed seven runs to win, with Clarke and
Qureshi in. Philo (23) tried to angle the first ball backward of square
and only managed to top edge the ball to the home wicketkeeper, to leave five
balls to score seven runs. Joel Mellor, last weeks hero, arrived at the
crease, but he didn't connect with the first two deliveries. He managed
a single from the next but Taz had just two balls to get six runs. He
managed two from the fifth ball and two from the last as GG posted all their
men back on the boundary to save the draw. Qureshi finished 57 not out.
So Lilley missed out on a win by just 2 runs, but what a great finish again.
Top turn out again from the Lilley fan club, Lilley unbeaten in four games
now. On to Totternhoe next week for more fun and frolics!
JA
18.07.04
MELLOR/PHILO BLITZ SEALS EPIC WIN FOR LILLEY
LILLEY
(135-9, Clarke 22*) beat Kempston Sports (132-7, G Tompkins 3-27) by 1 wicket
Philo Clarke and Joel Mellor produced an amazing 49 run ninth wicket
partnership and Craig Paddington dug out five deliveries to sneak Lilley to a
thrilling one wicket victory today at Cryselco Park, Kempston.
Lilley had earlier won the toss and chosen to bowl in the muggy overcast
conditions which encased the ground at 2:30pm. Perry and Ashby once
again produced miserly spells, with the skipper picking up the early wicket of
Grint, leg before. Gareth Tompkins replaced TP and soon had the number
three bat Kirkup, also leg before. Hammond took over from Ashby at the
tree end and was soon in the groove, picking up two clean bowled victims on
his return to Kempston.
Milbury provided some resistance, but Tompkins produced a lovely rising
delivery on a length which took the glove of the Kempston batsman and through
to Taz Qureshi.
Brad Tompkins missed a glorious chance to remove skipper Allbones, as the
Lilley batsman juggled playfully with the ball whilst the home side Captain
was a metre out of his crease! Allbones went on to register 16, before
he was yorked by Tim Perry's final ball of his spell.
Gareth Tompkins picked up one more wicket in the closing overs to finish
with 3-27 from eight overs, with Hammond (8 overs 6 maidens 2 wickets for 9
runs) and Ashby (8 overs 5 maidens 1 wicket for 10 runs) also performing well.
Perry and Clarke both bowled tidily also, but without luck.
Chasing just 133 to win in front of a big Lilley following ought to have been
easy. Sadly, Lilley were 3-2 moments later, with Hammond bowled for
nothing and GT following in the same fashion for two. Brad Tompkins and
Doug Tomsett then dug in and put on 38 for the fourth wicket before Doug was
bowled for 16, attempting an almighty slog. Taz was next, bowled by
Taylor for 8, but not without controversy. Having hit the medium pacer
for four through square leg, Taylor spat his chewing gum at Taz. Taz was
dismissed by the same bowler shortly after and temperatures were running
high..
Phil Horner, who also earlier on had had a bit of 'needle' with the home side
umpire was next to go, bowled for a duck. Brad Tompkins, who had grafted
hard for his 19, was caught trying to force the pace and Lilley were starting
to slip towards defeat. Ashby and Perry were dismissed within an over of
each other and with Lilley 79-8 chasing 133 to win, things didn't look good.
Phil Clarke is a seasoned all-rounder and has the ability to win any
game, but with the support only of Joel Mellor and Craig Paddington remaining
(combined runs scored before this game in 2004: 6), Lilley's chances were
fading fast. Joel has hardly picked up a bat this year, indeed the last
time he did so was when he made a crucial error under pressure in the tight
Bamville game in letting the ball roll on to his stumps at the pivotal moment.
Different, though, was this Joel Mellor. A new steel to his play, he
announced his arrival at the crease with two fours in an over, one Caribbean
pull to mid wicket and one flowing drive through mid-off. This was a
different beast to the Bamville Boar, the batsman we all prefer to see in
Joel. Lilley needed 50 from the last ten overs and somehow Mellor and
Clarke took Lilley to the brink with some lovely stroke-play and hard run
singles and twos. Indeed Mellor was very lucky to survive several close
run run out chances, with the much quicker Clarke urging him through for tight
runs.
