Offley/Stopsley
(206-7, Barker 81 not out) beat Lilley (77 all out,
Allbones 36) by 129 runs
Saracens Division 11 winners Offley/Stopsley inflicted
a massive defeat on a severely depleted Lilley side as
the 2006 season was brought to a close.
Lilley were without 15 regulars because of injury and
unavailability but were boosted with the inclusion of Kempston
Sports Captain Tony Allbones.
Tim Perry won the toss and chose to bowl on a
damp, lifeless track. Brodie and Lumney opened
and neither looked convincing in difficult conditions.
Lumney was first to go, feathering one behind off the
impressive Perry and Brodie soon followed for 21,
caught by substitute fielder Wayne Cutts off the
Lilley Captain.
OSCC had drafted in former Luton Town player Steve
Hoar to boost the batting ranks, but he failed to make
an impact. He top edged an attempted pull off
the lively Gareth Tompkins and was caught by Brad
Tompkins for 13. Barker lost two more batting
partners when Mattewson (bowled Perry) and Cutts
(bowled Tompkins) were both dispatched in quick time,
but that only brought in the dangerous Tom 'Tiger O'
Reilly. Despite Allbones bowling a tidy line in treacherous
underfoot conditions, Lilley were short of a fifth
bowler. Paddington was tried and duly banished
to the boundary after two appalling overs!
Youngster Dan Mills was given a go and showed promise
if a lack of experience at times. Barker and
Reilly feasted on the offerings and Barker passed
fifty with ease. Tompkins returned and duly
castled Reilly for 40 and Latino was bowled late on,
but Barker's unbeaten 81 pushed Offley/Stopsley onto
206-7 after 40 overs.
Lilley needed a flying start, a belting century
partnership from the brothers Tompkins to get the ball
rolling. Seven balls into the innings, both
were out, both for nought and Lilley had a mountain to
climb. Ashby and Allbones put on 31 for the
third wicket, but Ashby's wicket for 14, attempting
one too many lusty drives, was the beginning of the
end. Perry finished his dire season with the bat
with 3, as did Phil Horner, both caught. Dan
Mills came and went for a duck and despite some
support from The Pixie Express, Allbones eventually
too went for 36, bowled by Bexfield.
There was one moment of extraordinary cricket, when
Wayne Cutts refused to complete an over after one of
his team mates laughed at him! Having bowled
four wides in six deliveries, one of his colleagues
had the temerity to laugh at the display. Now
most bowlers would take this on the chin, but Cutts
threw his towel on the floor and stormed off to the
boundary like a girl, refusing to complete the over.
Technically, this breach of the rules means Lilley won
the game....
The game continued..
Paddington made a useful 5 before falling to his 'hit
and run' style, carving the ball to mid on and setting
off for a single. Sadly, Steve Hoar picked the
ball up and his direct hit saw Paddington dismissed.
Lilley were three short the night before the game and
luckily Dan Mills Dad Ian and Ashby's step dad Tom
Welsh stepped in to boost the numbers. Sadly,
Mills Senior's last knock was at school and Welsh
hasn't played for ten years, so the chances of a 130+
partnership were slim! Mills did notch two not
out, but Welsh's dismissal, caught and bowled by
Bexfield, closed the Lilley innings and 2006 season
with defeat.
Lilley
(197-7, Ashby 61)
drew with Bovingdon (192-8,
G Tompkins 3-29)
Both sides had to settle for a draw in a highly
entertaining and at times farcical first clash between
Lilley and Bovingdon yesterday.
With Lilley only managing to field nine men, the odds
were always going to be stacked against them, even more
so with James Ashby and youngster Danny Mills both
running late and missing the start.
Unsurprisingly, Perry again lost the toss, but
mercifully Lilley were asked to bat!
Lilley needed early stability and that is exactly what
they didn't get when Brad Tompkins got an under edge
behind off the second ball of the day. Skipper
Perry joined younger Tompkins Gareth at the crease and
the pair began building a platform. Tompkins
looked in fine touch early on, with his 2nd, 3rd, 4th,
5th and 6th scoring shots all being boundaries. As
GT began pushing around the singles, Perry began to find
some touch also. The Captain had moved onto 19
before he was bowled by Woodward, although the pair had
put on a useful 59 for the second wicket.
With Ashby's late arrival, the batting order had an
unfamiliar feel. Phil Horner came to the crease
following Perry's demise and immediately looked at ease,
crunching a powerful four through mid-wicket. He
went on to hit two more, before being caught for 14
attempting one two many lusty blows.
GT's relentless charge to a half century was stopped in
it's tracks once again, this time the young South
African being bowled for 45 by Roberts. Lilley
were now 97-4 and still had an hour and a half left to
bat!
Former skippers Hammond and Ashby have been in this
situation many times before and a period of
consolidation was required. Hammond looked in far
better touch, punishing anything loose. Ashby was
batting as if he'd never played the game before and soon
benefited from being dropped at backward point, the
first of an astonishing eight times he was to be put
down in the innings!! Batsmen, umpires and
onlookers at Bovingdon Green looked stunned as chance
after chance after chance was put down by almost every
fielder in the Bovingdon team, much to Ashby's delight.
Hammond perished for 30, bowled by the returning
Woodward off an inside edge, but the pair had put on a
much needed 61 for the 5th wicket. Craig 'The
Boomerang' Paddington came in, was caught, and swung
straight back to the pavilion in the space of one ball,
failing to add to his ten runs this season (eight of
which were last week!). Ashby decided now was the
time to swing and duly hit his seventh boundary to bring
up what skipper Perry described as 'the worst fifty he's
ever seen'. Another four followed by a maximum
before Ashby's (61) luck finally ran out (and boy
would it run out later) as he was caught at point off a
skier.
