Scorecard

Consett & District Cricket Club Consett CC 3rd XI v Whickham on Sun 30 Apr 2017 at 1.30pm
Consett & District Cricket Club Won by 224 runs

Match report And so the 2017 is here! The 3rd X1 starting life in the first division hoping to consolidate a place and avoid an immediate return to the second division as happened in 2014. The team is to be largely unchanged from last season with a good blend of seniors with the usual allowance of junior movement between the two Sunday teams complimenting that strength and helping the juniors to develop! We do however have two 'new' recruits. Hailing from the days of Archie's Army there are welcome returns for Stephen Horn who will don the gloves and Jonathan Gall. The pair have spent time away from Cosnett at Medomsley. However due to uncertainty regarding the club's future the pair have both made a return to Blackfyne.

The first game saw the 3rd X1 handed a home fixture against Whickham, a team who finished third in Division one the previous season so therefore providing an excellent measure of what lies ahead for 2017. The visiting captain Davison called correctly at the toss and elected to have a bowl.

A few regulars from the team were unavailable as is often the case at the start of the season. Winn (on the drink), Ray (at the boxing), Cook (presumed under the thumb), Pyke (cuddling) were all unavailable so the two new recruits slotted in with Jackson and Smith being stolen from the Academicals team for the day to help bolster the team. The pre-match warm up was non-existent aside from moving the sight screens and a few kicks of a football. Life in division one was currently being taken very seriously! A pre match briefing from captain Cox instructed of a need to be on the ball as division one would most likely be a much sterner test than that offered last season in division two. As ever enjoyment and playing the game with smiles on the faces was also a priority given that we are after all a bunch of amateurs who play for the love of the game.

Openers Clarke and Bradley made their way out to commence proceedings, Bradley with a fly in his ear having been berated for his pedestrian scoring rate so far this season and offered advice on rotating the strike as well as his love for bashing the ball to the rope. The advice paid dividends as he immediately looked in a far more positive mood. The pair were helped by some loose deliveries from the opening bowlers but made sure they cashed in as the score raced to 50 in only the 9th over, an over which saw Clarke strike four successive boundaries. the opening stand was pushed on to 78 in 13 overs before Bradley would be the first to fall, LBW to a full straight one which crashed into his pads at shin height having made 24. Vice-captain Marshall had been reluctantly promoted to number 3 and it wasn't long before he was cleaned up by Barlow for 1 to a ball that allegedly 'did all sorts', an opinion he bribed Clarke to back up. Clarke passed 50 with his 9th boundary and was joined at the crease by Jackson. The pair looked in no trouble with steady accumulation, good running and the occasional boundary. At the half way stage drinks were taken with Consett well poised on 123 for 2. One or two mutterings of Consett collapse could be heard from the pavilion but hope was that this team would be made of sterner stuff today. Captain Davison introduced himself in the 25th over and he was to be the man to make the breakthrough with the score on 143, ending a stand of 56. Clarke went for the sweep and was adjudged LBW having made a classy and changeless 78 from only 71 deliveries which included 12 boundaries all around the ground. Next to the crease was Wilkinson who as ever was keen to run everything. This was to prove his downfall however as Jackson called him through for a single, some to and fro motions saw him get nowhere near making his ground and he was run out having made only 2 by Davis and leave the hosts 151 for 4 in the 27th.
The captain was next to the crease determined not to let a good start slip and hopefully push the team to a score around the 250 mark. He and Jackson would in fact accelerate the scoring rapidly without too much risk as they raced each other to their half centuries. Despite Jackson having a 27 run head start he would reach his only one delivery before Cox. Jackson brought his up off 65 deliveries and it was indeed his first half century in any form of cricket, well deserved too. Cox would bring his up off the very next delivery having faced only 34 deliveries whilst hitting 7 boundaries and 2 maximums. The joy was short lived however as Cox hammered a long hop straight to mid wicket 3 balls later as his innings ended on 50 exactly. Upon departure his partner was left 56 not out and instructed to do all he could to bat through the innings and be greedy as with the score 230 for 4 in the 37th a competitive total was always ensured. What was to follow was brilliant to watch. Gall joined Jackson at the crease for the final 8 overs. Jackson turned into a man on a mission, he obviously had a lot more than just a not out in mind. He went into overdrive with powerful strokes, rapid running and farming of the strike. The pair added 62 at better than a run a ball. The highlight of the innings however was saved until the very last ball. A wallop to cow corner by Jackson followed by an all ran 4 meant that not only did he have his first half century to his name but he had gone one better and doubled it to finish unbeaten on a magnificent 102!! His second 50 came from only 28 balls as his entire innings spanned 93 deliveries and included 14 boundaries and 1 maximum. A fantastic effort from Matt as he becomes the second junior in successive seasons to score a senior century. In doing so he had helped to propel Consett to a massive 292 for 5 from their 45 overs and be able to take tea in a very healthy position.

Team Grant as ever had prepared a feast for all in their usual manner and even made some oversized sandwiches based on the recommendation of Lily.... Captain Cox was given a good ribbing after his speech of how difficult of a division this would be by his team full of comedians. Perhaps Whickham were a much stronger batting side? Or had their relegation from the NTSL on Saturdays meant that they had actually lost players and maybe weren't quite the same force as last season? Only one way to find out...