Clarke it was though who survived a huge run out appeal in the latter stages
from Simms. Umpire Carman turned down what looked like an obvious 'not
out' decision, but the bowler was for some reason incensed, hurling the ball
down on the floor. Perhaps a sign of nerves as the game got closer?
Either way, Carman was understandably annoyed by the accusation of cheating
and confronted the bowler - happily, the situation calmed down with a few
words from the home Captain Allbones. Simms, who was bowling at the
time, responded by clean bowling Mellor next ball - the last ball of his over.
That left Clarke and his new partner Paddington, to get five runs from the
remaining two overs. The plan obviously was to keep Philo on strike.
Rather irritating then when he ran a single off the first ball of the 49th
over! Five balls for Paddington to face with 4 runs needed...we could
hardly watch!
But watch we did. Watch, as Paddington dusted off his defensive
technique. Despite a chinese cut just over the stumps, Craig dug deep
when the pressure was on and came good - he survived the five balls, six
including a wide, leaving Philo 3 to win from the last over. 3 became 2
when Simms first ball was sent wide down the leg side, and victory was sealed
by the Lilley Legend Philo when he flicked Simms through mid wicket and for
four to seal victory by one wicket with five balls remaining, to send the
Lilley support club into absolute ecstasy!
All in all a hard fought game, plenty of 'bird', and a thrilling one wicket
win - I can rarely remember winning a game so satisfyingly!! Here's to
Joel and Philo, the ninth wicket stand won the game...and spare a thought for
Craig. His contributions are limited with the bat, but he was every bit
the hero today. Hoorah!
04.07.04
PHILO BAGS FIVE AS LILLEY SHARE PIRTON SPOILS
LILLEY
(147-7, Tomsett 35), drew with Pirton (151 all out, Clarke 5-16)
Lilley conspired to draw a game they really should have won, despite Gareth
Tompkins late order 24 not out from just eight deliveries.
Lilley won the toss and put the home side in overcast conditions. The
Lilley 2004 dropping syndrome returned in a major way, as a string of chances
went begging early on. Gareth Tompkins, replacing Tim Perry as new ball
bowler, induced an early edge, only for skipper James Ashby to spill the
chance low to his right at second slip. Taz Qureshi was next to offend,
dropping a simple chance off the skipper next over and a brace of drops from
Phil Clarke at gulley made it four drops. Ken Hammond then dropped a
sharp chance at first slip to make it five.
After the circus, Hammond began working his way through the top order.
Ashby and Hammond had both earlier had huge caught behind shouts turned down,
with the umpire actually giving the batsman out in Hammonds case, only to reverse
his decision after the batsman had protested he had not hit it - which caused
some understandable animosity. Hammond eventually got an LBW
decision and followed it up by inducing an edge through to Qureshi and then
picking up a clean bowled, but the pick of his wickets was a sensational
diving second slip catch by Gareth Tompkins to remove Tate.
Phil Clarke by this time had replaced GT at one end and was proving just too
difficult to get away. The medium pacer wheeled away and picked up a
succession of wickets, bowled (2), caught behind and two catches by Ashby at
short mid wicket/short cover respectively. 5-16, Philo's finest figures
in a Lilley shirt, proof if proof was needed that he is improving, like a fine
wine, with age.
In the meantime, Hammond had another caught behind appeal turned down, this
time finding the edge of skipper Bidgood's bat onto his forearm and ballooning
to first slip, only for the decision to be turned down as the umpire shrugged
his shoulders. Bidgood eventually perished, run out by an Eyres/Paddington/Qureshi
combo, but not before he spanked Hammond to all parts, including two sixes, to
leave the big man with 4-68 off 9.4 overs.
Lilley's chase got off to a rocky start, Ken Hammond holing out for just two.
