Comfortable "Double" over Burton - 26th July

02 August 2008

Kirkburton 80 vs Slaithwaite 83-0 Return of the Matt (Garrety). Briefly. Following Gazza’s mental aberration at Riley Lane he was unlikely to make any surprise decisions after calling correctly here and predictably chose to bat. However, a bit of juice in the wicket suggested some early assistance with possibly extra help in the form of a lone weed, just back of a length from the Campinot Vale End. With ‘Burton competing with Marsden for 2nd spot we expected a challenging total, however, they started badly and got worse. Daz Hinchliffe tamely lobbed a half volley back to Mitch, who then trapped Smith in front with one that the square leg umpire could have given – and for which I was harshly fined for appealing from the same position. The other Smith played one or two impressive shots in his 17 but was caught behind off Geoff who was persistently moving the ball away from the right handers. Jordan followed shortly after, trying for the umpteenth time to smash the ball out of the ground. Gazza finally arrived then almost immediately departed after playing around a straight one. Seri and Harrison showed a bit of fight, the former bravely battling his bottom-hand demons but with little success, but Mitch broke the partnership, then, with figures of 5-16 from 14 overs, gave way to Fishy Chris who soaked up the tail with 3-5 off 4 overs. So 81 to win and Kirkburton’s lack of bowling was evident as none of the bowlers managed to regularly hit the areas on and just behind a length as all Slawit’s had done. The total was overhauled in just 18 overs, Bez back in his rightful position with a chanceless 36 and Sir Geoffrey offering some catching practice during his 44no. Kettlewell snr is convinced Kana wouldn’t get 500 runs in the top flight, however he would only back his claim with a paltry wager of 10 English pounds. The argument was somewhat unconvincing, allied to ‘Burton’s performance. So, yet another weekend barely out of 1st gear; it won’t be long before the 3-division ballot box is being called for.