A Tense Finish at the Denton Oval
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From our cricket correspondent.
Nobody could claim that the overall standard of cricket was particularly high at the Denton Oval on Sunday afternoon, but there were some excellent individual performances and the numerous spectators enjoyed a nail-biting finish to the game.
Such was the interest in taking part in this special match, dedicated to the memory of the late Craig Whipps, that there were enough players to make up three teams and a round-robin format was used with each team batting once.
Team A, “Chris’ Cowboys”(?), batted first against Team B, “Ruth’s Roustabouts”(?) and after a slow start managed to achieve 71 runs in the allotted 15 overs. Richard Palmer, 16, and Robin Godsmark, 15 were the main contributors.
Next up it was Team B’s turn to bat against Team C, “Emma’s Experts”(?). They got off to a good start thanks to a rapid 24 from Simon Hipwell and Justin Smith followed him with another 24 runs. To achieve these figures, batsmen were required to retire once past 20, they both signed off with a six hit. Jonathan Hanner finished 16 not out to leave the team total on 95.
Finally, it was Team C’s chance to demonstate their batting skills against Team A’s bowling and fielding. Opening, Andy Hipwell scored a rapid 15 before two batsmen achieved the maximum; Paul Bliss scored 21 and Dave Godsmark 22. Representing the senior players, Mike Fitzgerald contributed a quick 11 runs but, pressing on, he did manage to run out two of his partners. One of these was his captain Emma Whipps who scored a useful 6 runs, but the overs were running out.
Enter another veteran, Mr Cool — Mike Goater. It was the last over and three to win! The intrepid batsman kept his nerve and blocked the first three deliveries before hitting the fourth for a four to win the match with two balls to spare.
As well as watching the very entertaining cricket, the spectators enjoyed some excellent refreshments — the cakes were just amazing — and a good time was had by all. It was a very fitting tribute to the much-missed Craig.