Taz Qureshi (6*) came in and he and Dan Mills (3*) saw
out the innings, taking Lilley up to 197-7 at the tea
break.
Ashby and Hammond started proceedings after the break
and bowled reasonably well, although the former's back
of the hand slower ball came in for some punishment!
The pair failed to make a break through however and
Tompkins replaced Ashby. GT should have had a
wicket straight away, his pace too much for Cornish and
a high edge over the slips should have been caught by a
back pedalling Ashby. The chance went down and
then a second edge high into the slips was only finger
tipped by the same fielder in an impressive opening
burst from the South African. One experimental
over from Perry persuaded the skipper to have a break
and give spinner Qureshi a go. The move reaped
instant reward, with Cornish spooning the ball high to
deep square leg where Ashby finally clung on to a catch.
GT's pace was too much for Roberts who edged behind to
brother Brad and the same pair combined to remove Woods,
Brad Tompkins taking a magnificent diving catch to his
right. GT finally bowled Buttleman for 40 to
finish his spell with 3-29 in seven pacey overs.
With Bovingdon still in the run hunt, Perry turned back
to the old war horse Hammond. He very nearly
struck immediately, forcing an edge wide of first slip.
Ashby attempted the catch, but the ball struck his
little finger, dislocating it in the process. The
fielder left the field to get some ice having 'popped it
back in', with the typically sympathetic Leicestershire
bowler saying 'serves him right, he should have caught
it'.
Carine's useful 34 was ended by Hammond, bowled and a
gritty 19 from Ali took Bovingdon within touching
distance of Lilley's total before he feathered one
behind off Hammond, Tompkins taking his third catch in
the final over. Blackburn's 28 was also ended, run
out after an excellent piece of work from Taz Qureshi
and Brad Tompkins, leaving Bovingdon an almost
impossible mountain to climb to force a win with two
balls remaining. A small child came into bat and
Hammond duly reduced his run up, only to shatter his
little heart by yorking him first ball, probably puting
him off cricket for life in the process...
Woodward survived the final ball, with Bovingdon
finishing a tantalising six runs short of victory, with
nine man Lilley just two wickets short of the win.
A cracking game, albeit made possible by numerous
unforced errors! Bovingdon Green is an excellent spot
to play cricket and it's nice we finally got to play
them after a couple of attempts.
Graveley
(253-4,
40 overs, Hockey 2-72)
beat Lilley (136-8,
40 overs, T Perry 34)
by 117 runs
A severely depleted Lilley side were given a sound
thrashing by next year's league opponents Graveley on a
lovely day in the picturesque village.
Captain Tim Perry continued his year of doom with the
coin, losing another important toss. Once again
Lilley, who have consistently batted poorly second this
year, were asked to bowl first.
Notwithstanding the above, Lilley started brightly with
the new ball with both Ashby and Perry extracting early
movement. Perry was incredibly unlucky not to have
the right handed Hare caught twice in an over, firstly as
he flashed an edge between 'keeper Brad Tompkins and Ashby
at first slip, which the latter could only get a thumb on.
To add to his woe, Hare again flashed outside the off
stump and edged towards Horner at gully, but sadly the
Lilley Legend lost the ball in the sun and another chance
had gone.
Both Hare and Preston began to punish the odd bad ball,
although playing and missing was still a regular feature.
Tompkins and Hammond replaced the opening pair, but with
little success. Tompkins was unlucky not to bag a
wicket when Hare's attempted pull went straight to Craig
'Screech' Paddington at short backward square.
Sadly, for all the huge improvements in the Pixie Express'
ground fielding, he still couldn't catch an STD in a third
world country and another chance passed.
Perry gambled by bringing Ashby back for his final two
overs in a bid to break the partnership and it should have
worked instantly. Left hander Preston sliced a
length ball towards Perry at cover, but he misjudged it
and ended up spilling a difficult chance over his
shoulder. Hare reached his fifty shortly after, but
that was as far as he would go, Ashby castling him with
the final ball of his spell (1-16).
"One brings two" is the old adage and true it
was again as Mick Hockey held onto a difficult return
catch the very next ball to see the end of Preston's knock
(46). Bracey and Baynes were together at the crease
and things seemed to be under control for Lilley.
And then the fireworks started! Bracey got stuck
into Lilley's attack, smashing several sixes and losing at
least one ball in the process! Hockey, Hammond and
Perry were singled out for most abuse, Hammond spared the
ignominy of being carted for three sixes only by a bizarre
local rule which meant that a ball which had been smashed
into the local farmers field was ruled a 'four' by virtue
of it clipping a leaf of a tree whose roots were in the
outfield!
Perry it was who registered worst over of the match,
being spanked for 16 and duly posting his entry for 'worst
over by a recognised bowler' in the process! Hockey
provided a glimmer of hope for Lilley, bowling young
Baynes for 16, but Bracey continued the slaughter, passing
his fifty with ease.
Hammond eventually got his man, with the final ball of his
spell, bowling Bracey for an excellent 86 to finish with
1-47 from his eight overs. Lilley toiled for the
remaining few overs but Graveley ended up 253-4 from their
40 overs.
Lilley were depleted in a big way, with the side only ten
men including Tim's friend Chris Johnson, playing his
first game of cricket! Ten became nine when Johnson
had to go at 5pm to take part in a classical music
festival...but fear not, the wounded, injured Chairman
Carman, only at the ground to support the lads, offered
his services as a make shift number 10!
