MATCH REPORTS 2011

Cliffe II v Eryholme II - 03/09/2011

On a gloomy overcast day with frequent rain showers Cliffe won the toss and put Eryholme in to bat. The 3 Cliffe bowlers of Ben Wilson, Dave Walton and Chris Bowes dominated the Eryholme batting and Ben soon had both Eryholme openers back in the pavilion with the score on 23 for 2. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals with Ben picking up another 3, finishing on 5 wickets from 9 overs for just ten runs. Chris picked up 3 for 26 from 8 overs and Dave bowled unchanged for a 16 over spell that saw him take 2 for 37. The top scorer for Eryholme was Ollie King with 19 runs. Eryholme finished all out for 80 from 32 of their allotted 35 overs.

In reply Cliffe opened with Tony Jinks and John Phillips. John was bowled by Ollie King for 2 but Tony scored a quick 25 before being caught from the spin bowling of David Evans with the score on 41. Dave Collinge hit a couple of nice 4's before being caught for 10. Tom Sowerby was next in and played a really solid innings pushing the score along nicely while wickets were falling regularly at the other end. Ben Wilson went for 6, Tom Mason for 2, Chris Bowes unluckily played on for 2 and Warren Bain was bowled for 6. With the score on 76 for 7 Chris Sowerby then joined son Tom at the crease. After Chris pushed a quick single to give Tom the strike and with the field coming in to stop any more singles Tom decided he would end the game with a lovely straight drive over the bowlers head for 6, leaving him not out for 26. Cliffe finished on 85 for 7 from only 25 of their overs. This was a good all round performance, particularly in the bowling and fielding to give the seconds only their 3rd win of the season.

Cliffe 1sts v Spennymoor – 30/7/11

An excellent 5 wicket haul from Martin Vickerman and another classy innings from Dan Wrigley, lay at the heart of an impressive 6 wicket demolition of in form Spennymoor, on a warm, sun kissed afternoon.

Spennymoor batted first in the 40 over clash and it was Dicky Adamson, back from his holiday, who initially held them in check by claiming 2 wickets in a really good 9 over burst. However, the aggressive Parkin chanced his arm and in partnership with the steady Nichol, seemed to be leading the home team to a formidable total as they reached 99 for 2 after 24 overs. At this point John Wilson was introduced to the attack and continued his happy knack of taking a wicket in his first over, as he made the breakthrough with just his 3^rd ball, courtesy of an excellent catch from Dicky. The game swung considerably back to Cliffe in the next over, when a clever piece of bowling from the skipper brought the demise of Parkin for 42, with the help of a Fozzie stumping.

 From then on, with the aid of some fine catches wickets fell regularly and despite a late flurry from Mel Groves, Martin finished the innings off with two wickets in two balls, as Spennymoor were all out for an inadequate looking 143 in the 36^th over. The Captain finished with the deserved figures of 5 for 25, having not conceded a boundary in his accurate 8.5 overs and John a season best 3 for 27 from 6 overs. Credit should also go to the team`s catching and fielding which was good throughout.

 The Cliffe innings got off to a dreadful start, as Andy Glover was bowled 2^nd ball for 2, but Dan eased any jitters by smacking Groves down the ground for a mighty six. Dan had been joined by Rich Mallender, who was content to play a watchful innings as the two, aided by a generous helping of wides and byes built the match winning stand. Dan played some glorious straight drives and both batsman feasted on 2 overs of wayward legspin from Dewey, who had taken 4 wickets at Cliffe earlier in the season, smashing him for 21.

 Just when it looked like a 9 wicket win was on the cards, Rich played on via pad and thigh pad for 25, the stand ending at 108. Dan was then stumped for a very well crafted 60, his 2^nd 50 of the season against this opposition. Al Curry was also dismissed for 9 before the game ended appropriately enough with a wide, extras contributing over 30. John (12) and Fozzie (2) were the not out batsmen, as Cliffe romped home with more than 13 overs to spare.

So a really convincing win that keeps us well in touch with the league leaders. Next week the long trip to Dales beckons and the opportunity to avenge the cup semi final defeat.

Cliffe 1sts v Barton – 23/07/11

An excellent innings of 92 not out from Dan Wrigley, was the cornerstone of a 5 wicket win against Barton. The fact that it was made under pressure chasing a sizeable total and wickets had tumbled alarmingly quickly in the middle order, probably makes it the best innings by a Cliffe batsman this season.

 Cliffe had been set 174 to win the 40 over contest and despite losing Andrew Glover cheaply, seemed to be in a good position as they had moved smoothly onto 84 for 1 in the 18^th over. Dan had made the majority of the runs in a stand of 54 when Rich Mallender (20) drove loosely to mid on. This inexplicably led to a clatter of wickets, as John, Al and Fozzie all found ways to get themselves out against a pretty ordinary attack.  Andy Wynne, who had come in as a last minute replacement for the injured Alex Simpson, then joined Dan at the precarious position of 96 for 5.

The two anxious to rebuild the innings, played cautiously for a while, but despite the run rate climbing to over 6 an over Dan in particular, gave the impression that he was perfectly in control of the situation. The defining moment came when 4 boundaries came in one over, which really took the wind out of Barton. The match ended in a flurry of stroke play with both batsmen playing some lovely drives in particular. Andy reached his highest first team score of 35 not out as the target was reached with over 2 overs unused, congratulations to both for an excellent match winning stand.

When Barton batted first, Ben Simpson, making his seasonal debut, did beat both openers for pace despite a sluggish pitch, but unfortunately couldn’t claim a wicket. At the other end Paul Simpson rolled back the years with an inspired 11 over burst that brought him 3 for 28, bowling Barton`s skipper with an absolute “jaffa”. With Chris Wrigley (3 for 35) and Martin (3 for 54) also grabbing early wickets, it had looked like Barton wouldn’t top 130. Sadly, as is often the case, some lower order agricultural heaves coupled with a drop of intensity and concentration from Cliffe enabled the visitors to reach the dizzy heights of 173 for 9.  We really must get more ruthless and finish teams off when we have them down.

 Thankfully this late onslaught didn’t cost us the game, but there was bad news to come on Sunday. Andy Wynne has unfortunately broken his wrist, playing football (and in cricket season!) so it is unlikely that he will be able to build on his excellent innings again this season. Get well soon, Wynney! This week we travel to in form Spennymoor, who after beating league leaders Brompton, should provide a very stern test.

 Cliffe 1sts v Trimdon Colliery & Deaf Hill – 02/07/2011

Without ever hitting their best form, Cliffe stretched their unbeaten run to 4 league games, as they overcame a spirited effort from an under strength Trimdon Colliery to win by 6 wickets.

Both teams were short at the start of the game, Trimdon`s promised players never did turn up, Cliffe`s 11th player, Paul Simpson did so in style, in an enormous horse box, which made it look like he was just returning from Glastonbury! On the field, Trimdon batted first and set off at quite a frenetic pace, mixing a good deal of playing and missing with some unorthodox smacks to the boundary.  Dicky made the early break though with a couple of wickets, but both he and Martin who had opened from the pavilion end, suffered to some degree from the rustic hitting and dropped catches.

At 96 for 2 in 19 overs, it was beginning to look like one of those days for Cliffe, but Paul came galloping in from his paddock to have opener Routledge well caught for 40 by Mark Riley. Despite an excellent spell and two wickets from Andrew Glover, Trimdon kept resisting thanks to some powerful blows from both Craggs brothers, but John Wilson came on to finish the innings in style by bowling B. Craggs and then producing a devastating Yorker next ball to ruin a ten year olds day, Dicky has a rival rabbit catcher!

Chasing 137 to win, Cliffe lost Jeff Rogerson early for 14, as the 10 over mark was reached with just 27 on the board. Andrew was just starting to go through his gears with some fine drives, when he was undone by some extra bounce to be caught behind for 40. This brought John Wilson to the crease, who after a watchful start produced the most fluent innings of the match, with 7 boundaries and 1 six in his 41 not out as he powered Cliffe to victory to complete a fine all round game. Credit should go to Trimdon though for bowling so well and making a real fight of it and they certainly deserved the extra bonus point they picked up by dismissing Rich Mallender for 21 and Al Curry for 5 close to the end of the innings.

 So the half way has been reached in the season with a won 5, lost 5 and tied 1 record. Despite remaining in 6th Cliffe are still in with a decent chance of reaching the top 3, but with some difficult away fixtures in this half of the season, will need to ensure they get maximum points from relegation threatened Catterick Village this weekend.

