Goodnight Godivas as Middleham Complete

Third Consecutive Victory

Bishop Middleham continued their unbeaten run when they took on the Godivas at Haughton School in Darlington.

Following some early downpours, which at one stage put the game in doubt, Middleham once again lost the toss and were asked to field.

On a pitch that had long damp grass on the outfield and a synthetic wicket on which the bounce was variable it was always going to be a low scoring game. The Godivas were not helped by a very strong bowling performance by the Middeham team with the maximum being given away by any one bowler being eight runs. The Team was bolstered by the addition of the Wilk's brothers who bowled well and Josh Wilks showed a bit of pace off the wicket. The bowling and variable bounce created some difficulties for keeper Hutton who dealt bravely with a number of difficult and quick deliveries (apart from Ron Woods bowling). Pick of the bowling included Paul Wetheridge who bowled two maiden overs, the Josh and Tim Wilks who only conceded four runs off their combined four overs and Harry Davison who took two wickets for four runs. However the star bowling performance came from Ron Woods who took two wickets for eight runs, with a very variable style of bowling (four wides in the First over). Nigel Cooksey on his return after a season absence took one wicket for five runs and another newcomer Dave Minns bowled two overs for a creditable six runs and took a catch of Ron Woods bowling. Hugh Boorman however caught SBS (Steve Ball Syndrome). Once he had made ground to get to the ball, he dropped a relatively simple catch. At the end of the innings when the Godivas were looking to try and increase their total Richard Hanlon bowled two tight overs and despite trying to 'push on' the batsmen could only score six runs off his two overs.

Bishop Middleham then commenced their innings with Ron Woods and Richard Hanlon opening the batting and the team watched in expectation of Ron playing his normal safe but sure innings to establish a sound start. The team were stunned when Ron quickly returned to pavilion without scoring. As stated previously getting quick runs was difficult, with the long grass in the outfield, and Hanlon and Boorman both gained their scores of four and seven respectively in singles. Following the departure of Hanlon and Boorman, Paul Wetheridge had his first bat of the season and scored seven runs off three scoring shots including one four( Mike Connelly now has something to try and emulate). Josh Wilks scored twelve runs ,but more importantly steadied the ship, whilst Harry Davison only made one run before being bowled playing all round the ball. Tim Wilks brought some heavy sitting to the wicket and his twenty not out included two sixes and one four. I fact his first scoring shot was a six which was caught four or five yards past the boundary, Stephen Ball would not have even attempted to catch that one (quote from David Hutton). The two Wilks brothers steered the team towards victory but after the departure of Josh Wilks it was the other newcomer Dave Minns who scored the winning shot, a four to the boundary, to seal victory.

Bishop Middleham now having played three and won three this season seems to be on a bit of a roll and can only look forward their next game with anticipation.

Godivas

Headford	Bowled	Davison	9
Watts	Bowled	Cooksey	10
Kelly	Ct R.Woods	T.Wilks	3
Knight	Run out		3
Barass	Ct Minns	B R.Woods	6
Denning	Bowled	Davison	2
Adair	Not out		6
Wakes	Ct Hutton	B R.woods	0
Wakes	Not out		6
Hu8nter	Did not bat
Pratt	Did not bat

Extras 17

Total 62 for 7 off 20 Overs

Bishop Middleham bowling

M. Connolley 2-0-4-0, P.Wetheridge 2-0-0-0, H.Boorman, 2-0-8-0, T.Wilks 2-1-1-1,

D.Minns 2-0-6-0, J.Wilks 2-0-6-0, N.Cooksey 2-0-5-1, H.Davison 2-0-4-2,

R.Woods 2-0-8-2, R.Hanlon 2-0-6-0

 Bishop Middleham

Ron Woods	Bowled	Atkinson	0
R. Hanlon	Bowled	Barras	4
H.Boorman	Stumped		7
P.Wetheridge	Bowled	Hunter	7
J.Wilks	Bowled	Hunter	12
H.Davison	Bowled	Adair	1
T.Wilks	Not out		20
D.Minns	Not out		4
N.Cooksey	Did not bat
M.Connelley	Did not bat
D.Hutton	Did not bat

Extras 11

Total 66 for 6 off 15 Overs