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Walsden Vs Heywood (Sunday 1st August 2004 - Wood Cup Final) Well what can I say, I'm official lost for words, however due to the fact that I have to write the match report, I'll get on with it and tell the tale of how the mighty Villagers destroyed Heywood in a Cup Final that will be remember and talked about for many years to come. Setting the scene - Milnrow Cricket Club, 9 years on from the last Wood Cup Walsden won, ironically that too was played at Milnrow, the Walsden fans descended upon the ground and after a look at the wicket the Barmy Army leaders concurred that it would be a difficult wicket and John Brierley's expert opinion was that it would be a good toss to lose. Heywood won the toss and elected to take the first knock. What a decision that turned out to be. Early on in the Heywood innings the Barmy Army were brought to their feet with the loss of 3 of Heywood's top five batters due to some excellent bowling from Tony Plane (3-24) and some tight bowling at the other end by skipper Mark Hooson (1-16). Heywood's sub-pro for the day Lincoln Roberts, re-named Abe Lincoln by the Barmy Army, seemed to be the main danger early on dispatching Planey for a huge six straight back down the ground. Fortunately for us Marshy (1-24) bowled the Heywood danger man for 26 and put Walsden in with an excellent chance of winning the game. More suburb bowling was to follow with David Blake taking a 3-25 off 9 overs and young Stevie 'Caveman' Barker taking 2-19 off 5 overs. Heywood's innings ended on 116 with Hoosy cleaning up the tail. This was sure to keep the Barmy Army in good voice, which they had been so far in the game, thanks to both leaders being present (Chris '1 Man' Marrow and Oliver 'Harry' Gilford). Heywood took the field after tea only to be hit by the full monty of songs by the Barmy Army. However at 27-3 and with Pro' Shaun Marsh back in the shed the Walsden voices did go quiet for a good 20 minutes. Just between you and me mine and Gilly's voices had gone and it was nothing to do with our current score or number of wickets down! Big thanks to David Lees (Werneth) who's white socks and brown shoes that got the barmy army back under way with the songs. As Gilly said "So how are them tracks at Walsden these days David!". From here on in every run was well fought for and despite some tight bowling on behalf of Heywood, Hoosy and Blocker managed to build a partnership of 72 before Hoosy was stumped on 44. However with Walsden requiring just 20 runs to put themselves in the history books back home a win was only around the corner, especially with Mr James 'Maximum' Rawlinson coming to the crease. Every run was counted down from here on in and the Barmy Army couldn't help but getting a few pre-cup lifting songs in. The winning runs came when Rawly smashed a four over the top of mid-wicket to win the game, this was closely followed by a mass pitch invasion with the Villagers congratulating their Heroes of the day. Walsden finished on 118-4 with Blocker hitting 36. The presentation came about and apart from a faulty microphone the Heywood supporters were informed what time their coach would be picking them up, probably not soon enough! The Walsden skipper received the man of the match award, man of the Wood Cup series award and last but not least the Wood Cup. Fantastic day lads, I hope it will live as long in your memories as it will in mine and I'm glad the Barmy Army could be of such great assistance. WELL DONE WALSDEN! Walsden Vs Oldham (Saturday 30th July 2004) This match report will be posted shortly but I'm afraid the Wood Cup Final match report takes priority. |
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Match Reports to follow. In the mean time please check out the scorecards from these games. |