Cliffe 1sts v Ingleton – 25/06/11

Dicky Adamson was the unlikely batting hero, as he managed to hit 2 off the last ball to enable Cliffe to tie a match with Ingleton, that really should have been won comfortably. The pitch was low and slow and was coupled with a long outfield, but too many batsmen gifted their wicket to the Ingleton attack with poor shot selection.

Chasing 133 to win  in a 35 over encounter and despite a useful 23 from Dan Wrigley, Cliffe had slipped to 62 for 4 after 19 overs. Rich Mallender (44no) then joined Mark Riley (18) and thanks to some strong blows from Mark, Cliffe seemed to be wrestling the initiative back from their hosts. However, after Mark was caught on the boundary, wickets fell disappointingly regularly to leave last man Dicky and Rich needing 11 to win from the last 8 balls, Despite a boundary from Rich it was not quite enough to get Cliffe the win and possibly Cliffe were the more relieved team with the tie as the players left the field.

When Ingleton batted first, they had reached 54 for 2 in the 21st before the acceleration came from a hard hitting 36 from P.Watson. This took the home side to 133 for 3 at the close, with opener  P. Olney reaching a patient and at times dour 48 not out. For Cliffe, Dicky had the best return in taking 2 – 28 from a very good 11 over spell. Mark Riley was the other wicket taker and he bowled well along with the luckless Andrew Glover and Chris Wrigley who both bowled decent spells.

Cliffe really missed a golden opportunity to keep the pressure on the leaders, but will hope to bounce back to winning ways next weekend against the unpredictable bottom of the table Trimdon Colliery.

Cliffe 1sts v Brompton-on-Swale – 18/06/11

 A Chris Wrigley inspired Cliffe recorded their best league win of the season so far, with an eight wicket demolition of previously unbeaten league leaders Brompton.

 Thanks to the recent rain, the wicket was not the typical Cliffe batting paradise and Martin won an important toss and asked the visitors to bat first in a 35 over contest. Bowling well in tandem, Dicky Adamson and Chris Wrigley kept things tight to the in form Brompton batting line up and both were assisted by some seam movement.

Chris made the initial breakthrough gaining an LBW decision, but it was when Dicky bowled the dangerous Hanratty, with the aid of an inside edge, that it really looked like being our day. Chris then went into overdrive, as he cut through the rest of the Brompton batting order and, with the aid of two excellent slip catches from John Wilson, Chris finished with a richly deserved 8 for 45 from a marathon 17 over stint. Credit should also go to the team`s ground fielding which was good and also both Dicky and Paul Simpson who both bowled well in support of Chris.

 Chasing 112 would normally be an easy equation at Cliffe, but with a strong bowling line up and helpful conditions, Brompton were confident (or possibly cocky) about their chances and after losing Dan Wrigley early, there may have been the odd butterfly in the home dressing room. However, Jeff Rogerson, who had earlier kept wicket very well, soothed any fears with an excellent innings that took the sting out of the pacey Nick Armstrong in particular. Along with Rich Mallender, who chanced his arm with a flurry of boundaries off the normally accurate Hanratty, Jeff took the score into the seventies with some fine drives, before he surprisingly edged behind.

 Any raised hopes Brompton had of getting back into the game were quickly quashed, as John Wilson unfurled his trade mark pull shot in smashing a huge 6 and along with Rich saw Cliffe home to victory with more than 10 overs to spare. John finished on 24 not out and Rich, by hitting a boundary with the scores level, 53 not out.

This really was an important victory, which despite not moving us up from 6th place, leaves us just 10 points off 2nd place. Undoubtedly a few heads will have been turned in the rest of the division on seeing this result and it really should give a huge boost of confidence to the 1sts, who seem to be hitting a rich vein of form in the league.

Eryholme I v Cliffe I (11/06/2011)

Back to Winning Ways

The first team had a trip out to Eryholme on Saturday and agreeing to 40 overs won the toss and decided to bowl.

An imperious undefeated century from Andrew Glover was the major contributing factor, as Cliffe ended their 3 game losing streak with a 71 run walloping of Dales. Special mention should also go to Dickie who produced yet another magnificent playing surface that would be the envy of many teams in higher ranked leagues.

On winning the toss, Martin had no hesitation in taking first use of Dickie`s latest masterpiece and very quickly Andrew and Dan Wrigley provided reassurance that there would not be a third below par batting performance at home. Dan, who looks increasingly at home in the role of first team opener, began the innings in scintillating style as he peppered the glassy outfield with a fine array of stroke play, with the 50 being posted in just the 10^th over. In truth it was a pretty woeful Dales attack that never looked like putting our batting line up under any pressure. Dan brought up his 50 with a huge six, but soon after got out for 55 to the persevering Simpson, who was by some distance Dales best bowler. The score was then 102 for 1 after 19 overs.

Rich Mallender joined Andrew who then clicked into his very best form as he kept things simple by waiting for the bad ball and then smashing to or over the boundary. Yes, there were plenty of bad balls on offer but it was simply exemplary orthodox stroke play from the opener and he gave the impression that Dales could have bowled at him for the rest of the summer without dismissing him. Andrew brought up his 2^nd ton for Cliffe and then went onto to reach a chanceless 125 not out with 16 fours and four sixes that would have been maximums on many a larger ground. Rich upped his own tempo towards the end of the innings and reached his 50 with some meaty blows, as 84 came from the last 10 overs and the innings closed on a staggering 256 for 1 from the 40 over allocation.

 Dales were not allowed to get off to a flyer in pursuit of their mammoth target ,as Dickie (1 for 24 off 10 overs) and Chris Wrigley (1 for 44 from 13 overs) delivered excellent opening spells, both beating the bat regularly and deserving far better reward than they received. They were supported well as Cliffe “attacked the ball” in the field and by half way with the score 50 for 2 the contest was effectively over. Cliffe also found wickets difficult to come by, but weren’t helped with Dales` umpires turning down a couple of stonewall LBW appeals.  Martin took this opportunity to give most people a chance to bowl, with Fozzie providing a great comedy moment by not even getting a hand on a skied chance from his own bowling, but having said that, he must be the best wicketkeeper bowler in this Division!! Credit to goes to C. Hardwick of Dales who cashed in on the support bowling to reach his own undefeated century to lead his side to 185 for 3 at the close and a match total of 441 for 4 from the games 80 overs, that surely doesn’t happen very often in this League!

So a good win for Cliffe that should give the team some confidence as they face the much tougher test of Tyas away this Saturday, on what is very likely to be much more of a bowler friendly wicket.

Cliffe II v Aldbrough St John (21/05/2011)

On a fine but breezy afternoon Cliffe lost the toss and were put into bat.
Jeff Rogerson opened with Ben Wilson and took the score onto 17 before Ben was bowled by Griffen for 5. Richard Peacock was next up but departed quickly for a duck, again bowled by the speedy Griffen. 
Jeff was joined by Mark Riley but the promising partnership didn't materialise as Jeff was soon out for 10, caught from what was a unusual hasty shot for Jeff. 
Mark Riley was looking good, but no-one could stay with him at the other end. Neil Peacock got 6, Oliver Nicholson a duck, Ian Peacock 11, Tom Mason 2 and Chris Sowerby a duck. 
Mark must have thought that the Cliffe innings was going to fold and after hitting an enormous six he was caught trying to repeat the same shot for a fine 40 runs. 
Charles Rogerson and Dave Walton made the tail wag a bit with Charles hitting two nice fours before Dave was lbw for 3 with the Cliffe innings ending on 131 with only 31 of their alloted 35 overs completed. If it hadn't been for the 46 extras bowled by Aldbrough it would have been a lot easier target for them to reach.

The Aldbrough innings got off to a quick start with captain Woodhouse surviving two good lbw shouts before being bowled by Neil Peacock for 31. Ben Wilson took the wicket of  Denning for a duck but the next two batsman Holehouse and Lewis put on a partnership of 40 or so before Lewis was caught by Jeff from Tom Masons bowling for 15. Ian Peacock took the wicket of Charlie Holt, again caught by Jeff.
Holehouse was joined by Galley and the pair raced to the Cliffe total with a flurry of boundaries. Holehouse finished on 51 not out, which included 11 fours. 
Apart from Mark's 40 this was a poor batting performance from Cliffe. All the bowlers went for around 4 or 5 an over, including the usual abundance of wides, but we just didn't score enough runs to defend against a strong Aldbrough batting line up.