Tomsett and Taz Qureshi then made amends with a pulsating stand of 47, with
Qureshi hitting 3 fours and a six in a cameo 25. Ashby and Tomsett then
took the score to 81, before the skipper was caught, swatting at the spinner
Bidgood for 12. Brad Tompkins and Tomsett continued, but Tomsett became
the second victim to be bogged down by Bidgood, and he too was caught for 35.
Tompkins and Horner couldn't get either off spinner Bidgood or the veteran
Alan Howe away and Lilley lost ground on their target of 152 for victory.
Horner eventually died for the cause, caught off that man Bidgood for 7, with
Lilley 104-5 with four overs remaining, seemingly hopeless. In stepped
Gareth Tompkins and he and his brother almost dragged Lilley home. Brad
fell for 13 and Steve Eyres perished for 6, but GT at the other end was in
phenomenal form, belting 24 not out from just eight deliveries, including
two sixes. GT managed to get Lilley to requiring seven runs from two
balls, but he could only scramble a single from the penultimate ball, leaving
Philo Clarke needing to hit the final ball for six to win. He got a
single, sending the match to a draw - Lilley's first of the season.
An electric finish to a hard fought game - too hard at some points.
Proof though that 'time' games can be exciting. Hard luck on GT, who
bowled the best he has all year and got nothing for it thanks to some ropey
catching and batted brilliantly at the end. It wasn't to be though.
27.06.04
TIM-BER! PERRY FIVE WICKET HAUL SEES LILLEY HOME
LILLEY (83-1, Tomsett 36*) beat
Simmons (80 all out, Perry 5-13) by nine wickets
Tim Perry produced a devastating spell of ten
overs which yielded five wickets, including a brilliant hat-trick, as Lilley
ran riot at previously unbeaten Simmons' Mentmore Park ground.
The home skipper won the toss and elected to bat
on a dry but spongy feeling track. Ashby and Perry resumed their
impressive new ball frolics, again keeping it tight and beating the bat.
The clouds began to gather around the ground and soon it was looking gloomy
for Simmons, Perry whipping out openers Robinson and Hardeep with just ten on
the board.
Simmons recovered to 36-2, despite one of the
batters seemingly pulling a hamstring at one point. The injured batsman
Mounter was put out of his misery on 10 when Perry trapped him in front of the
stumps, leg before. Gear Senior made his way to the crease but was
returning just one delivery later as he followed a rising quick delivery from
Perry and edged to the safe hands of Gareth Tompkins at second slip.
With Perry on a hat-trick, the field came in and Horton made his way to the
crease. Perry, who had never taken a hat-trick before now, steamed in
and produced another searing lifting delivery which Horton just managed to
edge on the rise. The ball flew through to Taz Qureshi behind the
stumps, who snaffled the effort at the second attempt after palming the ball
into the air first of all. Needless to say, the celebrations were
impressive!
Simmons in the meantime had slipped to 36-5 in the
light rain, which soon became 43-6 as Hammond got in amongst the wickets.
The big man had bowled well, but it took a brilliant diving catch by Stew
Collinson at wide mid off to account for Gear Junior, who had moved ominously
onto 20. Gareth Tompkins emulated his brother Brad's effort at Eaton
Bray in dropping a regulation caught and bowled, but he bounced back to
clean bowl Moore just seconds later. Hammond grabbed a second (2-16)
before GT (3-23) wrapped things up with another clean bowled and a
brilliant reaction caught and bowled to leave Simmons all out for just 80.
Doug Tomsett and Ken Hammond, blessed with
sunshine which had deserted the Simmons batsmen, were out of the blocks
in no time in reply, with Simmons bowlers struggling to defend such a small
target. The pair took Lilley to the verge of victory, Hammond hitting
five 4's and Tomsett hitting six until the former was clean bowled, with
Lilley just one short of victory, attempting a mighty six to win. With
Hammond out for 35, Taz Qureshi made the journey to the crease for a short
stay. Very short in fact - just one ball - as Qureshi carted his first
delivery for four backward of square, to the applause of the watching Lilley
players. Tomsett finished on 36 not out, his best knock of the season in
terms of quality without doubt. Lilley win by nine wickets.