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Walsden Vs Oldham (Sunday 4th July 2004 - Wood Cup Semi Final) Oldham's travelling supporters were left with only the long coach journey home to look forward to after their side slipped to a massive defeat at the hands of the mighty Walsden Wolves, as Walsden booked their place in the Wood Cup Final. With the weather being very wet early on in the day, the game managed to get underway at 4pm, with the weather breaking and turning from dark clouds to blue skies. Walsden skipper Mark Hooson won the toss and put Oldham into bat on a relatively hard but green wicket that had been well covered during the week's downpour. Oldham fell into trouble early on with Stevie Barker catching out Kuhn, who is well known as Oldham's danger man. Hooson and Plane struck twice each during the Oldham innings, as did Marsh and Blake spreading the wickets around nicely, not to mention a wicket a piece for paceman Dean Whopping, I mean Dean Copping and Stevo 'Caveman' Barker, who dismissed the Oldham captain. Oldham's innings drew to a close at 122 with Blake bowling Oldham's number 11 batsman. Walsden's turn to bat came and nerves where clearly visible on the faces of some of Walsden's younger players on the Balcony, could this be our year they asked themselves. Matters where not helped when Hooson was caught out for 4 early in the Walsden's innings. Once Shaun Marsh came to the crease the Walsden spectators where blessed with some elegant shots with Marsh's father, former Aussie test player Geoff Marsh also looking on. Unfortunately Marsh fell foul to a slight edge through to the Oldham skipper behind the sticks, being dismissed for 26. Hanson followed afterwards hitting a hard fought 36. Walsden scored steadily from here on in and when Andrew Butcher came to the crease he had his mind set on winning the game for Walsden, hitting a fabulous six and a couple of fours to see Walsden home and into their first Wood Cup Final since 1998, with the Walsden winning by 5 wickets and Stuart Hanson being awarded Man of the Match for his well grated 36. In the other Semi Final Heywood beat Unsworth, after Heywood hit 144, Unsworth where then bowled over, by last years Wood Cup winners, for just 58 runs. So pack your cool bags, get out your deck chairs and don't forget to book the 2nd August off work, because this is going to be one hell of a final. Walsden Vs Heywood, at Milnrow, Wood Cup Final, 1st August 2004. COME AND SUPPORT THE MIGHTY VILLAGERS!! |
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1st Team Walsden Vs Norden (Saturday 26th June 2004) Walsden 1st team slipped to only their third defeat of the season on Saturday. After heavy rain had looked like calling the game off, some quick work by the players and ground staff ensured that the game would be played. With the overs reduced to the minimum 25 overs there was no doubt that when Norden won the toss that they would ask Walsden to take the first knock. Walsden's run rate was reasonably steady with some good displays from David Blake who hit 54 and Nick Barker hitting 44. Walsden finished their 25 overs with 126-3, with most of us thinking we were a few runs short. With the early loss of Norden's pro Mujtaba, things got off to a good start for Walsden. However the Norden batsman managed to ride out the waves and sail home with a seven wicket victory finishing the game in the second to last over. However due to other results in the league Walsden move up to 3rd in the league closing in on league leaders Rochdale with Norden remaining right on their heals in second. Walsden Vs Radcliffe (Sunday 27th June 2004) Sunday saw Walsden's first team travel to Radcliffe in the hunt for 5 points. Radcliffe lost the toss and were put into bat by Walsden's skipper Hooson. It was quickly noticed that Radcliffe are no longer the force they once where with them losing quick wickets and been bowled out for just 134 with Mark Hooson taking 5-58 and Pro Shaun Marsh always claiming a five wicket haul for just 24 runs. Walsden's turn to bat came and the wheels on the Walsden waggon did wobble when Nick Barker opening the batting was bowled first ball of the Walsden innings. Fortunately Marsh batted through to hit an unbeaten 71 winning the game for Walsden and lifting himself further into the league averages. 3rd Team Walsden Vs Halifax Salem (Sunday 27th June 2004 - Collinson Cup Quarter Final) Walsden's 3rd team continued their good season with a victory over Halifax Salem in the quarter final of the collinson cup. Salem batted first and hit a big total of 191 off 30 overs due to some poor bowling on Walsden's behalf. However on Bridgeholme, even the biggest totals can become hard to defend. Fortunately this proved to be the case with skipper Paul Gale taking a massive fancy to the Salem bowling attack hitting 86 in less than 13 overs, with Walsden easily knocking off Salem's posted total in just 16 overs. That puts our third team through to the semi finals, meaning Walsden now have all three open age teams pushing for silverware this season. Up the Villagers!! |