Cliffe v Trimdon CCA 30/04/2011
The firsts fell to defeat against a newly promoted Trimdon; after losing the toss and being asked to bat we got off to a steady start against accurate bowling, but as wickets slowly tumbled no one managed to dominate and build a meaningful innings. Most people made some contribution with Andy Wynne top scoring with a really useful 27 and a promising 23 from Mr Cricket saw us get to 127 for 9 of 35 overs. In truth it was never really enough on a wicket where a par score is usually at least 170 although it is fair to say that  P Lee bowled very well for the visitors

After tea Dickie and Simo opened the bowling with Simo clean bowling their opener with his first ball of the season, but that brought P. Lee to the crease who struck the ball firmly from the beginning of his innings whilst A Lee simply kept an end up. After 10 overs with the score on over fifty for the loss of only 1 wicket a change was made a both ends with Wrigley Snr at one end and the skipper at the other. It looked like a change may have worked but a couple of catches went begging and it was only a good but fortunate runout that broke the partnership and sent P lee back to the pavilion with 67 out of 80 runs scored. The door was briefly open when the skipper took 2 wickets in 2 balls but it was not to be as Andy Glover came on and took a further wicket, but more opportunities were spilled or missed. Eventually Trimdon reached a deserved win with 130 for 5 in the 31st over.
 
The bottom line was 'not enough runs and too many dropped catches', but in the circumstances we did a reasonable job to at least push Trimdon a bit. We will need a better performance next week against Barton if we are to get the season started in the fashion we all hoped. 

Lands II v Cliffe II, Saturday 30^th April

On a bright, sunny yet very windy and chilly day at Lands the second team lost the toss and Lands choose to bat, a decision they may be regretting.

Veteran Chris Bowes opened the bowling with young Ben Wilson and for the first 5 overs nothing much happened but they both bowled tightly and Ben was getting the ball to move around a bit, and Lands score had moved to 17 for 0.

Chris got the first breakthrough having opener Waldock bowled for 5 runs.

After this wickets continued to fall regularly with Chris getting a further two wickets making a total of 3 for 20 runs from his 9 overs. Ben bowled well in his 7 permissable overs and took one wicket for 13 runs, which did not reflect how well he bowled and how many times he mananaged to beat the bat.

Dave Walton came on after Ben and bowled really well for his 4 for 14 from 7 overs. Ian Peacock came on for Chris Bowes and bowled accurately for his two wickets for 5 runs from 5 overs.

One notable player for Lands was a young lady called Beth who batted for a while for her 7 runs which included some nice straight drives – one that went for 4 from Dave’s bowling, but Dave had revenge having her caught and bowled.

Other good catches were held by debutant Oliver Nicholson, Steve Cocks, Ben Wilson and two behind the stumps for Richard Peacock in what was an excellent bowling and fielding performance. (Apart from losing a ball in ‘the swamp’ from one of the few boundaries hit!)

Lands finished with the low score of 52 all out after only 27 of their allotted 35 overs.

Cliffe opened the batting with youngsters Tom Mason and Ben Wilson who started well enough and looked relatively untroubled until Tom was run out for 1 when he thought the ball had evaded the fielder when it hadn’t.

Thomas Adamson joined Ben and added a few more runs before Ben was caught at mid wicket for 2.

Debutant Oliver Nicholson was up next and hit 3 nice boundaries before being caught for 14. Thomas had hung around for a while and looked pretty comfortable before inexplicably being bowled round the legs for 1. Warren Bain hit a nice 4 and then was out shouldering arms to a ball that he thought was missing but only took out his off stump!

With the score on 26 for five Lands must have thought they were in with a chance but Richard Peacock was next in and looked determined to knock the runs off with a few quick boundaries. He had been joined by Chris Bowes after Warren had fallen and they both looked relatively untroubled in taking the score to 50. Richard then decided to try and finish the game in one shot and hit a steepler that nobody looked too keen to catch and was eventually dropped by the only fielder that tried. With the next ball he received Richard did manage to hit a boundary and took his score to 19 not out and Cliffe’s to a winning total of 55 for 5. Chris ended on 9 not out.

Once again our bowling was excellent and our fielding good but our batting needs to improve if we are to win tougher games than this one.

CATTERICK VILLAGE v CLIFFE 1sts – 23/04/2011

The firsts got their campaign underway away to the bottom club of last year’s “A” division, Catterick Village and in deepening gloom they were able to come out with a hard won 5 wicket victory with just 1 of their 40 over allocation unused. 
This success came from a very decent all round team effort, but was underpinned by fine performances with both bat and ball from Andrew Glover and Mark Riley.

Chasing 129 on a tricky opening day wicket and in conditions that slowly got worse as the day wore on, Cliffe had reached 51 for 2 in the 20^th over, with Dan Wrigley(10) and Rich Mallender (13) both dismissed after briefly hinting at bigger things.

This brought together Andrew and Mark with the game finely poised, but assisted by a generous offering of wides from the home attack they forged the biggest stand of the innings. Neither were at their most fluent best, thanks to the slight unpredictability of the wicket, but Mark was able to unleash his trade mark cut shot and Andrew some meaty drives as the partnership grew.

Mark straight drove the only 6 of the game but unfortunately was dismissed next ball for 28 trying to repeat the shot, the partnership ending at 48.

Sadly, soon after Andrew got one which seemed to stop in the pitch and he was caught and bowled by the Catterick skipper, having worked incredibly hard for his 36.

Chasing a further 26 off 7 overs would normally be an easy equation, but with 2 new batsmen coming together in such difficult conditions, it was far from a certainty.

Thankfully stand in skipper Al Curry, then played one of his typical street wise innings, just hitting boundaries at precisely the right time to ease the mounting pressure. Al was ably assisted by a really encouraging display from first team debutant Andrew Wynne, who displayed a cool temperament and ran extremely well between the wickets. 
With the scores level Al became the 2^nd LBW victim of the innings (showing Cliffe are always fair in their umpiring) for 14. Leaving Andrew (10 not out) and Fozzie to scamper the winning bye as the rain began to fall from the near dark sky.

Earlier in the day Al won the toss and invited Catterick to bat on what was at that point a very warm afternoon.

Dickie Adamson and Chris Wrigley took the new ball and whilst neither were at their very best, both could easily have picked up a wicket as the home sides openers regularly hit the ball in the air without finding a fielder.

However at 50 for 0 from 12 overs, it was beginning to look like Cliffe would have a big chase to contend with.

At this point Andrew Glover produced an absolute peach of a delivery to rattle the stumps of the dangerous Swainston and bowling in tandem with the metronomic accuracy of Mark Riley (1 for 18 off 9 overs) the run scoring was reduced to nothing more than a trickle and wickets then came at regular intervals.

Things did not get any easier for Catterick when Mark finished his spell as the ever reliable Chris Bowes replaced him and with the help of an excellent catch by Dan Wrigley, got 3 wickets for just 16 runs in 4 superb “death” overs.

With Al doing a good job in the field, Cliffe were delighted to hold Catterick to 129 for 7, with Andrew`s marathon 15 over spell yielding an unflattering 3 – 44.

It is worth noting that Cliffe bowled just 1 wide compared to their host`s 13 later in the afternoon.

In summary, this was a very good win to start the season with, particularly as the conditions transpired against us in the run chase.

Whilst the feeling is that slightly tougher tests lie ahead than the one Catterick offered, with several players still to come back in contention for places it really does bode well for what ought to be a season that we look to improve on last year`s 3^rd place finish.

Cliffe II v King James  23/04/2011

On a beautiful spring day at Cliffe on the opening game of the season the seconds won the toss and put King James into bat.

We started well opening the bowling with Dave Walton and Neil Peacock.

Dave opened with a maiden and Neil took the first wicket bowling Pratt for 2 in his second over, but only after giving away 7 wides and no balls and taking himself out of the attack! Dave Walton took the next wicket having Gorton Jnr caught behind by new wicket keeper Rich Peacock for 4.

Ben Wilson had replaced Neil and soon had his first wicket of the season having Whittaker caught by Ian Peacock at mid on for a duck. King James were 17 for 3 at this stage off 6 overs. A decent partnership of 30 was broken by Ben when he had Rowley bowled for 26. After replacing Ben, Tom Adamson then took his first wicket for Cliffe having James senior out to a great catch by Dave Kimmons on his Cliffe debut.

With the score on 61 for 5 Cliffe were looking in a good position. John Wilson had come into the attack and was bowling very tight and had James junior bowled in his 3^rd over. 