Lilley needed runs from the top order to stand any chance.
Brad Tompkins (0) played on in the third over to
rock the Lilley boat. Despite punishing some early
lose stuff, matters got infinitely worse when Lilley lost
their leading run scorer, GT, to a horrendous attempted
mow off the spinner, stumped. Ashby and Perry knew
that Lilley needed to consolidate and a period of complete
boredom ensued, punctuated by the odd Perry boundary.
Ashby's dour knock of 9 was ended after he got a leading
edge to a Cartwright log hop.
Phil Horner strode to the crease painfully short of
batting practice this year. You wouldn't have
noticed it as he got off the mark with a meaty six through
the leg side and he and Perry continued with the
rapidly evaporating notion of a Lilley run chase.
Horner continued to look good and a beautifully carved
square four through point brought up the big man's 1000th
run for Lilley Cricket Club. He perished shortly
after for 16, caught by Logan junior.
The Hammond/Perry partnership didn't last long, as Perry's
long winded 34 was ended when he was bowled by S. Logan.
Hammond and Hockey (10), then Hammond and Paddington (8)
put on partnerships of 20 as the game petered out, with
Hammond severe on anything loose. Hammond, who
appeared to be batting for his average at one point, gave
in to the pavilion boo boys and attempted a big heave off
spinner Hare only to be stumped for 21. Steve Perry,
father of the Captain, and Dave Carman saw out the
remaining overs with Carman requiring a runner! The
Chairman blazed a couple of fours and finished 8 not out
with Perry 0 not out, Lilley winding up on 136-8, way
short of their target.
Post match there were again many beers put away by a very
sociable home side, with in the region of ten jugs bought
in all! Graveley are in North Herts League 2, so we
can expect to see them twice next year!
MAJORCA
TOUR
MATCH
2
Lilley
(262-4, Flannagan 96*, G Tompkins 79) beat
Majorca
(233-6,
Hammond
2-28) by 30 runs
Sunday
didn’t bode well.
Half the team were out on the lash until
Breakfast time and the sun was beating down, even
hotter than the previous day.
Skipper Perry failed to show for the allotted
12:15pm
meet at the ground for the toss and indeed only arrived five minutes
before the start of the game.
As a result there was a bloodless coup, with
former Captain’s Hammond and Ashby taking over for
the day! After
some brief negotiation, a toss was ‘engineered’
and Lilley were batting.
Flan
and Brad again opened up and again started brightly
against a slightly weaker Majorcan Sunday side.
The pair had reached 42 when Tompkins fell
for 16 off 32 balls.
In came younger brother Gareth and cue one of
the best Lilley partnerships for many years.
Flan
pushed the ball around cleverly, with GT striking
some awesome boundaries.
Flan passed the half century mark with ease
and the pair registered the century partnership soon
after. Tompkins
cracked boundaries all around the wicket and he too
passed fifty, in double quick time.
With ten overs left, GT made the decision to
put his foot down, a decision which cost him his
wicket. The
partnership though was a fantastic 155, with GT
hitting 79 off 67 balls faced.
With
Tompkins gone there was a chance for Perry to hit
some quick runs, but he fell for 2, bowled by the
wiley Burnett. Ashby
managed to not run out Flan for a second day and hit
a quickfire 26 in 13 minutes before being bowled
hitting out.
Ken
Hammond joined Flan for the final burst, however a
cruel lack of strike since his fifty meant Flan was
just short of what would have been a richly deserved
century, finishing unbeaten on 96 with Ken 10 not
out in Lilley’s impressive 262-4 in 40 overs.
Majorca
were always going to be pushed to chase the total if
Lilley were disciplined, but their case wasn’t
helped by the early loss of King, caught and bowled
by the resurgent Hammond.
The big man then castled Appleby for a duck,
leaving MCC 20-2.
Ashby
and Hammond kept
Majorca
to 32 from the
first 11 overs and Perry and Gareth Tompkins
continued the good work.
GT bowled off spin after his batting effort
and kept an end very tidy in doing so.
With Dave incapacitated, acting skipper Ashby
turned to brother Mik as the second spin option.
Carman couldn’t replicate his older
brother’s heroics from Saturday however, but
Majorca
were drifting,
requiring ten runs per over to win.
Ashby
returned from the pavilion end and promptly dropped
quite simply the easiest caught and bowled chance of
all time. He
made amends soon after however, bowling Nalty for 88
and the returning Perry wrenched out Scholes (bowled
for 82) and
Bell
(caught by
Mellor for 7).
With
one over to go and
Majorca
requiring a
miracle, there was only one option for the tourists.
The people wanted the Pixie Express and
that’s what the people got.
There were more than a few eyebrows raised as
Paddington sent down his first two deliveries, with
both wide! Batsman
Qamar-Shazad was aiming for the big shots, but
didn’t realise he was about to become the stuff of
legend. Paddington’s
fourth legal delivery was gun barrel straight.
The batsman danced down the track but was
deceived in the flight and nobody could quite
believe it as the ball cannoned into the stumps,
least of all Paddington!
The camp slow bowler set off on a Monty
Panesar-esque charge around the ground!
Paddington
finished with 1-11, with Lilley victorious by 30
runs!
So,
the weekend tied at 1-1, the post match drinking was
kicked off by a presentation which saw Lilley
present a commemorative cap and t-shirt to Majorca
CC and in return received a lovely limited edition
print by one of the MCC to mark the tour.