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1st and 2nd Team Walsden Vs Littleborough (Sunday 20th June 2004) Walsden 1st team claimed another victory at Harehill on Sunday to go six league games and eight in all competitions unbeaten. Walsden opted to field first against the Boro on a very wet wicket, after heavy rain had delayed the start and reduced the overs to 42 per side. The trickiness of the wicket was obvious when Walsden had Boro 6 runs for 4 wickets, with their stand in West Indian Pro getting a first ball duck smashing the ball straight to Dean Copping at point of Tony Plane's bowling. Boro's Nigel Hunter had a well grafted 30 and Boro managed to push their total to 106 for 9 after their 42 overs. Walsden went about chasing this relatively small total but lost Stuart Hanson early on, and when Pro Shaun Marsh failed with his first duck of the season, it was game on with David Blake and Mark Hooson displaying some excellent batting. Walsden got within 48 runs of victory when the heavens opened and rain delayed play for over an hour. Fortunately Boro's rain dance did not work and Walsden got back on. However Boro did get some glimmer of hope when skipper Hooson was dismissed for 35, but overseas amateur Blake and Nick Barker saw Walsden home to 4 points with Blake hitting a valuable 45 not out. So Walsden 1st team move up to 4th in the league leap-frogging Littleborough, and with games against Norden and Radcliffe next weekend our boys have a real chance of closing in on league leaders Rochdale. Walsden's 2nds did start on time at Scott Street but after heavy downpours the match was abandoned. 3rd Team Walsden Vs Unsworth (Saturday 19th June 2004) Yet another victory against Unsworth, (away),saw Walsden's 3rd team remain at the top of the table with their 7th win out of 7 games. Unsworth batted first and knocked up a total of 130 thanks to poor fielding from Walsden's youngsters. Walsden's turn to bat came and a splendid knock of 51 not out saw Walsden home for another 5 points. If Walsden win 3 out of their last 5 games now they win the 3rd team championship. Come on boys!! |
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1st and 2nd Team Walsden Vs Milnrow (Saturday 12th June 2004) Walsden 1st team handed struggling and under strength Milnrow a heavy defeat over the weekend. After a downpour the night before the wicket at Milnrow looked a nightmare for batters, and when Mark Hooson won the toss with Milnrow's stand in skipper, ex-villager Mad Dog Matt Dawson, there was no doubt about the decision to bowl first. To the crease came the Milnrow openers, one of them being Matt Dawson. Giving the Walsden bowlers the dream of getting him out. An early chance to claim Dawson out for a duck went begging when he edged to his best pal, Chris Dewhirst at slip only for Dewy to drop him. Unfortunately none of the Walsden bowlers could put Dawson's wicket down against their name after he went for a single that wasn't there and a direct hit from Nick Barker saw Dawson walking back to the pavilion for 3. Milnrow's wickets began to tumble and when their Pro went in his 40's there was little left to come from the Milnrow lads falling to 95 all out. The pick of Walsden's bowlers being Mark Hooson with 5-33 and Pro, Shaun Marsh, with 3-21. Walsden's turn to bat came and they to suffered some early losses with Hooson Hanson and Blake all struggling. However Shaun Marsh's presence at the keys was just overwhelming for the Milnrow bowling attack hitting 50 not out to give Walsden a 7 wicket victory. This means it remains tight at the top and with some crucial games against Norden and the Littleborough derby match next Sunday, things are really hotting up in the C.L.L. evening if the weather isn't. Walsden's 2nd team got a look at their Burton Cup semi final opponents and managed to take first blood with a win. (Full Match Report to follow) 3rd Team Walsden Vs Unsworth (Sunday 13th June 2004) Walsden's 3rd team extended their unbeaten run in the league to 6 out of 6 games, after beating Unsworth on Sunday. Unsworth batted first and with some poor fielding the visitors smashed their way to 240 off their 40 overs.xml:namespace prefix = o /> With this massive total to beat Walsden's openers Sam Crabtree and Trevor Coulthard went about dispatching Unsworth poor bowling attack with the pair just falling short of a hundred partnership with Crabtree getting out for 35 with the total on 99. Coulthard went shortly after scoring a very useful 44, leaving another Partnership between Bradley Fisher and skipper Paul Gale to be formed. With Bradley pushing some good singles and Gale hitting some big boundaries Walsden looked in good form and when Chris Marrow came to the crease and cutting a 6 onto the garages from his 2nd ball Walsden looked in the driving seat. However with the loss of a couple of wickets the game came down to Unsworth needing one wicket to win. Fortunately young lads Martin Harlow and Kris Garland saw Walsden home for a momentous victory. Walsden 3rds remain top of the league having won 6 out of their 6 games played. |