 However, King James captain Dennis Gorton and veteran John Raw then put on a great partnership. Dennis punishing the Cliffe bowling by despatching any bad ball, and quite a few decent ones, to the short boundary, while John made sure that he kept his wicket intact while Dennis attacked. They took the score onto 130 before John had Dennis bowled for 53 and John took another wicket with the final ball of the allotted 35 overs by bowling Hewitt for 6. John Raw carried his bat for 7 not out and King James finished with a respectable score of 140 for 8.

After another fine Cliffe tea, Rich Peacock and Ian Peacock opened the batting. Richard was the first wicket to fall edging a decent delivery to slip with Gorton eventually clinging on to it. Ian was next to go with a suicide run out that saw him 10 yards short. John Wilson also came and went after hitting a nice four he top-edged one straight to the only fielder on the long boundary. Neil Peacock didn’t last long and was given out LBW to Gorton to a ball that seemed to be a bit on the high side.

Cliffe had slumped to 18 for 4. Ben Wilson scored a decent 17 before being caught and bowled. Thomas Adamson got 3 before being bowled by Gorton. Michael Colling hit a decent 17 but once he was bowled, again by Gorton, the Cliffe innings came to a quick end with Dave Kimmons being bowled by Gorton for 1, Steve Cocks being bowled for 5, Mike Cocks getting a duck and Dave Walton carrying his bat for 4 not out.

Cliffe finishing on a very poor 70 all out with Dennis Gorton bowling a spell of 13 overs for 4 wickets and 26 runs. 

In summary it was a decent bowling and fielding performance, with some tight bowling and good catches, with not too many going to ground.

Dennis Gorton was the difference between the teams with his 53 runs and four wickets.
The Cliffe batting performance was not good enough and will have to improve drastically if we are to win our next game away to Lands next Saturday.

MATCH REPORTS 2010
Trimdon C&DH v Cliffe I (04/09/2010)

Cliffe I v Cockerton II (28/08/2010)
The First team took on bottom of the table Cockerton in a 35 over contest at Cliffe on Saturday and winning the toss batted first. 
The returning Andrew Glover opened with in form Fossie and got us off to another good start until Andrew was plum LBW for a quick fire 39. 
The rest of the team then continued to make good contributions with Fossie getting 31 and Rich Mallender a quick 20, but the plaudits go to Alan Curry for an excellent 61 not out, including a couple of towering sixes. In the end we reached a very good 193 for 6.

Although it was a good score the Cliffe pitch was playing well and Cockerton had a much stronger side then when we had played them earlier in the season. As it turned out there was really no need to worry as Ben and Dickie opened the bowling in style. It was one of those days when good bowling was backed up by good fielding (three catches to Andy Glover at cover) and everything we did seemed to work. Cockerton had no answer to Ben‘s pace and Dickies guile as they were dismissed for 26 with Ben taking 5 for 9 and Dickie 5 for 14.  A really good performance by the team.

 We have two games left in the season and are still fifth in the league but mathematically could end up anywhere from third to mid table, so lets give it a big shot in two tough last games and see if we can have our best finish for a few years.

Cliffe II v Raby Castle II (21/08/2010)
Raby  won the toss and in  a 35 over match decided to put Cliffe into bat.
They were soon to regret this decision as the opening pair of John Phillips and Tony Jinks put on an opening stand of 54 before John was caught for 13 (unlucky). 
Andrew Wynne was next up and Tony and Andrew put on an even better stand of nearly 100 runs before Tony was out for a plump two fat lady score of 88, which included 17 fours. 
Neil Peacock came and went for 5 and Tom Sowerby scored a quick fire 14 before being bowled. Andrew Wynne was still going strong and finished on 74 not out which included a six and 13 fours. Chris Sowerby got a classy single and finished not out with the Cliffe score on a very good 199 for 4 from their 35 overs.

The Raby reply started badly with Neil Peacock having opener Foster caught by John Phillips in slips from the first ball of the innings. The second over and Andrew Wynne had a repeat performance from John having the other opener caught for none. Another wicket fell to Neil in his second over bowling Ford for two and when Andrew took the fourth wicket to yet another fine catch from Chris Sowerby and with the score on 39 for 4 it looked as though it was going to be an easy win.

However, the next Raby pair put on a partnership of 100 taking the score to 150 for 5 when Andrew again did the damage by having Raby skipper Headley caught and bowled for 50.
With 8 overs left it looked anybody's game but the Raby tail failed to wag and Neil got his third wicket plus a run out, Tom Mason took veteran Peter Jackson's wicket and Ben Wilson took the final two wickets - both caught behind by Tony Jinks. This left Raby number 5 Parker stranded on 61 not out with the Raby score on 170. 

A good win in the end, the only bad point being the number of extras we gave away, which is becoming a feature of our game. We gave away 39 extras of which 25 were wides. This is a luxury we can't afford and will cost us a win eventually.

This was the second teams eleventh win on the bounce, which must surely be a club record.
If they win against Rockliffe next week that would surely secure them second place at least.

Barton II v Cliffe I (21/08/2010)
The First team took a short trip to Barton on Saturday and losing the toss were asked to bat against nine man Barton. 
Openers, Fossie and Dan, got off to a cautious start and struggled to pierce the field early on but as the overs passed by their confidence grew and they started taking a lot of quick singles and really accelerated the innings.
Barton is a large ground and it was very hard to hit boundaries on a slow wicket but they both stuck to the task putting on over 100 for the first wicket until Dan was unfortunately stumped for 49 and Martin followed quickly with another of his all too frequent brief appearances. Contributions continued down the order from Mark Riley, Al Curry and Andrew Peacock to leave us on 192 for 4 after the agreed 32 overs and Fossie with a personal best of an undefeated 78.

It was a good score but we were very aware that we scored over 200 last time against Barton and still lost!  Dickie and Andrew opened the bowling and some very positive batting by Barton saw them get off to a 5 an over start. They both bowled good opening spells but wickets were hard to come across until young Mr Bowes came on and took three wickets in an over and  Dickie picked up a couple of wickets at the other end. Chris went on to get an excellent 5 wicket haul. By this stage Barton were now well behind the rate and with only a couple of wickets left, so we had a rare opportunity to give lots of folk a bowl including Mark, Chris White, Warren Bain, Dan and Ian Peacock finishing the game of nicely with 1 for none! In the end Barton were all out for 127 and we had a very good win thanks to excellent performances by Fossie, Dan and Chris Bowes, taking us back to fifth in the league.

Next week we entertain Cockerton, who despite being bottom of the league scored over 160 this week, so they should not be taken lightly.

Cliffe I v Brompton On Swale (14/08/2010)
The first team had an excellent win against Brompton on Swale in a 35 over game where Cliffe won the toss and decided to let Brompton bat first due to all the over night rain. 
Dickie and Ben opened the bowling and actually bowled well but the Brompton openers attacked from the very beginning and were over 40 without loss in the fifth over. 
Al came on in the fifth over to change the pace but went even further conceding 16 from his over and so a few changes were made with Ben swapping ends and Jack coming on at Ben’s end. The two of them bowled really well and slowed the scoring rate down to a crawl and once Ben cleaned bowled the Brompton captain, Jack ran out their number 3 without scoring and Al took a blinding one handed catch at mid on the game turned on its head. 
From then on there was only one team in the game with Dan Wrigley taking three great catches, Ben continuing a good spell and Dickie coming back to bowl really well. Jack did most of the damage by creating some good pressure and ended up with 5 for 17 off 12 overs and we bowled Brompton out for 97.

In reply Andy Baldwin and Dan opened the batting in a positive but sensible way and took full toll of a rather curious opening spell of off spin from one end. Dan went for a good 23 and Jack followed very quickly but then Al and Andy Baldwin settled in nicely and just kept the scoring going along at a good rate. It would not be Cliffe without an injury and unfortunately Andy did something very painful to his elbow and had to retire hurt on an invaluable 35 not out, but Mark Riley then came in to see us home with a comfortable win by 8 wickets with about 12 overs to spare. 

A really good win and team performance, the key is to take that into next weeks game against Barton and see if we can still get back into that top four.

Cliffe II v Lands II (07/08/2010)

On getting to the ground it was discovered that Cliffe had been hit by a sudden downpour and most of the square was under water! However after preparing the driest pitch and waiting until 3:00pm the game finally got under way in a 30 overs a side game. 