MATCH
1
Majorca
(242-6, Ashby 2-42, D. Carman 2-42) beat Lilley (161
all out, Flannagan 46) by 81 runs
Lilley
started the cricketing side of their tour with a
pretty shoddy all round performance at a warm MCG.
With the heat around 30 degrees, Perry
desperately needed to win the toss, which he failed
miserably to do!
Lilley were asked to field.
Ashby
hadn’t bowled for five weeks, and it showed!
His first over was erratic, but he did
produce one swinging straight delivery which cleaned
up Heaton for nought to give Lilley a great start.
The other opener and James Bodsworth then set
about rebuilding the Majorcan innings, with some
inconsistent bowling being punished.
The introduction of Dave Carman into the
attack reaped immediate benefits as he had left
hander Bodsworth trapped in front, leg before for
31. Carman
bagged a second not long after, finding the
opener’s edge with a leg spinner which Ashby held
comfortably at slip, leaving
Majorca
147-3.
The reintroduction of Ashby brought a fourth
wicket, caught at point smartly by Perry over his
shoulder, but Carman’s fielding effort was all but
over soon after as he struggled with the heat and
left the field.
Majorca
meanwhile
continued to build a good total, the next wicket
falling being that of Appleby (38) with
Majorca
216-5.
Ken Hammond, who had arrived on the island
with 499 Lilley wickets to his name, made it to the
magical 500 in emphatic style, clean bowling Yaseen
for 1. The
milestone was greeted with warm applause from the
home team, who also clapped
Hammond
off at the end
of the innings.
Home batsman Scholes became the fourth
hospitalisation of the Lilley season when he top
edged a
Hammond
delivery into
his glasses, causing a cut above his eye.
Majorca
eventually
finished on 242-6 from 40 overs, a very gettable
target with a quick outfield.
Brad
Tompkins and Andy Flannagan started well in reply,
pushing the ball around in the face of some tight
home side bowling.
Tompkins fell for 14 however with the score
on 39, mistiming a shot which was caught well by
Barrett at mid off.
James Ashby was promoted to three in an
experimental batting order as a result of heat
exhaustion for most of the players!
His most telling contribution was to run out
Flannagan, who had begun to look well set, on 46.
Mellor arrived and departed in quick
succession for nought and Ashby himself was caught
by a diving Barrett at point soon after.
Mik
Carman and Ken Hammond began some sort of rebuilding
job.
Hammond
passed yet
another milestone in passing 4,000 runs for Lilley
Cricket Club, enjoying the moment raising his bat
before souring it by being caught on camera tweaking
his shreddies out of his backside.
The partnership (41) was broken when Carman
was bowled attempting to up the run rate but with GT
and Perry still to come, Lilley had batting on
paper. Sadly,
cricket isn’t played on paper and
Hammond
departed
moments later for a quick 30.
GT gave Lilley brief hope with a flurry of
boundaries, but the early dismissals of Perry (1)
and Paddington (0) left him with a mountain to
climb. Tompkins
himself perished shortly after for 28 and with Dave
‘heatstroke’ Carman and Nick ‘cupboard
dweller’ Collis left, Lilley were already
focussing on beer drinking.
The Chairman was the last man out, caught
attempting a swat for six, but he collapsed (again)
in a heap half way down the track after tweaking a
muscle in his leg.
Lilley all out for 161 and defeated
comfortably by 81 runs.
Carman remained on his back receiving
treatment from home physio Scholes, fresh from his
eye hospital appointment!
Not
a great playing start to the tour!
Lilley
77 for 6 (Mellor 18) beat Kempston 76 all out
(Kirkup 24, Hammond 5-1) by 4 Wickets
It was a weakened team that took to the field to
take on Kempston in what was decided to be a
friendly fixture rather than the decider. Matters
weren't helped when Doug had to leave before the
start of the game due to Chris's mother being ill.
Our best wishes go out to them.
So
it was a 9 v 11 match but Lilley were allowed a sub
fielder, none the less Lilley were up against
it! Perry won the toss and after consultation
with his senior players decided to bowl first.
It was Hammond and Perry to open the bowling and it
wasn't long before Hammond was in the wickets,
bowling the aged Atkinson for 0. Kirkup and Allbones
were now at the crease and were determined
to see the 2 openers off and a score of 14 for 1 off
10 overs showed this. With Perry and Hammond
taken off for a breather it was leading wicket taker
Phil Clarkes turn. With Allbones now playing
more aggressively Lilley were starting to get
worried, no need though as "olden arm"
produced a touch of magic to dismiss Allbones (16) bowled. Perry
was replaced by another "olden arm" in Mik
Hockey who has really taken to bowling. A
tight 4 over spell really kept the pressure on but
it was Clarke who broke through once again, this
time bowling Banks (2).
It was now Dave "Washington" Carman's time
to shine and he duly did. His loopy leg spin
proving unplayable and beat the outside edge on
numerous occasions. He bowled Roy (4) and
Taylor (4), although there was an almighty slice of
luck when Roy managed to slice one onto his stumps
from 2 foot outside off!
Kempston fought back however with Kirkup and Simms
starting to put together a useful partnership.
With Philo now bowled out (8 overs 4 maidens 2 for
11) Perry turned once again to Hockey. The
"partnership breaker" did just that as
Kirkup (24) top edged a sweep that went high in
the air but was caught comfortably by Perry.
Hammond replaced the impressive Carmen (8 overs, 1
maiden, 2 for 29) and promptly bowled Simms (18),
Meadows (1), Moore (0), and Eagles (0) caught
by the returning Horner to wrap up the innings.