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1st and 2nd Team Walsden Vs Unsworth (Saturday 5th June 2004) Second in the table Unsworth travelled to Scott Street on Saturday to play the mighty villagers, in what was set to be a battle of the current top flight of the C.L.L. With Norden currently being top and Littleborough and Rochdale just above Walsden it was key that we didn't lose any ground on the title pack. Unsworth batted first and with some strong batting managed to total up 243 for 6 off their 50 overs with Walsden's bowling attack taking a little bit of a beating. However with Walsden's top order being in fantastic form of late, our boys seemed fairly confident they could reach Unsworth's posted total. Walsden's turn to bat came and after Stuart Hanson was dismissed for not so many runs, Mark Hooson found himself having to really work every ball delivered before going for about 30 runs. Shaun Marsh continued his excellent spell of batting hitting 60 before unluckily playing on to his stumps. David Blake also hit a key 57 but the real man of the moment was Danny Bailey. Up until Danny everyone had struggled with Unsworth's Pro finding him very difficult to get off the square, but not Danny Bails! Danny took to the Unsworth bowling attack smashing the ball to all corners of the ground, well backed by Andy Butcher. Danny eventually hit a maximum to seal Walsden's victory and earn himself a match winning 50 Not Out with 3 overs to spare. So Walsden gain ground on the league leaders Norden as in other games Rochdale and Littleborough won but Norden lost so things remain very tight at the top. Walsden's second eleven where handed yet another defeat away at Unsworth on Saturday. Unsworth batted first and knocked up a total of 177-6 off their allotted overs. However when Walsden's turn to bat came runs became much harder to come by. Even Ian Marshall & Albert Ross' 38 each and stand in skipper Colin Hodgins 21 weren't enough to see Walsden home, being eventually bowled out for 168, just 9 runs from the required total. Walsden Vs Ashton (Sunday 6th June 2004 - Wood/Burton Cup Quarter Finals) Sunday saw Walsden travel to Ashton for a Wood Cup show down. With both teams chasing a Semi-Final spot. Ashton won the toss and put Walsden into bat first, and Walsden managed to muster up a total of 241-9. With Shaun Marsh hitting his first century for the club with a fantastic 102, other contributions of 43 from skipper Mark Hooson and 38 from David Blake pushed Walsden on to a decent total on Ashton. Ashton's innings was always going to depend on how well their Pro, 'The Riddler' batted. As expected Ridee did have an outstanding innings hitting 87 and if he hadn't of been dismissed Shaun Marsh he could have taken Ashton into the Semi-Finals. The pick of Walsden's bowlers was quite clear, with Shaun Marsh taking 4-19 making it truly his day. Other games in this round saw two of the favourites Littleborough and Norden crash out, leaving Walsden to face a tough match at home to Oldham in the Semi-Finals, with Heywood taking on Unsworth in the other Semi. Semi-finals take place on Sunday 4th July 2004, matches commencing at 1.30 p.m. While the first team grafted out another win our seconds took on Ashton at Scott Street. Walsden batted first and managed to hit a reasonable score of 190 all out with Ian Marshall continuing his good weekend with the bat, hitting 31 as well as Albert Ross hitting a valuable 53 and John Garland with 43. Ashton went about chasing Walsden's 190 and at many stages of the game all spectators where kept on the edges of their seats with the game constantly in the balance with both sides having good opportunities to win the match, fortunately for Walsden some fantastic spells of bowling by Stevie Barker 3-26 and Jamie Shackleton 3-36 saw Ashton all out for 161 to book Walsden a place in the Burton Cup Semi-finals for a third year in a row. 3rd Team Walsden