Cliffe captain for the day Ian Peacock won the toss and decided to put Lands into bat. Dave Walton and Neil Peacock opened the bowling and both opened with a maiden and continued to bowl tightly. 
The first wicket fell to a run out when Steve Cocks managed to bamboozle the openers by 'pretending' to fall over and give them a second run, but Michael Collinge was quick to react and get the ball to Jinksy who eventually secured the run out with both batsmen at the same end! Lands then had a decent spell of batting and took the score onto 54 for 1 after 13 overs. Andrew Wynne had replaced the injured Dave Walton and produced the next wicket courtesy of a fine running catch from Tom Mason on the boundary. The next wicket to fall was to another catch from Tom - this time from Dan Wrigley with the score on 65 for 3 after 16 overs. 
Lands then had another good spell of batting, due largely to some (4?) missed catches, and took the score onto 107 for 3 after 24 overs. 
However, with the introduction of young Alex Simpson wickets were soon falling and Dales collapsed to 120 for 9 with Alex getting all six wickets to fall, having three bowled, two caught and 1 LBW in a four over spell that only produced 11 runs for Lands.
Ben Wilson also bowled a tight spell of 3 overs at the end for only 4 runs. 

After another fine tea prepared by Karen and Paula, the two Cliffe openers Dan Wrigley and Andrew Wynne took to the field and were soon collecting plenty of runs against what looked like a poor Lands bowling attack. Dan and Andrew took the score onto 87 without either of them looking in much trouble until they tried a quick single that was never really on and Andrew was run out for 27. This only seemed to make Dan more determined and ably assisted by Tony Jinks, Dan got to his fifty and then went on to finish undefeated on 73, with Tony also undefeated on a quick fire 14. Cliffe finished on 122 for 1 after only 19 of their alloted 30 overs. A fairly easy and convincing tenth victory in a row for the second team, which must surely be a club record. Well done to everyone who has been involved in this fine winning streak.

Cliffe I v Richmondshire IV (24/07/2010)

It was always going to be a difficult fixture and it was made trickier by Richmond drafting in players from their other sides. Winning the toss for a change we asked Richmond to bat first in a 40 over game and Ben got a quick breakthrough, shortly followed by Paul bowling the danger man Mark Layfield.

Both Ben and Paul went on to bowl good spells but once again we lacked that bit of luck to get further wickets.

Richmond batted sensibly with Dickie coming on first change to bowl a good spell as well and with the skipper pulling a muscle that allowed him to bowl only two rather curious deliveries but it allowed Al to come on and bowl some more good overs.

Jack’s lack of bowling this season showed and unfortunately we found ourselves in an all too familiar position where we had bowled well and fielded quite well but failing to take wickets allowed Richmond to throw the bat in the final overs and reach a good score of 179 for 5 with John Deaton left on 99 not out.

In reply we lost three relatively quick wickets with Andy, Ben and Fossie all back in the pavilion for only 27.

We then had a little run of bad luck with Jack getting a dubious LBW, Ian P being run out from a direct hit from the boundary and Al getting Pratt's one away swinger straight after the drinks break, but in truth Pratt for Richmond bowled well and we never really threatened their score. Paul top scored with 32 not out as Chris White, Martin and Dickie all fell cheaply leaving us 104 all out.

A disappointing result but against a strong team in a game where we bowled and fielded quite well but lacked batting depth with the whole of the top five that started the season missing due to injuries, holidays etc

Another tough game next week against Spennymoor but certainly one we can win.

Cliffe II v Eryholme II (17/07/2010)

Cliffe batted first in a 35 over match. 
John Phillips was the first to go for 9 runs after making a good start of 38 with Dan Wrigley. Tony Jinks came and went fairly quickly for 3, being unfortunately run out. 
Andrew Wynne then joined Dan and he put on 16 before being clean bowled. Dan was steadily adding to his score when he too was clean bowled for 45. 
Neil Peacock who was debuting as captain then came to the crease and played a captains innings in getting a fine 63 runs before also being bowled. 
Tom Mason and Chris Sowerby were the only two other batsmen to reach double figures getting 11 and 13 respectively. 
Cliffe finished on the decent score of 187 for 9.

In reply Eryholme looked as though they could possibly chase down the Cliffe total with both openers scoring steadily. However as soon as both openers went for 26 and 37 none of the other Eryholme batsmen reached double figures. 
Steve Cocks took a fine catch in gulley to have the opener Sayer out for 37 from Tom Masons bowling and Chris Sowerby bowled the other opener  for 26 - celebrating by doing a lap of the square to the embarrasment of son Tom! 
Dan Wrigley took two wickets for only 11 runs from 7 overs and Ben Wilson took 2 wickets for only 8 runs from 4 overs. Cocksy even got a few overs but didn't manage to take a wicket and kept Tony busy behind the stumps. 
Eryholme were all out for 130 and the team headed back to the Crown to celebrate.

Cliffe I v Eryholme I (17/07/2010)
Due to lack of scorebook not a detailed report but a good win in a close game.
Eryholme won the toss and decided to bat in a 40 over game.

Some tight bowling from Cliffe early on from Ben Simpson and Chris Bowes kept the run rate down to around 4 an over. Ben took the first wicket to fall clean bowling P Warne for 6. Chris was replaced after a good spell in which he was unlucky not to get a wicket by Ian Peacock. Ian took 3 wickets from his 10 overs for 36 runs - thanks to some fine keeping from Jack Hardy on his Cliffe debut, taking a stumping and a fine catch, and a great slip catch by Andy Baldwin. Alan Curry took the only other wicket to fall and Eryholme reached a good score of 209 for 5 from their 40 overs thanks to a destructive late knock from Robin King who finished on 66 not out.

In reply Cliffe opened with Rich Mallender and Andy Baldwin who progressed steadily until Rich was out lbw for 15. Andy was joined by Ben who hit a great 57 in quick time to bring the run rate back to manageable terms. Ben was evetually out LBW to Robin King. Andy Baldwin soon followed being bowled by Oliver King for a well made 61 runs. Jack Hardy was out next ball to another good delivery from Oliver. Paul Simpson and Alan Curry then forged the winning partnership, Alan getting the winning runs with only 4 balls remaining. Paul finished on 39 not out and Alan on 24 not out.

Not a great fielding/bowling display but some fine batting displays on another good Cliffe wicket that saw only 9 wickets fall.

Cliffe I v The Dales (03/07/2010)
Disappointing Defeat…but several positives…

Next to go was Woodhouse who was LBW to Dave for 9 (again after scoring 80 in the earlier game).

Chris then joined in the wickets having Carr bowled for 14 with the score on 34 for 4 after 15 overs.

After this the Aldbrough older statesmen came into bat and steadied the ship taking the score onto 120 for 4 before Andrew Wynne had Holehouse caught by Tom Mason for 36. Galley finished on 45 not out with the total on 128 for 5 from 35 overs.

Dave Walton finished with 3 for 40 from 11 overs and Chris Wrigley 1 for 38 from 18 overs.

In reply Cliffe opened with Dan Wrigley and Tony Jinks who both got off the mark with 4’s and continued in the same vein until Tony was bowled for 10 with the score on 27 for 1 after only 4 overs.

Chris Wrigley came in and also seemed in a rush to get things finished as he opened with a four but was caught the next ball trying a repeat shot.

Neil Peacock came to the crease and hit three nice looking shots for 4 and raced to 18 when he was caught in the covers, but he had helped Dan take the score on to 65 from only 10 overs.

Andrew Wynne was next up but didn’t last too long and was stumped for 6.

However Dan was still going strong at the other end and the scoreboard was ticking over nicely.

Ian Peacock and Dan then had a fine stand of exactly 50 to finish the game with Dan being not out 64, which included 12 fours, and Ian not out 8.

Cliffe finishing on 130 for 4 from only 19 of the allotted 35 overs – a very comfortable victory, which allowed Dan and Chris to make the BBQ to celebrate Dan's 18th birthday - a day to remember along with Dan's 64 not out.

Cliffe I v Trimdon C&DH (19/06/2010)

The first team posted another solid win as they beat Trimdon Colliery with 3 overs to spare. Losing the toss (again!) Trimdon decided to bat in the 35 over contest and steadily lost wickets throughout their innings. 
Another good opening spell from Andrew Peacock saw him pick up three good wickets and Chris Bowes cranked up the engine once again to bowl an excellent spell. Changing ends after one over he proceeded to pitch the ball up and swing it to the extent that he had one LBW and two bowled in collecting 4 wickets. 
At the other end Jack returned to the team and with the help of two excellent catches by young Peaky and Mark Riley he took 3 wickets to help bowl Trimdon out for 115.

