What a match we had on a very cold evening at Top Ground   Notts and Arnold won the toss and elected to bat. A tight opening 8 overs from a pacy Alex Whyley (1 for 14) and Zac Ashworth (1 for 13) slowed the initial part of their innings. However Notts and Arnold had two batsmen in Alex Fitzpatrick (38) and Alex Spencer-Tansley (37) who built their innings steadily. Until, that was, when Johnny Butler came on. His first over was a remarkable triple wicket maiden which dramatically alter red the flow of their innings. Finishing with 4 for 11 (3 of which were bowled) it was a fine piece of bowling. Notts and Arnold posted a creditable 119 for 6 from their 20 overs. I should also mention Chris Bowles who stood in as emergency keeper and did well, particularly behind the challenging pace of Alex.   With 10 fielders (and turning down our offer of a sub) Notts and Arnold were to witness a remarkable onslaught from the word go from Max Thompson. Striking the ball beautifully, hitting 9 fours and 1 six in his total of 53 retired, Max set the innings off in fine style. In fact the total was 60 when he retired, and his opening partner, Johnny, had faced just 4 balls and scored 2 at that point.   Notts and Arnold recovered from this and slowed the run rate well. Johnny made 18 and we lost another 2 quick wickets leaving Alex Whyley and Matt Durbin together for the run in. It came down to the last over with us needing 12 to win. Alex skied the first ball and it took ages to come down to an unfortunate fielder who dropped a difficult catch in the fading light allowing 3 to be scored. A couple of wides and a four eased the pressure considerably. The final runs were struck by Alex with a lovely drive for 4 meaning Southwell won reaching 122 for 4 with one ball to spare. Alex (16 not out) and Matt (13 Not out) had kept their heads well to see us home   An exciting finish in fading light and very cold conditions.   Thanks to Will Powell for umpiring.   Team: Max Thompson, Johnny Butler, Euan Haynes, Rory Brown, Ruth Sprawson, Alex Whyley, Matt Durbin, Chris Bowles, Josh Cottam, Zac Ashworth and Emily Stutchbury.
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On a warm evening with skipper McCarthy away with the County squad a youngish Southwell XI were asked to bat first. Our high hopes of a quick start were dashed when Max Thompson fell in the first over, and this was compounded 2 overs later when  Johnnie Butler was removed by a ball that kept low. Jack Fearn and Euan Haynes started to re build but were frustrated by the lack of value for their shots which seem to stop in the long grass. When Fearn departed a certain Mr Brown approached the wicket with the look of trepidation, however he soon decided that attack was the best form of defence and hit a very commendable 33 , ably supported at the death by some good running by Jack Grimley. 83 wasn’t a massive score but certainly 25 more than it looked like we might get.

 

In reply M&P got off to a flyer, due to some very quick bowling from Alex Whyley ( too quick for batsmen and fielders) and some brilliant running from the M&P openers, who seem to be able to steer the ball into gaps and push hard for 1s and 2s.

 

Alex Milton took 2 wickets, Alex Whyley bowled with pace and venom for his one wicket, Euan Haynes and Matt Durbin tried to stem the flow of runs but the positive batting from M&P saw them home with 7 overs to spare.

 

Thanks to Ali Haynes for scoring.
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The U17’s have had a fantastic start to the season.  After the first game of the season against Papplewick was postponed because of rain, we welcomed Sherwood to Top Ground. Winning the toss we put them in and restricted them to 89-6, a great effort, thanks to the all-round very consistent bowling and great spells from both Dan Sprawson and Matt Durbin who both took 3 for very little. Our innings got off to a flyer with Max Danby and Euan Haynes opening up and Max finishing with 42. The reasonably small total was finished of confidently with only 3 wickets down with Jonny Butler and Grant McCarthy finishing with 13 no. each. A great win and a great start to the season.

Our next game came in the form of Welbeck at Top Ground. Rumours spread that the team was unbeaten in 3 years and so we took to the field determined and focused. Great opening spells by Dan Sprawson and Alex Whyley got us off to a solid start, with Alex again bowling with genuine pace and being rewarded with his first wicket for SCC. While restricting them to just under 5 an over (99-5), thanks to some great fielding (run outs from Alex Whyley and Jonny, we still knew this would be a challenge.

Keeping up with the rate seemed easy to begin with as Sam Johnson and Max Danby set off the innings with real purpose. However after a quick fall of wickets with Sam and Euan going in quick succession Jonny Butler and Max set about recovering the situation. Leaving 15 to win off the last over in the end was just too much as Grant and Dan Collington were unable to finish off a great performance by the entire team. Unlucky to come second on the day, all players should take great pride from the fact that we pushed arguably the best side in the league right to the limits and we should carry this forward to our next game Mansfield and Pleasley away.
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