Hammond ending with 5.2 overs 4 maidens 5
wickets for 1 run (the one run coming off a wide).
On his bowling, Hammond commented "that'll
piss off Ashby"! Allbones commented
"go bowl at that hedge Ken, its got rabbits in
as well!"
Lilley were now left with the undaunting prospect of
knocking off the remaining 76. Without the
Tompkins' Perry turned to Hockey and Mellor to open
the innings. When Hockey was bowled in the
first over for 0, bowled by Banks, the
situation started to look worse. Perry was in
at 3 and struck 2 fours off his first 2 balls to
settle the nerves somewhat. Perry did not last
long however and was soon out also bowled by
Banks for 14. With Kendall now in Allbones
smelt blood and brought himself onto bowl.
Mellor and Kendall resisted however and Kendall
looked in great nick striking 3 fours in 3
balls! He was out shortly after though (12) bowled
by Taylor playing across the line to a straight
one. Horner was in a 5 and looked good after a
long lay off but the combination of Horner and
Mellor produced a terrible piece of running and
Horner was run out for 6.
Mellor, who had been in since the start, had
finally got his eye in and started playing some
great shots. His over confidence was his un-doing
though as his lofted drive went straight to Atkinson
who caught the simple chance (18). Carman was
now at the crease with Hammond but another
lofted drive by Carmen was brilliantly caught by the
aged Atkinson, diving to his right and taking the
ball low to the floor. Lilley
were starting to wobble with the score 56 for 7 and
only 2 wickets left. Richie Kendall predicted doom but
the captain still had faith. It was the
experienced partnership of Clarke (9*) and
Hammond (10*) that proved the Lilley captain
correct and saw Lilley to victory in another close
game.
Another great game and another hotly contested
match. The 2 day game next year should be great fun!
Match Report by
TP
Lilley
289-4, 40 overs (Ashby 125, Kendall 50*) beat Cople
Argus (99 all out, D Carman 6-18) by 190 runs
Lilley's second highest individual score in 11 years,
two Hammond one handed catches, Paddington opening the
bowling and taking a wicket, Kendall hitting his first
half century, the first ever Lilley ambidextrous over and
Dave Carman's first 5 for for Lilley - it's fair to
say that this match had just about everything!
Cople Argus, who play in the village of Cople near
Kempston, fielded a second eleven predominantly based
around promising colt cricketers. Lilley were
again without many of the regular faces, although
there was a welcome return for leg spinner Dave Carman
and a debut for young Steve McArdle, a friend of the
Tompkins brothers.
Tim Perry won the toss and elected to bat on a flat
looking deck. The Cople opening pair were very
different types of bowler, the tall Freestone and the
skiddy Draper. Gareth Tompkins' miserable
run continued, bowled by Draper playing down the wrong
line for just seven. Brother Brad followed
shortly after for 3, attempting a cut shot off the
same bowler but only succeeding in guiding the ball to
wide slip.
Perry and Ashby set about building Lilley a platform.
Perry, initially struggling to get the ball away,
began timing the ball sweetly and Ashby drove and cut
well as the runs began to flow. Both batsmen
were eyeing fifties with the young attack and the
shine wearing off the ball and it was Ashby who
reached the mark just before drinks at 20 overs.
Perry has endured a season of 'starts' with the bat,
but unbelievably has not passed 40 for Lilley this
term. That trend continued as he edged Argus'
Captain Jones to slip on 33. That brought Rich
Kendall to the crease and with plenty of overs left on
the board, he had a chance to get his head down and
bat. That he did and two blistering fours, one
straight and one thumping pull shot, underlined how
Kendall has improved this year.
Ashby carried on his merry way at the other end and
passed his previous best score for Lilley as he did.
With Kendall scoring freely at the other end, Lilley
were eyeing a big score. Ashby registered
Lilley's second century of the season, his first, with
another punched boundary. It was then 'swing the
bat time' as he mixed agriculture with trying to give
Kendall the strike. He eventually skied one off
Williams which Freestone caught well, out for 125,
just ten short of Neil Hanley's Lilley record.
The innings contained 20 fours and a six.
With Ashby gone, Kendall took over with new partner
Hammond. It seemed at one time that Hammond had
his eyes on personal glory, but Kendall managed to nab
enough of the strike to give himself a chance of a
fifty! He almost blew it, twice, when he was
dropped on 46 and then again on 47 attempting lusty
strokes. Fortunately, he got his head down and
scampered the single he needed to register his first
Lilley half century, finishing 50 not out with Hammond
28 not out in Lilley's 40 over total of 289-4.
Kendall's knock featured five fours.
It was always the intention of skipper Perry to 'give
everyone a go' in this fixture, but the huge total
gave him a freedom seldom enjoyed by Lilley skippers.
Ashby, Hammond, Perry and GT were rested from their
usual pace duties and instead Craig 'Screech'
Paddington and new man McArdle were given opening
bowler duties. Paddington didn't disappoint with
his action that makes 'Slinger' Malinga look orthodox.
He opened up with a probing maiden, surely the only
maiden he'll be pro...
McArdle hadn't bowled for some years, so it was
understandable that he was a little wayward.
Paddington caught the wide disease though and Lilley
began to look around the field for other options.
Having blocked most of Screech's straight balls,
skipper Jones slashed at a wide one. The ball
flew towards Ken Hammond at point and unbelievably the
veteran all rounder flung himself to his right and
clung onto a wonderful one handed catch.
Paddington, understandably elated, mounted Hammond on
the ground in celebration of his first wicket under a
Labour government.