In reply the batting order got a bit of a shuffle as we were without Andrew Glover, the two Baldwins and John Wilson and things did look a bit sticky at 41 for 4 with Fossie, Rich Mallender, young Peaky and Mark Riley all back in the pavilion, as well as Howard Craggs and Strong bowling well.  
However a controlled and undefeated partnership between Jack and Al Curry of 75 saw us cross the line with relative ease leaving Jack on 50 not out and Al on 27 not out.

Cliffe II v Rockcliffe Park II

Cliffe batted first in a reduced 30 over game, to ensure we all got to see the England v USA World Cup game. (Less said about that the better!)
Cliffe reached a very decent 146 for 8 with Tony Jinks top scoring with a fine 57.
In reply Rockliffe were held back by some accurate opening bowling from Chris Wrigley and Dave Walton. Wickets fell regularly with Chris eventually taking 5 for 34 and Dave having no luck from some good bowling. Neil Peacock came on to replace Dave and had 2 LBW's in his two overs for no runs. Andrew Wynne took the only other wicket to fall as Rockliffe only had ten man and also had one injured while fielding. 
Rockliffe finished on 106 all out in only 22 overs. A good all round performance for Cliffe as Rockliffe were and still are second in Division C.

 Cockerton II  v Cliffe I (12/06/2010)
Back to Winning Ways

Cliffe v Barton II (05/06/2010)
Firsts Fall Again…

The Firsts fell to Barton in another high scoring encounter at home on Saturday.

Winning the toss and batting first it was looking rather precarious at 65 for 4 with Martin, Mark, Andy Baldwin and Al all back in the pavilion, although in Andy’s case it was not for long.

However, cometh the hour cometh the man and John Wilson came to the rescue playing each ball on its merits and putting away the bad ball with excellent use of his back foot drive through extra cover and the vicious pull over mid wicket.

Unfortunately when he had scored about twenty he did some serious mischief to what appears to be his achilles and needed a runner for the rest of the innings. But every cloud has a silver lining and it gave Andy Baldwin a chance to get a long time at the crease! (about 30 overs I think in extreme heat….well done sir!)

The injury did not seem to affect Johns batting though as he went passed 50, then a glorious 100 and eventually reaching 153 not out, one of the highest scores in living memory by a Cliffe player. Mention should also to Rich Mallender who got an invaluable 29 in a partnership of well over a hundred with John and at the end a quick fire 14 not out from Ian Peacock, which all took us to an excellent 232 for 5 off 40 overs.

Then the problems started; I am not sure if it was complacency, lack of ability or just an excellent performance by Barton but the bowling and fielding was woeful.

All bowlers bowled too many four balls and for the eighth consecutive week we did not show enough penetration or bowl enough dot balls to build pressure. The seamers bowled too slowly and the spinners failed to turn the ball, so the Barton batsman were never threatened and were allowed to stay up with the rate by largely getting a boundary per over and then picking up a single or two. Despite having three people out on the legside boundary we allowed a chap to score 88 whose previous highest score was 20 and all his scoring shots went between midwicket and mid on. We had a real lack of mobility in the field and although we did not drop/ miss many catches we made two many basic errors and again failed to build any pressure.

The end result was that Barton reached 235 for 5 with two overs to spare and won the game easily.

Obviously there were positives with John’s huge score and a tidy performance by Fossie behind the sticks and we did suffer from not having Andrew Glover, young Peaky, Adam, Jack or Simo to select from.

It is now time to learn from this performance, but put it behind us and move on to the next important games, in the semi final of the cup on Tuesday against Tyas and playing bottom of the league Cockerton at the weekend.

Brompton On Swale  v Cliffe I's (29/05/2010)

Damp Taste of Defeat…

The firsts fell to a soggy defeat at the weekend away at Brompton on Swale. Losing the toss in a 30 over match we were rapidly in trouble with a procession of people making very brief appearances in the middle as the team went from 6 for 1 to 6 for 3 followed by 24 for 4 and 34 for 6. It looked like a very early finish as we started and continued to play in ongoing drizzle. It was only an incredible innings from Andrew Peacock that brought some respectability to the score. Andrew, on a  very wet wicket and in generally poor conditions, started very positively and proceed to strike the ball sweetly to all parts of the ground. Straight drives, cuts, punches through extra cover and delicate pushes for one to mid wicket saw him attack the Brompton bowling with a degree of controlled aggression and skill rarely seen at this level. Together with a patient and vital 15 from Richard Mallender the two took the team to the comparative riches of over 100 before Richard fell trying to up the rate, leaving Andrew to continue his way to a faultless 84: only getting out in the penultimate over as he played for the team in trying to maximize the score and as a result we reached 124 all out.

 The rain never stopped and made it very difficult for our bowlers, with Dickie loosing his footing with his first ball and the ball being little more than a damp muddy lump after only a few overs. We kept rotating the bowling, as the rain continued to fall, but the bowlers had to bowl round the wicket because of the state of the ground over the wicket and run ups were reduced to only a few steps and simply propelling the ball down the other end. In the circumstances it was not surprising that we struggled to take wickets.

The conditions were certainly not fit for cricket but we had agreed to play in the rain at the beginning of the game and given we were always in ‘second’ position and it was Brompton who gave two umpiring decisions last year with the scores level to secure a tie for us, it could have been seen as unsporting to have walked off.

 In the end we lost by 7 wickets with 3 overs to go , which was a minor achievement in itself given the position we had been in earlier in the match.

 A sad loss, that was really down to the toss but should be remembered not for the rain and mud but for a fantastic 84 from Andrew Peacock.

 Putting the game behind us we take on Barton at home next week and are looking to get back to winning ways.

Lands II’s v Cliffe II’s (22/05/2010)

On a really hot day, especially for Lands, Cliffe lost the toss and were asked to bat.

It didn’t get off to a good start when Dan Wrigley was bowled in the first over for 0. His father Chris replaced him and was soon scoring a few runs, ably assisted by Andrew Wynne, until Andrew was bowled for 7 with the score on 26.

Ian Peacock then came to the crease and put on a decent partnership with Chris before being bowled for 19 runs with the score on 73 for 3. However, Chris Wrigley departed soon after with a good score of 37. After this no-one got into double figures and wickets kept falling regularly with the Cliffe score finishing on 105 all out from 30 of their allotted 35 overs.  It was a poor batting performance against one of the weaker bowling attacks we have faced.

After tea Cliffe opened the bowling with Chris Wrigley and Andrew Wynne. The Lands openers were in no rush only requiring three an over and progressed slowly thanks to some tight bowling. With the score on 34 after 14 overs Ian Peacock came on to bowl and got the breakthrough having Waldock caught and bowled for 17. Chris then got their other opener out and Cliffe thought that they were in with a chance. Ian picked up another 3 wickets and Chris 1 more and Lands looked in trouble at 82 for 6 from 28 overs. However the Lands number 7 and 8 batsmen steadied the ship and put on a stand of 24 to take Lands to the required 106 in the 32^nd over. There were some good catches taken by Chris Sowerby (again!) and Dan Wrigley, but a couple were also grounded (no names mentioned!). 
Moment of the day was young Tom Sowerby taking a stumping and showing no mercy when a Lands batsman danced down the wicket, took a huge swipe at the ball, completely missed and ended up in a crumpled heap on the floor in agony with a twisted knee!

Cliffe I's v Witton Le Wear (22/05/2010)

Back to winning ways again on a very hot day and on a very good wicket against Witton le Wear. 
Losing the toss in a 40 over game the opening bowlers, Dickie and Neal Peacock, bowled tidy spells without getting the breakthrough and it took Rich Mallender with his first ball to break the opening partnership courtesy of a good catch by Andrew Glover at cover. 
Richard followed that up by clean bowling their number three first ball, but wickets were generally not easy to come by on an excellent wicket. 
At 183 for 3 it was beginning to look like a rerun of the two previous weeks, with us failing to take early wickets and paying for it in the later overs, but this time it was different ! Rich Mallender came back for a second spell and bowled Crisp for 90.
After this wickets fell at very regular intervals with Andrew Glover and Rich Mallender both ending up with 4 wickets, and 2 for Martin, leaving Witton all out for 209. A special mention to young Thomas Adamson for some great fielding.  

Although it was a large score; on that wicket and with a fast outfield it was always a gettable target if we batted sensibly and that is exactly what we did.
Andrew and Adam got us off to the perfect start by both scoring fifties and providing an opening partnership of 107. 
It was followed up by 34 from Mark Riley and an unbeaten 35 from John Wilson for us to stroll over the line with 3 overs to spare and only 4 wickets down.
Next stop Brompton on Swale in the cup on Tuesday and again in the league on Saturday, it could be a big season shaping week.