Not much to do for some players, but a fine
overall performance. The fielding was much sharper than has been the
case sometimes this year, with Paddington and Qureshi looking very sharp and
GT (2) and Stew taking tough chances. Bring on the Pirton!
JA
20.06.04
COLLINSON HEROICS NOT ENOUGH AS LILLEY BEATEN
Bamville
(112 all out, Hammond 4-20) beat LILLEY (108 all out, Ashby 28) by 4 runs
Lilley were robbed of a great win despite late order heroics from Stew
Collinson in a closely fought battle at beautiful Bamville.
Lilley won the toss and made use of the new ball by bowling first. The
decision looked inspired as James Ashby picked up two wickets with consecutive
balls
in the first over of the day, both clean bowled. Tim Perry soon joined
the action with another impressive opening spell and bagged a wicket himself,
caught by the returning Joel Mellor at short-ish square leg to leave the home
side 34-3.
Gareth Tompkins replaced Ashby and too was soon demolishing the stumps, two
clean bowled victims in Smith and Clarke, both times the stump being smashed
out of the ground.
Ken Hammond soon joined the party and he too wrenched out wickets - four of
them in quick succession, including opener J. Smith and two caught behind by
keeper Taz Qureshi. Steve Eyres endured a difficult return to action
with three rusty overs yielding 17 runs for the home side, but a smart run out
via a Brad Tompkins direct hit wound the innings up for 112, a very get-able
target on a fair-ish track.
Lilley's reply got off to a rocky start, with Brad Tompkins (1) and Tim Perry
(0), perishing early to an lbw decision and a clean bowled respectively.
Ken Hammond (22) and James Ashby revived the cause, but Hammond's
controversial lbw dismissal, given by the home umpire, meant trouble.
Ashby and Qureshi then went on to form a promising partnership and at 68-3,
Lilley were cruising. Ashby was
looking well set at 28 when new bowler
Marshall got one to ricochet off both front and back pads and onto the stumps.
Phil Horner was the victim of timing one too well, belting the ball towards
the boundary whilst on 5 only to see a good catch snaffled near the rope.
Five down became six down soon after when Qureshi, promoted to five in the
order, was caught for 13 attempting an aggressive stroke. Steve Eyres,
although very scratchy, appeared to have struck up a good partnership with
Gareth Tompkins as the latter smashed some great shots whilst Eyres kept one
end tight. Tompkins was cut short in his prime as he was brilliantly
caught at mid off and Eyres became Marshall's fourth victim, mis-judging
one and being trapped leg before.
Stew Collinson has come on leaps and bounds in recent times with the bat and
looked every bit the part as he stroked the ball around, cracking a couple of
fours in Lilley's quest for victory. His straight drive for four was
unquestionbly shot of the match. Mellor at the other end had appeared a
useful foil for the dashing Yorkshireman until tragically, whilst playing
back, he allowed a ball to spin back towards his stumps 'thinking it was
missing'. To his and Lilley's horror, the ball struck the stumps and
dislodged a bail, leaving Collinson and Paddington to steer Lilley to victory.
Collinson's effort almost dragged Lilley home, but he was left stranded
on 13 not out as Paddington was not up to the task and was bowled by Peck to
give Bamville an improbable win with 9 overs still remaining.
A tough call on the team as Lilley were worth the win, but a lack of batting
told when it mattered.
13.06.04
PERRY BLITZ SEALS LILLEY WIN
LILLEY
(81-2, Perry 36 not out), beat Kimpton (76 all out, Hammond 4-7, Perry 4-23)
by eight wickets
Unbeaten 2004 side Kimpton met the Lilley pace quartet at it's most fearsome
today on an uneven wicket, as Lilley romped to victory.
