Warmest greetings to all Christleton CC members and friends. The previous spell of beautiful weather seems to have broken for now. Let’s hope for a return of some sunshine which has made such a positive difference to many of us during these extraordinary times. Today would have been game day 3 of the season. Scheduled fixtures were against Stockport Georgians and Oxton. We first played Georgians in 2002 when they became the 65th club we’ve played league cricket against. Oxton appeared on our fixture card for the first time in 2005, thus becoming our 79th opposing club. We send our best wishes to both clubs’ players and officials– we are sorry to have missed you. Current cricketing news can be found on page further down in this newsletter. Here, we’ll continue with a browse through some exciting early May matches of the past.
1st XI v Chester Boughton Hall 07/05/2005
The third game of the 2005 season saw the Swans make the short trip down the A51 to near neighbours Chester Boughton Hall. This was to be our first-ever 1stXI league match against CBH, and what a remarkable match it turned out to be. Heavy rain on the Friday had left some residual dampness, a factor that led to the visitors being asked to take first knock in this 110 overs game.
Wickets fell steadily throughout the Christleton innings as the team was bundled out for 131 in 42.2 overs. The only contributions of substance came from Simon Ratcliffe and Darron Cruickshank. Stylish left-handed veterinarian Ratcliffe battled manfully for over an hour for 25, whilst Cruickshank lost 7 partners before being the last man out with 11 fours in a commendable score of 62. Trinidadian Cruikshank was 19 at the time and playing for only the third time in England.
So often, as we all know, batting looks more straightforward after tea. Although, on this day, the hosts also found runs hard to come by, even though they had a theoretical 67 overs at their disposal. Jason Ashcroft, Darron Cruickshank and Alex Barr all chipped in with wickets. However, skipper Guy Newell decided that Maroof Khan’s bowling was too controlled to be replaced. Maroof bowled unchanged from one end, a spell of 29.5-8-51-5, an exceptional feat of concentration and control. This is the longest spell of bowling in club history and will never be surpassed. CBH were finally all out for 129 as the last man was out caught at slip off Khan in the 59th over of the innings for a narrow victory margin of just 2 runs. [Both sides conceded more than 2 in no balls– just a thought bowlers]. Scorers that day were the meticulous and affable Brian Ruks and Jim Law.
The 22 points earned the hard way on that day helped to kick-start a very good Premier League season for the Swans.
Leg-ends
Some Christleton Legends pictured at an Over 40’s home match in 2006.
11 points are available, one for every player you can name [Ed: I got 9].
Answers below .
2nd XI earn a hard fought victory hosting Oakmere
This week I’ve selected a match that will be fairly fresh in the memory banks for a lot of current players. It’s a home 2nd XI match against Oakmere from early 2017. Triple platinum track ‘Symphony’’ was at #1, surprisingly for only one week. It is approaching 1 billion YouTube views:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aatr_2MstrI
Swans won the toss and skipper Ian Mitchell fancied a bat on a Terry Dandy straw-top. The weather was recorded as cool and partly cloudy, similar to today. Swans’ openers Robbie McNally and Joe Wells were cautious and circumspect at first but crucially laid firm foundations by keeping wickets intact. Perhaps the batsmen were just stringing the bowlers along before deciding to cut loose? Runs were shared out that day: Wells 44, McNally 36 (must talk to him about getting out when well set) Mitchell 44, Guy Newell 46, Nick O’Connell 45* and 14 year old Max Wade 17*. It was unusual that the only batsman to miss out was run-machine Dan Hamp, and also for the fact that no-one scored 50 in a final total of 251-5 after 43 overs.
After tea, the men from Overdale Lane had a good crack at trying to reach this sizeable target, before closing at 164 all out. J. Williams scored a stylish 72 for the visitors as Adam Gittins, a very young Jack Harding, and Harisankar Kunhi Krishnan [Hari] finished with 3 wickets apiece in a pleasing win.
Mentioned in dispatches
I am delighted to be able to give our Sunday 3rd XI a mention. In 2007 we were playing in CCCL Sunday 3rd XI Division 1, and on May 6th we hosted a game against Upton from the Wirral.
The visitors batted first and put together a respectable total of 156, the main bowling damage being done by a cunningly flighted mix of off-spin and doosra from Willy Lamb. With 4-11. Richard Morgan-Jones [ever dependable], Dave Phillips and Andy Dyne secured the balance of the wickets that day.
After tea Willy Lamb was hoist with his own petard*, stumped for 30 off airy spin. Cellar master Dave Swift and skip Mal Joyce both hit a rapid 35. Dave Phillips was 48* at the end and the ever dependable you know who hit the winning runs in a nice win.
* Hamlet– classy newsletter this.
Lockdown
Last week I pointed parents in the direction of some skills practices that can be done in small areas, as well as some activities for All-stars aged children. See last week’s newsletter for details.
This week, once again there are some items of cricket news that you may be interested in. The latest ECB update has:
• News on The Hundred [postponed]
• National Programmes [All Stars/Dynamos]
• A link to online umpiring and scoring courses
You can see the update here:
https://ecb-comms.co.uk/1FT6-6UQEX-D6SSQJ4NB2/cr.aspx
On a more local level, the Cheshire Cricket board has done a great job in securing the services of former West Indies batting coach Toby Radford who will lead an online ‘masterclass’ exclusively for Cheshire-based coaches.
This session (date TBC) will be free of charge for all Cheshire club members. All coaches are encouraged to complete the survey and you will then receive an email with a link to dial into the online session:
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/master-class
Cricket Sudoko – Level Easy
Who is the missing player? – Level: Hard (Answer next week)
814 runs in 1989
…of which 402 for 1st XI and 412 for 2nd XI
ANSWERS: Christleton Legends pictured 2006.
Back: Norman Goodwin, Mike Field, Jonny Read, Willy Lamb, Geoff Hawkes, Steve Johnson, Nigel Campbell,
Front: Paul Evans, Mike Hollindale, Tony Collard, Terry Jonas.