Haughton II v Cliffe II (15/05/2010)

On the warmest day of the season so far (which doesn’t say a lot) the seconds won the toss and put Haughton into bat.

Haughton progressed slowly and it wasn’t until the seventh over that Neil Peacock got the breakthrough bowling the dangerous looking Allenby for 15 with the score on 24.

In the next over Paul Simpson got the other opener caught by Ben Wilson at mid-on.

This brought Jackson to the wicket who along with Woodcock took the score onto 67 for 2, with Jackson surviving a couple of dropped catches and then hitting a further 20 runs before being bowled by Andy Wynne for 34. Andy then took another wicket with his next ball having Barker LBW for a golden duck. Unfortunately Andy didn’t complete his hat trick, but the rest of the Haughton batting collapsed with only Whitfield the Haughton skipper contributing any notable score of 13 not out.

Haughton slumped to 113 all out in their 29th over of the allotted 35.

Andrew Wynne finished with 4 wickets for 18 runs from 6 overs. Paul Simpson with 3 wickets for 45 runs from 12 overs. Ben Wilson with 2 wickets for 10 runs from 3 overs and Neil Peacock with 1 wicket for 20 runs from 7 overs.

Chris Sowerby showed again what a safe pair of hands he has, taking another two good catches with Dan Wrigley also taking a catch.

The only poor part of the bowling and fielding display was the 15 wides that were bowled, which once again was too many.

After another fine Haughton tea, John Phillips and Dan Wrigley opened the batting and put on a fine opening partnership of 60 before John was bowled by Ridgeway for 18. This included a fine 6 after being called an ‘old man’ by the Haughton captain!

This brought Paul Simpson to the crease who hit his usual couple of fours before being bowled by Allenby for 10. Unfortunately Andrew Wynne went next ball for a golden duck and Neil Peacock followed 2 balls later for another duck.

However, Chris and Dan Wrigley steadied the ship and got Cliffe home with 15 overs to spare. Dan Wrigley contributing an excellent 61 not out, including ten fours, and Chris 14 not out. Cliffe finishing on 114 for four from only 20 overs.

King James v Cliffe II (12/05/2010) - Div C Knockout Cup

Cliffe II batted first on an interesting surface, and reached the score of 96 for 8 from their 20 overs.
Ian Peacock scored 47 after surviving a couple of dropped catches. The only others to reach double figures were Dan Wrigley with 16 and Chris Bromfield with 11.

In reply King James could only manage 76 for seven in their 20 overs.
Dave Walton and Neil Peacock opened and proved very difficult to get away. Dave bowled unchanged for 10 overs and only gave away 31 runs, for no wickets. Neil bowled 6 overs and took 3 wickets for 21 runs. Ian Peacock replaced Neil and in his 3 overs took 2 wickets for 9 runs. Chris Wrigley bowled the remaining over and managed to bowl the dangerous Gorton who top scored for King James with 26 quick runs.

Eryholme I v Cliffe I (11/05/2010) - Div B Knockout Cup

Eryholme batted first and were held to a score of 93 for 2 from their 20 overs thanks to some tight bowling from Rich Adamson, Paul Simpson, Martin and Mark Riley. 
Martin and Mark taking a wicket each.

In reply Cliffe reached their total with three overs to spare and the loss of only two wickets thanks to a 30 not out from Ian Peacock and 27 not out from John Wilson.
Other batsmen were Chris White who scored a quick 10 before being bowled, and Alan Curry who was the victim of a run out in which he made about half of the 22 yards!

Cliffe I v Richmond IV - Firsts Take a  Tumble

The Firsts took on newly promoted Richmond CC IV on Saturday and unfortunately suffered their first defeat of the season. Wining the toss in the 35 over encounter, Richmond were asked to bat first and got of to a solid start against good bowling from Dickie and Peaky but they were not able to the get the breakthrough and it took a double bowling change with Martin and Andrew Glover coming on to get the first wicket. Richmond however continued to attack the bowling and despite at one stage being 125 for 5 they continued to bat aggressively. The Cliffe bowling was reasonably solid but unfortunately the fielding was very poor, as catches were dropped and several boundaries were allowed due to sloppy fielding. 
The net result was that despite a good second spell from Peaky, Richmond reached 218 for 9 with Martin taking 3 for 40 and Andrew Glover 5 for 54.

Although over 200 was a good score, we believed that we had the wicket, the out field and the batsman to chase it down, but Richmond’s opening bowlers were very accurate and as Richmond adopted a very defensive field early on it made it very difficult to get the required boundaries. Andrew Glover went early, Adam batted well but without his usual fluency in scoring 21 but it was left to John Wilson to give us some early momentum with two great pulled sixes and a very welcome 39. We were never able to get ahead of or even match the required rate and despite a fluent and aggressive 48 from Mark Riley and 29 not out for Peaky, Cliffe were never really in the chase, ending up on 171 for 8.

It was disappointing to lose our first game, but we were not disgraced and took a welcome 8 points from the game. On reflection the loss was down to poor fielding, possibly our fields being a little too attacking and not having enough penetration in the bowling.

Finally, mention should go to the skipper being bowled for nought by a 14 year old leg spinner who was so delighted he went home and put it on Face book…….fame at last!!

Let’s hope to get back on track in our cup game against Eryholme on Tuesday.

Richmondshire V versus Cliffe II (08/05/2010)

Some of these details may be a bit inaccurate as our scorebook wasn’t completed and had to be copied later!

On another cold and blustery day at the resurrected Gilling West ground Richmondshire lost the toss and were put in to bat on what looked like a good track for bowlers, being green and undulating.

Paul Simpson and Dave Walton opened the bowling and Paul started well by getting a wicket in his first over. However the other opener decided to throw the bat and took the score onto 50 for 1 before being bowled by Dave.

This stopped the initial onslaught and Paul bowled well throughout picking up another three wickets all being bowled. Andrew Wynne replaced Dave and also picked up a wicket, having Cocks bowled for 18. This brought Barlow to the crease and together with young Ostain they savaged most of the Cliffe bowling added 120 runs beween them. Ostain was finally bowled by Paul for 60, having had more lives than a cat and Barlow finished not out on 66.

The Richmond score finished on 223 for 7 with Paul being the only bowler to have given them any real problems, finishing with 5 wickets from his 14 overs for 65 runs.

The Cliffe fielding and catching was again very poor – with the exception of Tom Mason, on debut, whose ground fielding and throwing was quick and accurate.

In reply Cliffe opened with Paul and Chris Wrigley.

Once again Paul started like a train scoring 15 from the first over but again losing his wicket early for 21 runs. Dan Wrigley joined his dad in the middle but didn’t last long being bowled for a duck. Andrew Wynne followed but was LBW for only 2 and Ian Peacock soon followed for 3 – being caught from a ball that he thought should have been called a no-ball, above waist high.

Chris Wrigley had been patient in his innings and was bowled for a decent score of 29.

Chris Bowes was next in and aimed to steady the ship with wickets tumbling at the other end - Chris Bromfield, Tom Mason and Dave Walton all going for ducks.

Thomas Adamson and Dave Collinge did give Chris some support towards the end as Chris opened up and started to score boundaries for fun. However, Thomas was eventually caught for 4 and Dave bowled for 6 with one over remaining, leaving Chris unbeaten on 58, which included 4 sixes and 5 fours.

Cliffe finished on 154 all out and gained 6 points, but it was a disappointing result in a game they should have done better in.

Eryholme I v Cliffe I, 01/05/2010 - Hat Trick of Wins takes Firsts Top!

The first team wagon continues to roll on with a third consecutive win, taking the team to the top of the B Division., with a 73 run win, away at Eryholme.

Losing the toss for the third time Cliffe were asked to bat first in the 40 over contest. Adam Baldwin, opening with Andrew Glover, set off really positively striking some excellent boundaries and getting us of to a good start until unexpectedly Adam was bowled for 32. That brought Fossie to the crease who unfortunately went cheaply for 4, but after that it was a run feast as Andrew and John Wilson put on over 150 for the third wicket.

They started by patiently waiting for the bad ball and putting it away and then gradually began to accelerate, reaching a crescendo of fours and sixes in the later overs, when despite both being dismissed in the 39^th over the score reached 250 for 4 with Andrew dismissed for 137 and John for 63. A great exhibition of controlled but dominant batting.