Kimpton
won the toss and batted on a tufty, dry looking wicket...horrible looking
infact. James Ashby and Tim Perry's pace was clearly unsettling Kimpton
and the latter ripped out a couple of wickets early on in an impressive spell.
The skipper chipped in with one and was unlucky as both keeper Taz and first
slip Hammond spilled chances early on. Perry in the meantime ploughed
away and himself suffered a dropped catch, this time by the usually dependable
Philo Clarke. Perry went on to nab 4-23 from 11 pacey overs.
If the Kimpton batsmen thought they were 'seeing off the openers'...wrong.
Hammond and GT replaced the two new ball bowlers and whilst the latter had
limited success in wrenching out one wicket, Hammond, well, was back!
6.5 overs, 4 maidens, 4 for 7, including 5 wides from his first two
deliveries...the big man had by far the easier task, whipping out the tail,
but by god he's back! Perry's spell was superior, but Hammond was simply
clinical.
Lilley's eventual run chase was a meagre 77 and despite a ropey strip, Lilley
set about the chase with some aplomb. 20 were on the board when Brad
Tompkins (4) was unlucky to get one which bit the surface and he
telegraphed his stroke. Tomsett and Tim Perry thrust Lilley forward with
a stand of 53, but Tomsett (17) fell caught and bowled just short of victory.
Phil Clarke and the impressive Perry, who thrashed eight fours in his unbeaten
36, guided Lilley home and to a pre 5pm finish.
Sausages and chips, together with three raffle wins and an England cricket
win, eased the afternoon through to the evening. Sadly...the football...pah,
it's not a football website...
6.06.04
LILLEY FLOP IN HITCHIN HEAT
Knebworth
Blues (167-2, G Tompkins 1-22) beat LILLEY (166 all out, G Tompkins 44) by 8
wickets
Lilley crumbled to their fourth defeat of the season at a muggy Hitchin Town
ground as the much touted Lilley pace quartet and a strong batting line up failed
to deliver.
Lilley won the toss and elected to bat on a reputed 'bowlers graveyard', but
it was Lilley's batsmen who were soon six feet under. Doug Tomsett,
Lilley's most consistent performer, went in the third over for just 2 and
despite two flashing fours, Matt Clarke, in for last week's centurion Chris
Horner, went for 13 soon after. Simmons and Newland bowled with
impressive pace for Blues and the latter ended Brad Tompkins promising start
by clean bowling him for 10.
Skipper Smart then introduced himself into the attack and his skiddy left arm
spinny-seam things accounted for Perry (3) and Horner (5) and finally Ken
Hammond, back in the side for the first time after returning from Canada, for
16.
Gareth Tompkins and skipper Ashby appeared to have steadied the ship when the
latter was run out with a direct hit, ambling back to his crease from a
rejected single for 16. Tompkins continued on his merry way, hitting
four 4's and a six and seemed certain to record his first 50 for Lilley.
He succumbed to left armer Higgs for 44 though, bowled attempting a meaty
blow.
Taz Qureshi then marshalled the tail to good effect, hitting a blistering 25
not out, whilst Stew Collinson (9), playing some attractive strokes before
being bowled by Newland. Paddington followed for 2, bowled in the final
over before tea, and Lilley had posted 166 all out - probably 40 odd runs
short of what it should have been.
Lilley were frustrated last year against Knebworth by an opening pair of
scratchy Lander and edgey Woolley and the pair appeared again first up for
the run chase. Lander was clearly not over excited about the pace of
Ashby and Perry, even with an old ball, and he was promptly snaffled at point
by Paddington off the skipper's bowling. Isaac scratched around for 20,
playing and missing at regular intervals, but he fell to Gareth Tompkins half
track loosener, lobbing it to mid off.
Woolley began in much better style to his 2003 edge-fest, but he received two
huge strokes of luck as he was dropped behind the wicket by Qureshi off Ashby and
then again by Clarke off Perry at slip. On what was a good track,
chances were at a premium and those drops, coupled with a very strong caught
behind appeal being turned down, dented Lilley's hopes.