Gareth Tompkins was brought into the attack for one
over and one purpose. Having seen it in the
nets, we finally got it - Lilley's first ambidextrous
over! Tompkins bowled three balls of slow left
arm and three of right arm spin, not at all effective,
but never seen before at a Lilley game!
With the frivolity over, it was time to release the
hounds. No, not Ashby and Perry but spin twins
Mike Hockey and Dave Carman! Carman dropped
straight into the groove, trapping Miles leg before.
Tim Perry took two smart catches to give Carman a
second wicket and Hockey his first for Lilley for some
time. Carman produced a wonder ball to dismiss
Draper, pitching outside leg, spinning back sharply
and beating the batsman's sweep before crashing into
middle stump.
Hockey, who had stumbled and dropped one off his own
bowling, got himself back in the wickets, having
Freestone caught by Brad Tompkins and bowling
Williams. With both spinners on three wickets,
the race was on for the five for! Dave Carman it
was who got there, with GT catching a skier from
Lawson and Ken Hammond taking another fantastic one
handed catch, this time at square leg from a full
blooded pull. 'Washington' then put the icing on
the cake with his sixth wicket, expertly caught at
short cover by a diving Hockey, to finish with figures
of 6-18 from 7.2 overs. Cople were all out for
99, Lilley winning by 190 runs.
Lilley
(215-6, Ashby 67*) beat Totternhoe (54 all out, Hammond
5-12) by 161 runs
Lilley breezed past Totternhoe with a
clinical display in front of another fine Lilley
Supporters club turn out at Totternhoe Cricket Ground
this weekend.
More unavailability meant Lilley gave
Steve Perry, father of club captain Tim, a Lilley debut
whilst youngster Dan Mills also returned to the
side.
Nigel Burch won the toss for TCC and
asked Lilley to bat on a track that had produced 400
runs the previous day. Gareth Tompkins survived
just one ball of the innings, failing to pick up a full
toss and being bowled by Burch junior. Despite the
early set back, Brad Tompkins and Tim Perry set about
giving Lilley a fine start. The wicket immediately
showed signs of uneven bounce and boundaries were hard
to come by, but Perry and Tompkins kept the scoreboard
ticking with ones and twos. Tompkins was first to
fall for 27 shortly before the drinks break, adjudged
leg before by umpire Hammond with an alarmingly quick
decision! Ashby joined Perry at the crease and the
pair continued the work. Captain Perry had made
light of the treacherous pitch, but fell twelve short of
a half century when he was bowled by Burch Senior with
one which kept a tad low.
Enter Mik Carman, promoted up the order
for his first real knock of the season against his
former club. As most of us have seen over the
years, Mik is a fabulously clean hitter fo the ball in
nets, playing through the line of the ball and timing it
wonderfully. Seldom do we see that talent
transferred to the middle outdoors unfortunately - but
this was a real exception! See it, hit it!
Virtually everything Mik hit came out of the middle of
that bat and when he struck four fours and one sweet,
sweet six over extra cover, you wondered if this would
be the day he registered that first Lilley fifty.
Sadly for all concerned (including the spectators,
enjoying the boundary-fest), Mik was bowled for 27
playing back and across the line. Still, if this
is anything like what we'll see on tour, it should be
fireworks!
Meanwhile at the other end, Ashby began
to find his feet and the boundary himself. Hammond
(11) was bowled by Burch Junior, having be struck on the
knee the ball before and Kendall (1) was out trying to
push the run rate on. Ashby was joined by Mike
Hockey as the former closed in on a half century.
He reached it with a square drive for four and went on
to hit eight fours and one six in an unbeaten knock of
67 as Lilley reached 215-6 in their 40 overs.
That score always looked well above par
on an uneven pitch and that theory was strengthened when
Ashby and Perry steamed in at Totternhoe's openers.
Mistry survived a huge lbw shout and was struck on
the glove and forearm by short balls from Ashby before
finally, bizarrely, 'walking' for leg before for 4 off
the same bowler! After Perry's brief spell, Ken
Hammond was introduced into the attack, with instant
effect. A rusty loosener was followed by a length
ball which James feathered behind to 'keeper Brad
Tompkins for 17. Ashby finished his spell with a
second wicket, bowling George, to finish with 2-12 from
seven overs. Ken Hammond exploited the conditions
beautifully, bowling full and straight and sending a
succession of batsmen back to the showers. Blow
(3), Smy (0) and Liddle (0) were all bowled by the
big man in quick succession as Lilley moved into a
position of complete dominance.
Gareth Tompkins replaced Ashby and
arrowed in some quick deliveries, none quicker than the
inswinger which struck Allen full on the ankle, ending
his innings (LBW) and leaving him with a huge lump which
needed serious ice treatment afterwards. Hammond
ensured there would be two Lilley jugs in the bar by
bowling Burch Junior with his third successive slower
ball to finish with 5-12, whilst GT finished off the
Totternhoe effort with the wickets of Nigel Burch
(caught well by a running Carman, just before Craig had
chance to drop it) and finally George, clean bowled.
Totternhoe all out for 54, Tompkins picking up 3 for 5
late on and Lilley home and dry by a huge 161 run
margin.
LILLEY
(187-7, Hammond 39) beat Caddington (58 all out, Ashby
5-9) by 129 runs
Birthday
boy Lilley Captain Tim Perry got a treat at muggy
Caddington as the Lilley pace attack blew away Caddington
in devastating fashion on Sunday.
With
the morning cloud cover making way for sunshine, Perry
opted to bat having won the toss in the 40 over clash.