Cliffe obviously took the field in confident mood but found it difficult to take wickets despite good opening spells from Dickie and Peaky and with Clark of Eryholme in belligerent mood it took a lot of rotating of the bowling with spells from Richard Mallender, Mark Riley, Andrew Glover, and Martin Vickerman until Martin eventually bowled Clark for 76.

After his dismissal there was a limited threat from Eryholme, who strangely never seemed to go for the win, not only ending up on 177 for 5 but curiously nudging the last ball of the innings for 1 when a four would have given them another consolation bonus point.

In short, a great team batting performance with Andrew, John and Adam batting Eryholme out of the game, but perhaps we needed a bit more penetration in the bowling department.

Finally a mention must go to Dickie’s amazing talent, shown on at least 6 occasions, when he walked half way to find a lost ball….for it to be immediately found by others already searching..…mounting hilarity by the team on each occasion, including Dickie!

Cliffe II v Eryholme II 01/05/2010

On a bitterly cold and blustery day at Cliffe the seconds lost the toss and were put in to bat by Eryholme.

Paul Simpson and John Phillips opened the batting and Paul must have been watching the World 20/20 scoring four fours off the first over.  However, it didn’t last long and in the third over he was bowled by young spin bowler David Evans for 19. John was joined by Dan Wrigley and pushed the score onto 38 before John was bowled by Evans for 11.

New recruit Andrew Wynne joined Dan and they took the score fairly quickly up to 84 before Dan was given out LBW to Charlie Walker for 28 and Andrew soon followed for 24 with the score on 85.

Captain and vice captain Chris Wrigley and Ian Peacock then got their heads down and took the score onto 147 before Ian was caught off Evans for 35 to a full toss that he should have put away, instead of only managing to top edge it.

Chris Wrigley was next to go having reached exactly 50, coming down the wicket to Walker and being stumped.

With only a few overs left the remaining batsmen had to try and push the score on and Ben Wilson added three before being caught and bowled by Evans. Steve Cocks scored just the 1 before being bowled by Walker, and the Sowerby’s, Chris and Tom, both finished not out with Chris on 10 and Tom on 2.

Cliffe finishing their 35 overs for a creditable 193 runs for 8 wickets.

Both Walker and Evans were the stand out bowlers for Eryholme, both finishing with 4 wickets each.

After another fine tea Cliffe took to the field looking for their first win of the season.

Both the Eryholme openers looked fairly secure but Paul Simpson and Dave Walton both bowled accurately and gave very little away with Eryholme only managing around three an over. In the end the pressure told and with Eryholme looking to push the score on Dave had Skilbeck caught to a good catch by Chris Sowerby for 25. Old Cockerton stalwart Terry Simpson came to the wicket and added 9 before being bowled by Paul.

The other opener Brunskil was still looking dangerous and was pushing his own score towards 50, but as he tried to accelerate the scoring he came down the wicket to a ball from Ian Peacock that had him bowled through the gate for 47 .

After this Eryholme had very little left in their batting line up and never looked like getting the required runs. Paul Simpson took another wicket and Ben Wilson and Tom Sowerby were giving a bowl. Ben managed to take two wickets for 5 runs in his three overs and Tom bowled three tight overs for only 9 runs and was unlucky not to claim his first wicket of the season with a good LBW shout. Chris Sowerby took another good catch and not to be outdone John Phillips managed to hold on to one.

The Eryholme reply finished on 112 for 6 wickets from their 35 overs.

A much better bowling and fielding performance gave the seconds their first victory of the season and they will look to repeat it away to Richmondshire V’s next Saturday on the newly resurrected Gilling West ground.

Barningham II v Cliffe II Saturday 24^th April 2010

On another fine sunny day at Barningham, Cliffe won the toss and elected to bat first.

On a really difficult wicket with variable bounce all the Cliffe batsmen struggled to score runs. Paul Simpson hit a four from the first ball of the innings, but unfortunately that was as good as it got!

The highest scorer on his debut was Ben Wilson with a decent 23 runs. Andrew Wynne, also on debut looked to play some nice shots and was unlucky only to get 10. Chris Bromfield battled well for 11 runs to enable us to get to three figures and a batting point, but no one else managed to get into double figures. Cliffe were all out for a low score of 102 runs in their 33th over.

After a very good tea – which was to be the highlight of the day, Cliffe took the field and tried to defend their low score.

Paul Simpson opened the bowling and was proving difficult to get away and had the opening batsman Foster bowled for just 1.

However, the other Barningham opener Ian Taylor was in a rush to get to the pub and decided to throw the bat at every ball – unfortunately connecting with a few of them and racing to 45 before being bowled by Paul Simpson with the score on 52 for 2 after only 9 overs.

This gave the rest of the Barningham batsmen the necessary time and overs to pick off the other 50 or so runs at a more leisurely pace. Ben Wilson took a wicket and also held a good low catch to give Chris Wrigley a wicket and Chris Sowerby held a skier to give Ben his wicket.

Barningham reached the required target for the loss of 4 wickets in only 20 of their allotted 35 overs.

As a whole it was a very disappointing batting performance and some of the fielding also left a lot to be desired.

We will need to improve both if we are to register our first win of the season against Eryholme next Saturday.

MOM – Ben Wilson for his 23 runs, 1 wicket and good catch, closely followed by Paul Simpson with his fine bowling spell of 10 overs, for two wickets and only 30 runs.

Cliffe I v Middleton Tyas 24/10/2010

Cliffe II’s v Aldbrough St John II’s – 17/04/2010

On a glorious opening day of the season Cliffe seconds were at home to Aldbrough St John seconds.

Things started well with new captain Chris Wrigley winning the toss and putting Aldbrough into bat, but this was as good as it got.

Chris Bowes and Chris Wrigley opened the bowling and Bowesy got the first breakthrough bowling the Aldbrough opener Holehouse for 10.

Aldbroughs other opener D Mooney was joined by R Woodhouse and they proceeded to put on over a 160 partnership for the second wicket. Woodhouse rode his luck as he was dropped on at least 3 occasions (we won’t name the culprits!). Mooney was also very lucky as Bowesy took a low caught and bowled chance that both the Aldbrough umpires somehow failed to see despite Bowesy confirming that he had took the catch cleanly and the batsman failing to walk! Mooney went on to make another 50 plus runs making a final score of 75.

Chris Wrigley eventually got the breakthrough and had Woodhouse bowled for 84. Mooney soon followed trying to push the score on and being bowed by Dave Walton.

After this the remaining Aldbrough batsmen did very little – only one of them managing to get into double figures. Chris Wrigley ended with 4 wickets from his 15 overs for 74 runs and Chris Bowes with 1 wicket from 12 overs for 63 runs. The other bowlers used were Dave Walton and Ian Peacock who finished with Dave conceding 25 runs from his 7 overs and Ian 25 runs from his 5 overs.

Aldbrough finishing with a very good total of 214 for 6 from their 40 overs.

After the usual very good Cliffe tea kindly prepared by Paula Hammond and Karen Peacock it was Cliffe’s turn to bat.

We got off to a very poor start with Tony Jinks opening and going for a duck from only the second ball (Surely he wasn’t in that much of a rush to see Chelsea getting beaten by Spurs!). This brought Ian Peacock to the crease to join Chris Bromfield. They both found runs difficult to come by and Chris was eventually bowled for 6 runs with the score on 36 for two after 13 overs.

Dan Wrigley came to the crease next and Ian and Dan pushed the score on fairly quickly to 80 before Ian got caught and bowled for a decent 32 runs. Dan continued to score quickly but wickets continued to fall regularly at the other end. Chris Wrigley went for 2 runs, Chris Sowerby going for 6 – unfortunately playing back to one and hitting his own wicket, Chris Bowes and Steve Cocks failing to bother the scorer and Dave Walton only managing 1. While Dan was still there we still stood a chance but with his score on 48, and his dad already celebrating his 50, he got out to a poor shot and was bowled.

With the score on 112 for 9 it was left up to the two young Tom’s, Sowerby and Adamson, to try to pick up some more batting points. They did this admirably surviving the next 9 overs and taking the score to a reasonable 151, picking up another two batting points on the way, before Tom Adamson was run out in the penultimate over.

Tom Sowerby scored 22 not out, which included 3 fine fours, with Tom Adamson ably backing him up and finishing with 3 runs.

Overall a disappointing start, but if we had taken our catches and the Aldbrough umpires had been awake it might have been a different story!