Woolley hit ten fours in his unbeaten 79 and Newland hit seven in his unbeaten
50 as Blues cruised home despite the wicket-less toiling of big Ken Hammond on
his return. Hammond too was guilty of missing a chance, Perry again the
unlucky man, as the big man fluffed a chance in the closing stages in the
slips.
The only real plus was a jug and a round from the two half centurions,
although Craig almost glassed Clarkey after drinking too much beer...
Not enough runs, too many batsmen getting starts and not going on and sloppy
fielding - Lilley need to sharpen up for next week's visit to Kimpton.
JA
30.05.04
HORNER EXPLODES BACK ONTO SCENE WITH TON
LILLEY (197-7, C Horner 105) beat Steeple Morden (137-7, G Tompkins
3-30) by 59 runs.
Chris Horner exploded back onto the Lilley scene after a three year sabbatical
with a blistering 105 as Lilley cruised to their first victory of the season
against Steeple Morden.
Morden, without their Captain Phil Saich, chose to bowl on a sluggish track
and fielded three youngsters. Tomsett (36) and Horner Junior put on a
solid 68 for the first wicket, but youngster Tidy got the better of the
former, having him caught at point after some pressure bowling.
Brad Tompkins followed for a duck and Tim Perry (11) and Gareth Tompkins (6) both
perished for the Lilley cause, stumped, advancing down the track. Enter
Dad Phil and some swashbucklingly good strokes to show the young man how
batting should be done! Horner senior perished for 20 after three mighty
boundary fours.
Horner (junior) continued to display all the strokes of days gone by, and
moved to 99 with one over remaining - sadly, the treacherous Ashby was on
strike, and only the gods could say whether he would be in generous mood or
would bat out the last over. The skipper nabbed a single off the first
ball of the over and Horner responded by powering his 14th four, to add to his
two sixes, to notch his first century for Lilley. The big man perished
soon after to an understandably tired shot and Taz followed, trying for the
big shot to take Lilley over 200. Still, 196 ought to have been,
and indeed was, enough.
Lilley went into the field with a sexy bowling line up featuring Ashby, Perry,
Tompkins and Philo Clarke. Ashby and Perry kept things tight early on,
with Perry taking two wickets, including a sharp catch from the skipper at
short cover. Gareth Tompkins was introduced into the attack and bagged
3-30 from his ten overs, but that was only after Philo 'Golden Arm' Clarke had
removed danger man Anderson for 43, bowled by a grubber!
Lilley were a different beast from the previous week in the field, with ground
fielding excellent, notably Brad Tompkins.
Taz Qureshi's spin introduced some speed into the Lilley over rate as the dark
clouds loomed and he responded by bagging an LBW wicket.
With Morden 129-7 in the 39th over, skipper Ashby turned to the self professed
'Pixie Express' or the 'Gay Bus' as he was named by others, for some
inspiration. Paddy produced a reasonable over and it was enough to send
Lilley to victory by 59 runs.
All in all a top effort. 8 lads still in the pub at 9:30pm is always
good, and we out-drank them all.
In addition...Ken Hammond made his Lilley return, umpiring only today, but
he's back in the fold - he stayed for the whole game and umpired for 60 of the
80 overs. He's back for next week, 2 stone lighter - and boy, does he
look lighter...
23.05.04
WOEFUL LILLEY CRASH TO THIRD DEFEAT
Eaton
Bray (215-6, 40 overs, Ashby 2-39) beat LILLEY (103 all out, G Tompkins 31) by
112 runs
Emphatic it sounds and emphatic it was as Lilley crumbled to their third
consecutive defeat with an inept display in almost every department.
Lilley won the toss and chose to field in the limited overs game and started
brightly. Ashby (2-39) picked up two early wickets and bowled well with
GT at the other end bowling his socks off. Tompkins bagged a wicket too
and with the home side 23-3, Lilley were in the driving seat.
The introduction of the change bowlers prompted what can only be described as
some of the most ludicrously bad fielding of all time...Brad Tompkins dropped
one of the easiest return catches ever, and that was the tip of the iceberg!