Lilley got off to a poor start however, as Brad Tompkins
was snared in the slips in the first over with just five
on the board. Brother Gareth and Perry steadied the
ship and looked comfortable as Lilley moved to 41-1 in ten
overs. GT became the second victim of opposition
Captain Jody Everett shortly after though, caught behind
and when Perry followed shortly after, bowled by the same
man, Lilley's batting began to show a few cracks.
James
Ashby and Doug Tomsett have not been in what you would
call 'prime touch', but the pair stuck around and began to
push Lilley's score on. Ashby fell for 21 shortly
before drinks, miscuing a full toss to mid on where
Everett took a simple catch. Ken Hammond dropped
back into the sort of form we've seen this year from the
big man and began murdering some pretty rank change
bowling, including one full toss hammered into the
adjacent wheat field. His lusty blows eventually got
the better of him when he spooned one up on 39, but his
six fours and a six had formed part of a partnership of 75
with Tomsett which steered Lilley into safe waters.
Tomsett
fell shortly after for 35, also caught trying to up the
run rate. Qureshi smashed two fours before holing
out for the team, which left Rich Kendall (11 not out) and
Mike Hockey (8 not out) to scamper a few late runs to
guide Lilley to 187-7 from their 40 overs.
Free
of a hangover, Perry resumed his opening bowling
partnership with Ashby. Ashby it was who made the
first breakthrough, mirroring last week by clean bowling
the opening batsman second ball. Both bowlers
produced swing and Ashby bowled as quick as he has for
some time. The other opener Cook clearly didn't
fancy it and backed away once too often as he was bowled
for nought, quickly followed by the former skipper's third
wicket, O''Donoghue (0), also bowled.
Lilley
could smell blood. Skipper Everett came in to steady
the ship, but he too was soon trudging back to the
pavilion, bowled by Ashby with one which barely got off
the ground. Perry was soon in the wickets too as
Caddington's faint hopes of victory were blown away.
A full swinging ball was edged by Crump and Ashby made no
mistake in pouching the chance at first slip. A
trademark Perry slower ball saw the end for C's Gatling,
bowled for 5 and when Ashby completed Lilley's first five
wicket haul of 2006 by bowling Murray for a duck,
Caddington had been reduced to 24-7!
With
Ashby through his eight overs, taking five for nine, Perry
(2-14) made a double change and went for the unlikely
spin twins, Mik Carman and Joel Mellor. Carman went
close and eventually struck, bowling Mark for 14.
Mellor had been peppering the leg side, obviously trying
to tie the batsman down and the plan worked! Crump
Senior edged Mellor's doosra high into the air and
eventually down to Mik Carman at silly cover-ish to give
Mellor (1-11) his third Lilley wicket ever and first
under a Labour Government...
Carman
(2-17) ended proceedings eventually, bowling Casey
(21) as Caddington were all out for just 58 in 19.2 overs.
The early finish meant more beer time and a curry at Spice
for Perry's birthday!
A
special mention has to go to the supporters club, which
ended with about thirty people there supporting Lilley.
Fantastic stuff.
Lilley
(154-9, G Tompkins 67) beat Kempston Sports (151 all out) by
one wicket
Lilley and Kempston Sports turned in
another nail biting classic as the visitors clinched a
penultimate ball one wicket victory at scorching Cryselco
Park yesterday.
Lilley skipper Tim Perry arrived at the
ground nursing a thumping hangover and his mood can hardly
have been improved as he lost the toss and was asked to
field under a red hot sun with no breeze to speak of.
With Perry incapacitated, he turned to
the old war horse Ken Hammond to rekindle his opening
bowling partnership with James Ashby. Lilley got a
dream start when Ashby clean bowled Rashid with a quick
swinging delivery with only the second ball of the match and
he doubled his tally in the following over, bowling left
hander A Hussain for 4. That left the pair of Neil
Kirkup and Steve Barnett at the crease, the experienced pair
who had frustrated Lilley for many overs in the first match
of the series. Having roughed up Barnett with some
short stuff in the first fixture, Hammond dropped one in
short and again hit Barnett in the gut, leaving a large
mark. Seemingly fired up by the batsman's discomfort
with the short stuff, Hammond steamed in and dropped one
slightly shorter. The ball lifted sharply, too quick
for Barnett, and as he attempted to get in some sort of
position to pull the ball it smashed into his
right cheek. The batsman staggered to one side and it
became immediately obvious that he had sustained a nasty
injury, 
with
blood pouring onto the adjacent track from Barnett's
nose and a large laceration on his cheek below his eye. The
batsman was helped from the field and driven to hospital for
checks - Lilley's season of medical drama shows no sign of
relenting!
The game eventually resumed, with Kirkup
joined at the crease by seasoned Pete Atkinson. The
veteran showed a couple of unusual variations of the
defensive shot before eventually being done for pace by
Ashby (3-33). Simms joined Kirkup at the crease and
the pair began knocking the ball around well. With
Tompkins bowling with some pace, Kirkup played an unusually loose
shot and offered a simple chance to Philo Clarke in the
covers which the living legend took with ease.
Clarke himself got in on the wickets act
moments later, bowling young Chaz Fisk round his legs for
nought. That brought Tony Allbones, who was late due
to work commitments, to the crease. He and Simms began
pushing Clarke and Perry - who had reverted to off spin due
to the hangover - around the ground for singles and
boundaries. With the pair well set, Simms was bowled
by Clarke for 33 with one which kept a touch low.