Vs West End (Saturday 5th 2004 - Collinson Cup) Walsden 3rd Xi qualified from the group stage of the Collinson Cup on Saturday despite being handed their first defeat of the season by West End. West End won the toss and put us in to bat on what can only be described as a football pitch of a wicket. It reminded me of the very reason why I use to score in the Halifax League rather than play. However with veterans Jim Kidd, John Garland and Dave Sutcliffe getting a call up we still felt quietly confident. However after some unpredictable bounce and bowling on West End's behalf Walsden 3rds fell to 111 all out, with the main contributors to the total being skipper Paul Gale with 23 and John Garland with 42. West End opened the batting with one of the biggest sloggers I have ever seen in a competitive game of cricket, with some batting that got Paul Gale going with him coming out with some very entertaining comments! The younger lads in the team really couldn't believe the lack of technique, as the senior players said, welcome to the Halifax Amateur Association. Walsden Vs Stand (Sunday 6th June 2004) Not a very good weekend to be a batter for the 3rd team, after batting at West End you would think anything would be a major improvement, especially playing in the C.L.L. but you can always count on Stand to have a track that is capable of anything. Walsden batted first and where in trouble from the start with some balls popping and causing some difficulty and the next scraping the deck after bouncing. Early on in the match Stand's 2nd team bowling attack, which had been selected due to their 1st & 2nd teams not having a game, had Walsden 30-7 but some excellent batting from youngster Bradley Fisher (23) and Ian Thompson (29) managed to steer Walsden to a more reasonable total of 96 all out. So with a relatively small total to defend Walsden went about making the most out of this dodgy track. Ian Thompson nearly had a wicket in the first over but for Danny Howley catching the ball running off to celebrate his catch, and then dropping the ball as he ran forward. However Thompson got his reward a couple of overs later with Chris Marrow taking an easy catch at Mid-off. Stand lost wickets steadily and when they lost their opener who Danny had dropped, with a superb bit of fielding from Chris Marrow again, after chasing a ball back down the ground picking up and accurately throwing to Paul Gale at the bowlers end to run the batsman out on 40 runs. Stand collapsed with the last man hitting the ball straight up in the air for a nice easy lolly pop of a catch for Danny Howley to claim and redeem himself. So with Stand all out for 84, Walsden 3rd team remain unbeaten and top of the league, winning all 5 of their games played. Lets hope we can bring some silverware back to Scott Street this season. Reports by C. Marrow) |
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1st and 2nd Team Walsden Vs Ashton (Saturday 29th May 2004) Walsden 1st team continued there good start to the season with their fifth win of the season from eight games. The game managed to start on time despite the morning and previous nights downpours. Ashton had the first knock managing to hit 220-9 off their 50 overs. Unfortunately the first innings was saddened by the loss of Paul Marrow, who had to be rushed to hospital with a severe knee injury after sliding into the boundary edge. I'm sure everyone is with me in wishing my brother a painless and speedy recovery. One Marrow was replaced by another as the game restarted as younger brother Chris Marrow came on to sub-field for the last 14 overs. In which David Blake extended his haul of wickets to 6, bringing his current total of wickets for the season into the 20's, hopefully this will continue for our remaining 20 games. Walsden's innings started much slower with the early loss of both skipper and keeper, with Ashton's Professional 'The Riddler' having a decent spell of bowling. Come forth Marsh and Blake who managed to take us within touching distance of our required total, with Marsh eventually being caught behind for 80, another superb innings from our young Australian Professional. Blake then saw the fall of 3 partners for little runs with Barker, Butcher & Rawlinson all falling foul, fortunately former skipper Tony Plane came in to steady the ship once more taking Walsden to another victory with Blake finishing 69 not out. Not a bad day in the office for our Aussie Overseas Amateur. So Walsden 1st Xi continue their winning ways and may my final thoughts be left once again with Paul Marrow, all the best bro, hope to see you fully fit again soon. Walsden's 2nd team continued their very mixed start to the season with a loss at Ashton. With heavy rain delaying the start the game was reduced to 35 overs per side, with Walsden being bowled out for just 98. However Ashton didn't knock this total off to easily going down to the 2nd to last over. Stand in Captain Colin Hodgins (Man of Bronze) will be hoping for a big improvement for this Sunday's Burton Cup game against Ashton at Scott Street. (Report by C. Marrow) |