Philo, GT, Dodgy, Eyres, Ashby...the drops just kept coming! Mis-fields
added to the pain, as Bray made hay while the sun shined and Lilley
floundered. The home side eventually wracked up 215-6, after Clarke,
Eyres and a run out accounted for other wickets to fall, but that was probably
50 more than they should have had.
All said, the wicket still looked reasonably good - but that theory soon left
in the first over when Doug Tomsett was bowled by the grubber from hell.
To make matters worse, Brad Tompkins was bowled round his legs moments later,
leaving Lilley 2-2 in the first over. Ashby (6), Horner (2) and Qureshi
(4) were all soon back in the hutch, and despite his attempt to dig in for the
visitors, Rogers then went for 14, leaving Lilley 56-6.
Gareth Tompkins and Phil Clarke made a tidy partnership of 28, before GT was
adjudged leg before by umpire Qureshi after the weakest of appeals for 31.
Clarke did his best to muster some life from the tail, but his demise for 19
was the beginning of the end.
Lilley finished up 103 all out and deserved to be soundly beaten.
Steeple Morden next week will provide a stern test and changes no doubt will
be made. Steve Eyres and Peter Rogers are unavailable, so two enforced
changes will have to be made.
JA
17.05.04
QURESHI FIFTY NOT ENOUGH AS KEMPSTON GRAB WIN
Kempston
Sports (148-6, Ashby 3-18) beat LILLEY (147-9, Qureshi 55*) by 4 wickets
Taz Qureshi smashed his first half century in double quick time for Lilley,
but it wasn't enough to prevent Lilley crashing to a second defeat of the
season at a sun-soaked Cryselco Park.
Returning Lilley skipper James Ashby lost the toss and Lilley were put in to
bat on an unusually slow Kempston wicket. Tight early bowling and a
thick lush outfield meant runs were at a premium early on, but Brad Tompkins
and Deadly Doug Tomsett nurdled and stroked the ball round with relative ease.
The impressive Ahmed came into the attack and changed matters though with the
Lilley score on 38, as Tompkins checked a shot and was caught at mid off for a
well made 19.
Ashby and Tomsett took the score onto 57 before the opener fell to Ahmed for
27, miscuing a ball into the covers. Gareth Tompkins and Ashby guided
Lilley to 72-2 at the halfway stage, but instead of kicking on with wickets in
hand, Lilley crumbled into dust - almost. From 72-2, Lilley capitulated
to 80-8. Ashby went, caught behind for 14 then Tompkins bowled for
13, then Eyres, Carman, Collinson and Paddington all went for a combined score
of nought to leave Lilley reeling.
Phil Horner then dropped his mighty anchor and together with Taz Qureshi,
began chipping away at the Kempston attack. Horner's demise brought débutante
Ritchie Kendall in, with Lilley 107-9.
Step up to the plate, Taz Qureshi. Despite obviously possessing some
sort of batting talent, Taz has singularly failed to transfer that into runs,
bar a 20 odd not out against some five year olds at Kimpton last year.
Down at number ten and not happy with it, Taz chose this game to show exactly
what he can do at his destructive best. They tried four bowlers against
him, including both opening bowlers and the impressive Tony Allbones. He
hit all of them for six. With Kendall holding up one end brilliantly,
Qureshi-Bang-Wallop at the other end! A series of lusty straight drives
for six, coupled with some neat paddles helped Taz notch up his first half
century, an excellent unbeaten 55, and guided Lilley to a defendable 147-9.
The Kempston reply was faltering from the word go, with GT and Ashby beating
the bat and bowling a tight line. Ashby was in the wickets in his first
outing of the season, clean bowling both openers in his third over. A
strong partnership from Simms and Kirkup steadied Kempston however, with
Lilley's support bowlers struggling to make a breakthrough. Steve Eyres
got tonked for 30 off 3 overs. Sorry Steve. Qureshi, the hero of
the batting, trialed his new skiddy off spin and was very unlucky not to pick
up more wickets than he did. Kirkup fell to the spinner, leg before,
Ashby hung onto a return catch at about the fifth time of asking and then
Gareth Tompkins clean bowled another batsman to leave KSCC five down but still
in control.
