Huncote arrived at Whetstone in good spirits despite missing a few key players. Hubbard, Knibbs and Pete Lill were all missing. Ian lost his customary toss and after much debate Huncote were inserted by Whetstone. In Hubbard’s absence Khawaja was promoted to the openers slot alongside Crossley but unfortunately failed to score as he smashed a cover drive straight to Patel at point. Tim Kirby also promoted up the order this week came in at 3 and looked solid in defence if not playing too many big shots. Kirby and Crossley kept the scoring going but with some good bowling by Modi and Joshi boundaries were few and far between. With the partnership on 57, the pair tried to grab a quick second but a good throw by Joshi to the keepers end saw Crossley run out, Khawaja who was umpiring did not see the incident so it was good sportsmanship by Crossley to walk.

Spencer came and went for a quickfire 7. Which bought the other Kirby to the crease. Pete Kirby was looking very strong through the leg side but this was to prove like too often this season his downfall. He tried to work the ball through the square leg region but got a leading edge straight to gully. Sommer then came to the crease and he too failed to make double figures as he was caught in the covers off the toe of his bat. After his 24 hour exploits last weekend Matty Adcock was back in the side and came in to join Kirby, by now Schutz was bowling and managed to get Tim Kirby caught at mid off for a hard working 43. A good knock by Kirby proving if only to himself that he can compete at this level with the bat and hopefully this will be a springboard to further success. Driver came and went LBW off the inside edge, he did manage a glorious cover drive in his short innings which raised hopes of 200. Adcock didn’t last much longer as Huncote’s middle order disappointed and it was down the tail to add some much needed runs. Luckily with Scrimshire and D Kirby at the crease this occurred, Scrimshire in some good form was finding the boundaries and Kirby was giving him the strike. These two added 28 with Scrimshire finishing 17 not out and Kirby 10 not out. Huncote close on 161 – 9.

A good Oldham style tea was taken with the muffins a big success. Smith opened down the hill and with a big breeze behind him struck first ball. The Whetstone opener tried to hit the ball hard and straight but only managed to hit it up in the air where Spencer ran round to complete the catch. Kirby was given the task of running up the hill into the wind and struggled with containing the amount of swing he was getting, bowling a few wides. The Whetstone number 3, Taberner, was playing a few shots and had progressed the scoreto 20 when he was caught at short leg by Crossley from the bowling of Smith. With Smith’s next ball he grabbed his and the teams third wicket as off stump of Patel, was sent flying. This bought Schutz to the crease, as a regular scorer of runs against Huncote they knew they needed to get him early and this they did as Smith bowled him second ball. Three wickets in an over and Whetstone were reeling at 20 for 4. With Huncote in a good position they then proceeded to drop some catches, one notable one was from Driver standing in behind the stumps dropping the left handed, Mitton, who went on to add 38. Kirby was replaced by Sommer who bowled well but was unable to grab any wickets, Smith was eventually replaced by Kirby who now with the wind at his back was bowling with more pace.

Whetstone had managed to get themselves back into the game with Huncote needing wickets to stop the increasing scoring rate, Kirby then struck as he got Mitton caught behind by Driver as he attempted a pull shot. Two balls later and he struck again as he bowled Quinn and Huncote were right back in it but with the Sheppard still at the crease Whetstone were still hanging in there. Kirby then removed the Whetstone skipper as he found the edge that was gratefully clutched behind by Driver. This bought Joshi to the crease and saw him trying to get down the track as often as possible, unfortunately he got off the mark as Ross fumbled a chance at mid on and gave the batsman 3 runs. Driver now standing up to Kirby then dropped 2 sharp chances and Scrimshire tipped one ball over his head as it flew to the boundary. Smith was bought on at the bottom end to try and grab the 3 wickets required but with some unorthodox batting was taking some tap. The two batsmen smashed their way towards victory as Huncote could not manage to get any further wickets, Whetstone finally winning by 3 wickets with a few overs to spare.

A very poor fielding display by the Huncote boys this week saw what should have been victory turn into defeat. Smith and Kirby bowled well bowling 17 and 17.3 overs respectively, maybe a further 30 or so runs and it would have been a different game but everything is easy in hindsight. A chance on Sunday against Walton to pick up on recent results.

MOM T Kirby who top scored with 43 and took 3-63 from 17.3 overs.

Copyright Huncote CC 2003 Designed by Loser Designworks