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1st and 2nd Team Walsden Vs Royton (Saturday 22nd May 2004) Walsden Vs Stand (Sunday 23rd May 2004 - Wood Cup Round 1) Match Report to follow, Walsden 2nd Xi won 3rd Team Walsden Vs New Riding (Sunday 23rd May 2004 - at Bridgeholme C.C. in Collinson Cup) Match Report to follow, Walsden 3rd Xi won by 8 wickets (Report by C. Marrow) |
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1st Team Walsden Vs Lowerhouse - Inter-League Cup (Saturday 15th May 2004) Walsden first suffered a first round defeat to Lancashire League high-flyers Lowerhouse on Saturday. After losing the toss and being put in to bat by Lowerhouse, Walsden managed to put 100 runs on the board before losing their first wicket, Hooson for 42, with the two Walsden openers (Hooson and Hanson) continuing their good start to the season with the bat. Hanson also went on 100 runs for 54, leaving Professional Shaun Marsh and Nick Barker to put on a 99 run partnership before Barker departed for 43. Again Walsden's batters stumbled as run rate rather than fall of wickets became priority, first with Butcher departing for 1, then Marrow for 2, then professional Shaun Marsh fell foul to an LBW appeal with him eventually scoring 53, keeping up his recent form with the bat. Walsden eventually knocking up a score of 214-7 off their 45 overs. Lowerhouse started off similar to Walsden, scoring 79 before their first wicket fell, Finch 48, after that a steady wicket fall and Walsden's inability to get Lowerhouse Professional, Peter Fulton out wasn't enough for Walsden as Lowerhouse sailed home with a 4 wicket victory and 1 over to spare. Walsden's main wicket takers being Marsh with 2-36 off 9, Copping 2-40 off 9 and Barker 1-25 off 5. The Barmy Army did however manage to sing us a few songs and abuse some of the locals, so not a bad days work! Check out the latest news page to get the full Inter-League round up of results. 1st and 2nd Team Walsden Vs Stand (Sunday 16th May 2004) Apologises folks Match Report will be on shortly. |
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1st and 2nd Team Walsden Vs Oldham (Saturday 8th May 2004) Saturday’s game against Oldham turned out to be a day of mopping up and late starts. With the first team reduced to playing 37 overs a side, due to the wicket being left uncovered overnight before the match, (this being down to Oldham C.C. not actually owning any covers!). Walsden batted first and managed to hit 188 off their overs with useful contributions from skipper Mark Hooson with 28, Stuart Hanson with 39 and a quick fire 83 off just 46 balls from Shaun Marsh (Pro). Unfortunately the game finished tied as the xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Oldham batsmen decided that it was too dark to continue, even though Oldham only required 48 from 49 balls, instead both sides went away with 2 points each. One mention to Dean Copping who finally got his first wicket of the season, good lad Deano. I’m sure after finishing leading wicket taker in the league (with 55) last season for the seconds; he will be hoping to repeat this achievement at first team level. Meanwhile Oldham’s second eleven batted first at Scott Street as they went from 87-1, when our match reporter went on watching, to being 127 all out. Putting this down to some excellent bowling with wickets from Colin Hodgins, 3 for 30 and skipper Mick Butcher 4 for 12 with yet another 5 victims for Danny Bailey (wk). Walsden chased down this score with ease; with a useful 71 not out from Mick Butcher and a 30 odd from Danny Bailey after youngsters Elliot Gilford and Daniel Howley fell fowl early on in Walsden’s innings. Walsden won by 5 wickets. Walsden Vs Littleborough (Sunday 9th May 2004) Sunday brought around mixed feeling from the Walsden camp, as the second team won at Harehill, our first team failed to beat