A neat run out by Brad Tompkins/Taz accounted for a sixth Kemspton wicket, but
with the cantankerous Thompson at the crease, Kemspton were able to ease home
with two overs and one ball to spare to win by four wickets.
Not enough runs, but the fifty extras Lilley conceded was the real damaging
thing. Some less than straight umpiring meant Lilley were denied on
several occasions with strong LBW shouts too. But on balance, the better
side won.
25.04.04
BARKER TON DASHES LILLEY HOPES
Lilley
lost the toss and Offley decided to bat first:
Offley
(203/8, 40 overs) beat Lilley (197 all out) by 6 runs
Lilley
arrived at the ground in high spirits, and was greeted by a huge crowd.
Unfortunately the majority were either watching the ladies football, or the
Arsenal Spurs match. Lilley were first to bowl on a wet track but were
unable to make early breakthroughs. Perry and G.T opened the bowling but
with little success. G.T struggled with his run up and suffered as a
result. Perry was close on several occasions and finally picked up a
wicket trapping Brideland lbw for 11.
Brad replaced his brother and was the pick of the bowlers. After getting
Large out for 4 after a smart catch from Taz, he then took the wicket of
Tattersal bowled. In the meantime Taz had replaced Perry at the Pub end.
3 overs 1 for 32 was the explosive result. Wides and beamers galore were
quickly forgotten when off his third over he took the wicket of Bigmore for a
duck. Paddington chipped in with a run out after Rizwan slipped in the
middle of the pitch and was left stranded. Offley were now 92 for 5 off 20
overs.
Phil Clark replaced Taz and bowled tightly at the death taking the wickets of
Cerasale for 35 and Gourd for 3. The story of the show however
was stolen by indoor player Richie Barker. Playing for Offley he smote the
ball to all parts on his way to an excellent 116. He was caught off his
last ball by the Dragon off the bowling of Perry. He was however dropped
on not very many and countless other drops and generally poor fielding cost
Lilley dear.
A total of 203 seemed out of sight but Offley's opening bowlers inspired
confidence giving away 14 wides in the first couple of overs. Brad
Tompkins was the first Lilley batsmen to depart scoring only 2 after getting run
out. His brother Gareth then smashed 35 in quick time hitting one massive
six in the process. G.T and Tomsett put on 68 and Lilley were looking good.
G.T was first to go hitting a straight drive in the air but just failing to
clear him and was subsequently caught. 3 overs later Tomsett was out also
caught for a well made 32. Horner was next to go making 7 in quick time
before giving an easy catch to Cutts. Clarke joined Perry at the crease
and together they put on 58. By the 30th over Lilley were on 157 for 4
needing 47 for victory. By this stage however Offley's premier bowlers had
been brought in to slow the run rate. Clarke went first for 36 bowled by
the quick bowler Cerasale.
Captain Mik Carmen came to the crease looking to make an impact but was out lbw
for nought after being caught on the crease. Mellor was the next to go
after slipping mid wicket during a mix up with Perry for 1. Perry was the
next to go again bowled by the paceman Cerasale for a gritty 28. Lilley
were struggling at 178 for 8 with only 5 overs left. In strode the Dragon
and put lilley within touching distance with a quick fire 9 before being bowled.
It came down to the last over of the match with Lilley needing 8 to win.
With Craig and Taz and the crease Lilley were feeling confident. Taz hit
one off the first ball of the over giving Paddigton a chance to hit the winning
runs. He swaggered up the pitch but missed the ball and was stumped.
Lilley fell short by 7 runs but for the first game of the season the batting
looked impressive. Bad fielding and average bowling cost Lilley this match
but they will not be down hearted with the return of Ashby to bolster the team
for the Caddington game.