Allbones was joined by T Hussain and no sooner had the
skipper reprimanded the latter for playing expansive
strokes, he ballooned a drive high in the air to long on.
Rich Kendall steadied himself and took an important catch,
his first for Lilley not off his own bowling! Hussain
followed soon after, holing out to deep mid wicket where GT
took another decent catch. Perry wrapped things up,
bowling Carl Simms for nought to finish with 3-30, Kempston
all out for 151 off just 30 overs.
Lilley had failed to chase a similar
total in May at the same venue, so a good start was vital.
That is exactly what they got, with Gareth and Brad Tompkins
restored to the top of the order. Brad played with
textbook technique and GT hit some fantastic strokes as the
pair took Lilley past the fifty mark with no problems.
Gareth hit the shot of the innings, with an Allbones leg
break dropping far too short and the South African pulling
the ball for a flat six which ricocheted off a neighbouring
shed and onto a house roof! The pair saw Lilley to the
first drinks break and 70 without loss. Then the
wheels fell off...
Brad Tompkins entertaining knock ended on
30 when he was caught at deep mid off by the tumbling Pete
Atkinson. GT meanwhile registered his fourth half
century of the season and looked in imperious touch.
Ashby was bowled for nought by left arm spinner Hussain and
when Doug Tomsett fell next ball, caught at point, Lilley
had slumped to 85-3. Rich Kendall fell soon after, leg
before in front of all three to Hussain and GT's brilliant
knock of 67 ended as he edged Rashid behind.
Last weeks centurion Ken Hammond came to
the crease and looked as if he wanted to play a shot a ball
cricket. Having smashed T Hussain for a straight four,
the big man feathered the next delivery behind to Kirkup who
completed the catch. Lilley than descended down the
metaphorical steps to the wine cellar to select two vintages
- Phil Clarke and Mike Hockey. 2006 is certainly
proving to be a good year for Clarke and he looked
comfortable as the pair knocked the ball around as Lilley
edged within thirty runs of victory. Skipper Allbones
took a gamble and decided to bowl his four main bowlers
through in an attempt to force a victory. The plan
looked to have worked, when the Captain bowled Hockey and
then Mellor and Paddington in quick succession to leave
Lilley reeling at 130-9, still 22 runs short of levelling
the series.
Perry's hangover did have some benefits
however and Lilley were still well in the game when the
Lilley Captain came out to bat at an unfamiliar eleven!
He and Clarke saw off the front line attack, knowing that
Allbones would have to turn to at least two other bowlers to
complete the forty. To their credit, the support
bowlers Atkinson and Carl Simms bowled a tight line and gave
Lilley limited opportunities to score runs. The Lilley
pair kept the board ticking over however and started the
final over needing just three to win. Only one run
came from the first four balls however and skipper Perry
needed to somehow fashion two from two balls with the field
in close. He managed to punch the penultimate ball of
the match through mid on for four, giving the fantastic
Lilley following the victory they richly deserved with one
ball and one wicket to spare. Clarke finished unbeaten
on 22, with Perry 11 not out.
The injured Barnett returned for the
Lilley batting effort, happily with the news that there was
no break - but he was sporting a horrendous bruised cheek
which had swollen and completely closed his left eye.
So the series is tied at one apiece with
one game to go. Another classic for the history books!
Lilley
(213-6, 40 overs, Hammond 106*) beat Simmons (113 all out,
39.2 overs, Clarke 2-16) by 100 runs
With
the Lilley ranks decimated by unavailability, once again the
Taz box of random goons was called upon. Some three
years ago Taz turned up at the Simmons fixture with two
bright eyed South Africans by the name of Gareth and Brad to
'make up the numbers'...so it was perhaps fitting that again
the Taz Foundation was once again asked to produce a player
this time round - this time in the shape of Ibrah. He
joined Az and Taz back in the side, together with former
Slip End legend Mike Hockey, on his return to the big stage.
give Hammond three balls to make the hundred. Despite
his best efforts, the Leicestershire born all rounder was
left needing a six from the final ball to make three
figures. He managed to hammer the full toss away,
but only for four, leaving him short by two runs...but the
big man was given a lifeline as both umpires signalled no
ball for a full toss above waist height! The extra
ball, also a no ball, was also carted for four by Hammond,
who moved to the first hundred of his life. He
eventually finished unbeaten on 106, an innings which
included 16 fours, as Lilley posted 213-6 from their 40
overs.
Doug
Tomsett returned to the Lilley fold for the first time this season and
resumed his opening partnership with GT. Lilley got off to a
horrendous start however as the Kempston bowlers produced some tight and
at times nippy bowling. Tompkins and Tomsett were tied down to
such and extent that by the time they had both got frustrated and swung
at straight balls which cleaned them both up for 2 and 4 respectively,
Lilley had crawled to 10-2 off ten overs! Perry and Ashby began
the re-building work but were mostly restricted to ones and twos on a
lush outfield. Ashby (24) was severe on spinner Hussain's
first over, which eventually went for 18, hitting him for two fours and
a six. The former skipper it was who fell shortly before drinks
however, scuffing a full ball from Simms, hitting his boot and the ball
at the same time and offering a relatively simple chance to backward
square leg. The partnership had been worth 54 however and Lilley
were still in with a shout. Brad Tompkins carried on where Ashby
had left off and began pushing the ball around well and rotating the
strike. Perry (26) was given out shortly after with the Lilley
score on 75, adjudged caught behind by umpire Tomsett - again the
batsman cast doubt on whether he'd hit it - but the fielders were
convinced as was the all important umpire.