Littleborough at home for a third season in a row. It really does seem like we beat them at Harehill and they beat us at Scott Street, so hopefully this theory can be proven correct later on this season.xml:namespace prefix = u1 /> xml:namespace prefix = o /> At Scott Street Walsden batted first and after Mark Hooson departed early doors leaving Stuart Hanson (53) and Shaun Marsh (59) to get the run rate flowing again with Marsh playing some delightful shots, one being a straight six off Brendan onto the bowling green. Once Marsh was caught out by baby gar (Andy Rodgerson) going for the big hit David Blake came to the crease carrying the fight for Walsden 47 not out and taking the team total to 208-5 from our 50 overs. Unfortunately Littleborough’s answer proved rather overwhelming, even the early dismissal of Nigel Hunter for 3 when Tony Plane had him trapped in front wasn’t enough to stop them, as Boro’s pro Clint Perren hit an unbeaten 126 not out well backed by Alex Collins who finished with a respectable 61 not out. So Littleborough won by 9 wickets with 10 overs to spare. Even the Barmy Army didn’t have much to sing about on this day, but we can tell you we will be making the annual trip to Harehill again this season, so Boro’ watch out, because the 20th June is definitely in my mind already!! Meanwhile Walsden’s second eleven where enjoying a bit more fortune at Harehill, but not without a minor scare. Littleborough seconds batted first and managed to scrape through to 112 all out, with ex-Walsden boy Calum Rushton getting out for another duck against us, two seasons running. Walsden’s wicket takers being Colin Hodgins 3 for 38,Mick Butcher 3 for 11, Jamie Shackleton 2 for 21 and Tyson Illingworth 2 for 20. Walsden’s turn to bat came and at 86-4 Walsden looked set for another victory, but a late collapse saw this game go down to the last over with only one wicket left. Fortunately for us, Jamie Shack was one of them batters left, hitting a four to win the game for Walsden and prevent Littleborough getting everything their own way. Main contributors with the bat where Albert Ross scoring 30 odd and Mick Butcher with 20, and James Rawlinson, Danny Bailey and John Garland all getting into the teens. Walsden won by 1 wicket. 3rd Team Walsden Vs Hebden Bridge (at Bridgeholme C.C. in Collinson Cup)
Walsden won. Walsden scored about 130 and bowled Hebden Bridge out for 96. Main highlights where Danny Howley’s 22, Paul Gale’s 27 and Adam the Jew’s 4 wickets. (Report by C. Marrow) |
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1st and 2nd Teams Walsden Vs Heywood (Saturday 1st May 2004) Walsden 1st team looked set to have an excellent weekend when they had Heywood 20-4 with Chris Dewhirst getting out their sub pro out for a duck and Tony Plane taking 3 quick wickets, with a superb bit of bowling. With this being Tony’s first game back since he “retired” from playing cricket last season, he’s looking in very good form providing he can remain injury free. However Heywood fought back well with an excellent 97 from Bobby Cross, which pretty much won Heywood the game. Unfortunately Walsden’s 2nd team were also given the blues by Heywood’s 2nd eleven. Walsden bowled first bowling Heywood all out for 152 with some excellent bowling from James Rawlinson, returning from his 1 game spell at Mytholmroyd, taking 6 wickets for 50 runs off 19 overs. However Walsden’s batting was less than desirable being bowled out for just 114 with James Rawlinson top scoring with the bat, scoring 25 runs. Overall a disappointing game from the 2nd Division champions but with Rochdale tomorrow a win would be a good turn around. Walsden Vs Rochdale (Sunday 2nd May 2004) Walsden 1st team had a momentous victory over Rochdale on Sunday with their first win over the current league champions in 8 seasons. Rochdale batted first and where all out for 140 with Chris Dewhirst taking 4 wickets and Tony Plane taking another 3 wickets in his come back weekend. Walsden then went on to give Rochdale a massive beating, winning by 9 wickets, with Walsden’s main run scorers being Stuart Hanson 30, Mark Hooson 71 not out and pro Shaun Marsh finishing 33 also not out. With this being Walsden’s first win over Rochdale’s 1st team in 8 years, the mood was definitely high in the Scott Street camp after starting the season winning 2 out of 3 games with all three teams being teams that finished above us last year. xml:namespace prefix = o /> xml:namespace prefix = o /> While the 