Fixture 2 Away V Beverley Town II

Match Report – 2 May 2009 Fixture 2 – Away v Beverley Town II

For the second season running the first XI came away from Beverley with very little from the game. And again, for the second season running, due to work commitments, football, stag- do’s, injuries, paddling pool parties and the monthly meeting of the local Women’s Institute, the Club could only muster 10 players willing to make the hour journey to the East Yorkshire town. But fear not, as scorer Tom ‘Dicko’ Dickinson stepped bravely into the breach to make his senior debut (more of that to come).

The toss, was again lost by Murphy and Whitkirk were invited to bat on what looked like a pretty placid pitch. With Billy working and available only for a home fixture, Grant’s opening partner for this week was the youngster Dave Tubby, who probably wished he’d got his hair cut a little shorter as he failed to see his second ball clearly and was caught behind without scoring in the first over.

Enter the experienced Phil Handley, who is quickly getting a reputation as the team’s chief run getter in the absence of Simo (travelling) and Craig Shipton (emigration). Despite requiring an eye operation to help him see properly, the veteran left-hander has looked a class act at number 3 in the first two fixtures, and again showed good form in clattering his was to a chanceless 50 in as many balls. At the other end, the rest of the top order was struggling to offer any decent support. Galloway departed for 4 in the sixth over, Giffin for a duck following Murphy’s dismissal to a harsh LBW decision for 32. This left Kirk struggling on 103 for 4 with only 15 overs remaining, but with Big Phil ‘seeing it like a football’ and looking towards his maiden century for the club, a decent total was not out of reach.

The middle order faired little better than the top order. Leece departed for a pedestrian 5 which brought Danby to the crease. A mix up between Danby and the established Handley brought an end to Phil’s innings and chance of a hundred. Run out for 87, Phil posted the only sizable contribution of the Whitkirk innings. Gommerson did his chances of advancing up the order the power of good with a controlled innings of 17 at the end which got the Kirk total up to 163 for 8 at the close. Disappointment for Dicko who despite being padded up for a considerable length of time, didn’t get a bat.

The injury list and absences from the club at the moment meant that the only established first team bowler that was available to bowl was the slow-bowler, Jon Leece. Ben Danby (shoulder), Gummy (shoulder), Murphy (knee), Jonno (Benidorm), Wilks (America) and George Walker (second’s) were all unable to bowl. This meant that Murphy turned to new boy Rubin Giffin to open the bowling with Sam Bateman who looked impressive on his first team debut last week against Carlton Towers.

The new ball pairing lasted only 8 overs before Bateman had to be removed from the attack due to a side strain. However, in his first 4 overs he’d looked just as impressive as last week and was unlucky not to be rewarded with a wicket. Leece replaced Bateman and bowled better than last week but without reward – his 5 overs costing an uncharacteristically expensive 28 runs.

In the meantime, Giffin continued to plug away at the other end, and his unbroken opening spell of 13 overs showed good control and drew a series of false shots from the Beverley openers, but the breakthrough wouldn’t come. Eventually the first wicket was gained in the 25th over, with Beverley well on course to chase down the 163 target with overs to spare. Nick Pickard replaced Leece who’d damaged his pinky in the field and was struggling to bowl, and it was the youngster who got the breakthrough with a fine piece of athleticism to catch the Beverley opener, low to his right off his own bowling.

With bowling options running at an all time low, Murphy called on the looping off-spin of Galloway to replace the knackered Giffin who’d bowled a quality spell until after drinks. Although Galloway looked dangerous on occasions, it was the rare loose ball that cost him and his 2 overs went for 21 runs. In the meantime, Pickard had managed to snare his second wicket of the day by forcing a mistimed pull from the number 3 which was held comfortably by Tubby at forward square-leg.

With Pickard having bowled his quota of 6 overs, a change was also required at his end. With Beverley requiring only 4 runs for victory Murphy planned a masterstroke and called on Dicko to get loose. With fielders disappearing to all parts of the boundary to offer the young scorer protection, his first, and to date, only ball for the first team, was a waist high full-toss that the batsman planted into the tennis courts. Dicko’s first XI bowling figures now read:

Overs Maidens Runs Wkts Economy 0.1 0 6 0 36

Despite this, the players were grateful for him making the effort and pulling on his whites, and for finishing the game nice and quickly!

So ‘Kirk’s positive start to the season last week took a downward turn this week, and with the list of player absences set to continue for the next couple of games, the pressure is on the senior players to contribute more heavily against newly promoted New Earswick next week.

Whitkirk Innings Batsman How out Bowler Score G Galloway Caught Lewis 4 D Tubby Caught Lewis 0 P Handley Run Out 87 M Murphy LBW Suggden 32 R Giffin LBW Mudd 0 J Leece LBW Suggden 5 B Danby Stumped Lewis 3 A Gommerson Not Out 17 N Pickard Stumped Dobson 3 S Bateman Not Out 4 T Dickinson DNB 0

Extras 8 Total (for 8 wickets) 163 Carlton Towers Innings Batsman How out Bowler Score F Abid C&B Pickard 55 A Brumfield Not Out 78 j Vodden Caught Tubby Pickard 1 R Todd Not Out 11

Extras 20 Total (for 2 wickets) 165

Bowler Overs Maidens Runs Wickets S Bateman 4 10 0 R Giffin 13 2 58 0 J Leece 5 28 0 N Pickard 6 1 31 2 G Galloway 2 20 0 T Dickinson 0.1 6 0