Roe and Smith would eventually get the chance to take part in the game having not been required with the bat. A rapid start saw the visitors race to 27 inside the first four overs, Davis in particular looking to play his strokes. However the bowlers soon settled into things and combined with a few wafts of the wands and some tight lines pressure was built in the from of 3 maidens. This then contributed to the fall of a first wicket in the 8th over as Smith would claim his first and only wicket as he had Davis caught by Clarke for a run a ball 23. Hodgson joined Walker at the crease and the pair remained watchful as they progressed the score past 50 in the 14th over seeing off the threat of Smith who showed good pace in his 7 over spell which yielded figure of 7-1-28-1. With the score still on 54 in the 16th Hodgson attempted a single to Cox in the gully, however deft footwork and a throw over the top of the bails (yes honestly) saw him run out by several yards. No one could quite forsee what was about to follow however. Roe finally got reward for his toil in his final over as he dismissed visiting captain Davison for a duck on his was to figures of 9-4-27-1. The introduction of Bradley and Southern really turned the game on it's head. Walker took an instant liking to Bradley's pies and tried to take on both the long boundary and Wilkinson at cow corner who amazingly had already dropped two catches off the opening bowlers. 3 balls in and he wouldn't make the same mistake as he held an attempted slog sweep as Walker departed for a well made 20. Carnage was to follow as the visitors were now 56 for 4. Another wicket fell on 56 and Purdy fell for a duck thanks to a catch by Southern to give Bradley his second wicket and the score 56 for 5. Bradley was at it again in his second over as he claimed his third scalp by having Colling stumped for a duck by Horn and was still yet to concede a run. A couple of maidens followed before Southern got in on the act, Marshall taking an excellent catch running backwards to dismiss Davis for 2 and leave the score 60 for 7. Bradley was again in action but not before he had conceded his first run as he bowled Jeffrey for a duck with the score on 68. This would ensure he didn't go a full weekend without his name in the paper as he returned expensive figures of 4-3-1-4. Southern was equally as expensive and wrapped things up in the next over thanks to another fine grab from Marshall who took one low to his left at first slip to remove Gulloney for 2 but this wasn't before the hilarity of watching Wilkinson drop a THIRD catch at cover, possibly the easiest one he will ever drop in his life. This concluded the Whickham innings on 68, a remarkable collapse which had seen them lose 8 wickets for just 14 runs. Only 9 wickets needed to be taken as Barlow had apparently 'gone out' rather than stay for a bat so Consett had ran out victors by the small margin of 224 runs in their opening fixtures.

After the game the usual round of voting took place. Man of the match contenders, Ben Clarke with 78, Ian Cox with 50, Jamie with 24 and 4 wickets for 1 run but on this occasion there was only one winner and that was to be Matt Jackson for completing both his maiden half century and century on the same day. Fantastic work Matt and we hope this is just the start of more to come!

Dick of the day, as ever someone whose performances have stood out for all the wrong reasons deserves a round of applause too. Again there wasn't too much of a decision to make on this one. After dropping 3 catches, the third of which saw several members of his team rolling round the floor with laughter Simon Wilkinson is the first and very worthy winner of 2017!!

A fantastic all round performance by the team to start the season but a warning against complacency as some much sterner tasks will lie ahead. A big thanks to team Grant for their efforts with the teas and score keeping, you're always appreciated and a big thanks to all who came and watched. Our next game sees us take on Cowgate on Sunday 7th May another game which takes place at Blackfyne and hopefully another which sees Consett deliver a top performance......

Consett & District Cricket Club Consett CC 3rd XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 3w 11b 4lb 
for 5 wickets
20
292		        
90 - Jamie Bradley lbw Ross Walker 24 50 2 1 48.00
Ben Clarke lbw Daniel Davison 78 71 12 109.86 1
17 - Jack Marshall b J Barlow 1 3 33.33 2
Matt Jackson Not Out  102 93 14 1 109.68
00 - Simon Wilkinson run out (Charlie Davis) 2 7 28.57 1
48 - Ian Cox ct Daniel Davison b Dan Jeffrey 50 37 7 2 135.14 1
Jonathan Gall Not Out  15 19 1 78.95
Nathan Smith  
David Southern   1
Stephen Horn   1
Mark Roe  

Whickham Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Thomas Hodgson9.016100.006.78
Dan Jeffrey9.0048148.005.33
J Barlow 7.0031131.004.43
Ross Walker9.0147147.005.22
Daniel Davison9.0071171.007.89
C Gulloney2.001600.008.00

Whickham Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2w 8b  
for 10 wickets
10
68 (25.4 overs)		     
Ross Walker ct Simon Wilkinson b Jamie Bradley 20 60 1 33.33
Charlie Davis ct Ben Clarke b Nathan Smith 23 23 3 1 100
Thomas Hodgson run out (Ian Cox) 10 18 2 55.56
Daniel Davison lbw Mark Roe 0 5 0
John Purdy ct David Southern b Jamie Bradley 0 8 0
Louis Colling st Stephen Horn b Jamie Bradley 0 3 0
W Davis ct Jack Marshall b David Southern 2 9 22.22
Dan Jeffrey b Jamie Bradley 0 12 0
J Gulloney ct Jack Marshall b David Southern 2 4 50.0
C Gulloney Not Out  0 4 0
J Barlow  Absent

Consett & District Cricket Club Consett CC 3rd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Mark Roe9.0427127.003.00
Nathan Smith7.0128128.004.00
David Southern5.43422.000.71
90 - Jamie Bradley4.03140.250.25

  • Umpire :
    Mark Laidlaw and John Peacock
  • Scorer :
    R Grant