1st team where celebrating our 2nd team where licking their wounds from another defeat against last years 2nd Division runners up Rochdale. Rochdale batted first and lost plenty of early wickets, with some excellent wicket keeping from Danny Bailey, taking 5 victims. However some strong batting from Mick Butcher’s counterpart Ian Gilbertson, Rochdale managed to total a good score of 182. Walsden set about reaching this total but suffered the early loss of James Rawlinson to what can only be described as the catch of the season from a Rochdale fielder in the gully position, fantastic catch and as they say, “Catches win matches”. Unfortunately 40’s from both Albert Ross and Danny Bailey were unable to save Walsden as by the end of the match, 3 batsmen had gone for golden ducks leaving the tail enders with a very big uphill struggle. Walsden were eventually bowled all out for 126 meaning we even failed to get a losing point as we fell just 11 runs short of 75% of Rochdale’s total, required to get a losing point. All in all a disappointing start to the season for our reigning champions, hopefully we can get back on track next weekend with victories against Oldham on Saturday and Littleborough on Sunday. xml:namespace prefix = u1 /> xml:namespace prefix = u1 /> xml:namespace prefix = u1 /> 3rd Team Walsden Vs Royton (Monday 3rd May 2004) Walsden 3rd team eased to their second victory of the season in as many games with a win over Royton on bank holiday Monday. Walsden batted first with Chris Marrow and Danny Howley opening the batting, but when Marrow fell fowl early doors, being bowled for 7, in came Gareth Connor, who played a delightful innings eventually scoring his maiden century and finishing with about 120 not out. Walsden’s batting was solid and with contributions from Elliot Gilford with about 17 and Sam Crabtree who scored about 25, Walsden finished with a fine score of 230. When Royton’s turn to bat came, Jamie Shackleton bowled very tight and managed to take a couple of wickets. Another impressive performance from Elliot Gilford saw him get his just deserts, bowling very well and taking 2 wickets, one being an excellent catch by Chris Marrow fielding at point and the other clean bowled. Bradley Fisher also got a wicket as well as some good bowling from skipper Paul Gale once again. Royton eventually finished 178 for 9 after 40 overs. So overall a delightful performance and congratulations to Gareth Connor on scoring his maiden century. Hopefully Walsden thirds can repeat this performance throughout the season and push for some silverware. (Report by C. Marrow) |
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w League cricket returned this weekend after what seems like a relatively short winter break after last year's long and successful season for the faithful. Walsden's 1stXi played host to Werneth's 1st Xi at on Sunday while the 2nds travelled away to Werneth. Both teams won with the 1st team winning the toss and electing to Bowl. Werneth put a score of 186 on the board with David Blake taking 4 wickets for Walsden and Shaun Perris being Werneth's highest run scorer with 54. When Walsden's turn to bat came, the early wickets of Mark Hooson for 15 then Professional Shaun Marsh for 1 left Walsden in a spot of trouble, however Stuart Hanson held up the fort for Walsden throughout the innings finishing on 73 not Out. Other valuable contributions came from David Blake 28, Nick Barker 17 and Andy Butcher also scoring 28. Walsden 1st eventually knocked off Werneth's total of 186 with 2 overs to spare. So a good all round team effort from Walsden to take 4 points off Werneth, leaving David Lees his usual happy self. Or as Dewy said “Hard luck!”. Meanwhile at Werneth, what should have been a reasonably comfortable win for Werneth 2nds turned into a nightmare, initially chasing Walsden's target of 165 all out. With things going from good to bad with Werneth being 152 for 4 to 155 all out, losing 6 wickets for just 3 runs. This making it another champion performance from our boys. Special mention to Mr Albert (mobile DJ) Ross scoring 70 runs in Walsden's innings, and Colin Hodgins taking 5 wickets in this amazing game. As skipper Mick Butch said after the game, “somebody pinch me”. With both Werneth's 1st and 2nd Xi's left stunned by the mighty villagers. The sounds of Sir Elton John still ringing around our changing rooms “Are you ready for love…” (Report by C.Marrow) |
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