Denton St Lawrence 152ao (0) v Prestwich 153-5 (5)
LCL Division One at Sycamore Park, Denton
12th June 2010
Unbeaten knocks from Gareth Barnes (53) and James Wharmby (36) dragged Prestwich over the finishing line as the Heys Road side finally got a win over Denton St Lawrence in their own back yard after umpteen years of trying!
REPORT – There were several reasons why Prestwich were determined to come back from their visit to Denton St Lawrence last Saturday with a victory.
Sycamore Road had become a bogey ground for the first team, so much so that no date could be pinpointed for their last successful exploit there.
Success was also required to start the Heys side climbing from their lowly position back up the Lees Lancashire County League.
Yet there was one overwhelming incentive that drove on the Prestwich lads – to do it for team-mate Olly Holt.
After feeling unwell following the side’s National Knockout game against Darwen the previous Sunday, the 20-year-old was taken to hospital and found to have broken a blood vessel in his neck, causing a blood clot.
Still hospitalised, the lads staged a performance to give him some bedside cheer.
With teenagers Tom Gibson and Adam Cheshire replacing Olly and the unavailable Steve Orrell, they all played their part.
DSL decided to bat first on home turf but found it tough going with the quick-slow combination of Danny Jones and Andy Bradley.
Jones claimed the wicket of Allen with the score on 21 and nine runs later, grabbed two in two balls, to send Simms and pro Abbas back to the pavilion.
But Bradley was doing an equally effective job – indeed his figures after 11 overs were 0 for 8 with eight maidens!
He continued in miserly vein and earned just reward in his 19th over when keeper Gareth Barnes stumped Maurice-Scott for 20.
Mirza (43) was the backbone of the home innings but Sam Holden struck in his first over, thanks to a fleet-footed catch by Gibson on the straight boundary edge, clapsing the ball two-handed above his head.
After Jones’s exhausting 20-over spell had reaped 4 for 75, Phil Kyle stepped into the breach to stem any late run-flurry, taking 3 for 18 and with Holden 2 for 17, restricted SL to an attainable total of 152.
The start of Prestwich’s innings was nearly a mirror image with a two-an-over run rate and three batsmen back in the dressing room with the total only in the 30s.
Chris Thomas made 21 before he became the fourth victim on 44 and when captain Steven Lorenzini was adjudged l.b.w. off Abbas for 17, the total stood at 61 for 5.
But James Wharmby and Gareth Barnes staged a match-winning unbeaten rally to bury the first team jinx.
Wharmby played an innings of increasing maturity with three fours and two sixes mixed in with solid defence.
Barnes was equally resplendent, registering his first 50 for the first team, with six boundaries and one six.
Finally, the hoodoo had been wiped away that had enveloped Prestwich for so long – 15 years and more.
Even anorak scorer Bob Hinchliffe couldn’t lay his hands on the stats of Prestwich’s last win on DSL soil.
But more significantly, it was a fitting “get well soon Olly ” message.
LCL Matchday 10
Cheetham Hill, Flowery Field and Denton West closed the gap at the top of the table after defeats for Woodhouses and Stand and only one point for Glossop.
Saturday 12th June 2010
DIVISION ONE
Denton 274-7 (5) v Thornham 141ao (0)
DN – Steve Roebuck 61, Steve Wharton 63, Chris Aurisch 54, Martin Parker 43, Andrew Neill 5-57
TH – A Micklethwaite 40
Denton St Lawrence 152ao (0) v Prestwich 153-5 (5)
DSL – Imran Mirza 43 & 4-57
PW – Gareth Barnes 53*, James Wharmby 36*, Danny Jones 4-75, Phil Kyle 3-18
Dukinfield 182-9 (0) v Denton West 186-5 (4)
DK – Steve Coulding 45, Simon Collins 4-27
DW – Lee Dale 61, John Foreman 48*, Paul Turner 5-62
Flowery Field 295-7 (5) v Woodbank 209ao (0)
FF – Neil Mistry 60, Matthew Hawley 74, Damien Eyre 4-76
WB – Brett Collins 74
Roe Green 272-3 (4) v Glossop 229-8 (1)
RG – Justin Kenyon 101*, Phil West 130
GL – Bathiya Perera 53, Steven Bates 66
Stand 164-9 (0) v Irlam 168-5 (4)
ST – Carl Sutcliffe 47
IR – Lewis Jackson 53*, Ben Johnson 53, Rick Blackman 5-56
Woodhouses 173ao (0) v Cheetham Hill 238ao (5)
WH – James Clarke 48, Sam Sweeney 4-62, Ashley Prescott 3-40
CH – Modi Ali 47 & 3-58, A Saleem 5-55
DIVISION TWO
Cheetham Hill (0) 106-10 v Woodhouses (5) 234-8
Denton West (4) 173-7 v Dukinfield (0) 172-8
Glossop (4) 226-8 v Roe Green (1) 202-8
Irlam (0) 84-10 v Stand (5) 86-5
Prestwich (5) 140-8 v Denton St Law (0) 139-10
Thornham (1) 203-8 v Denton (4) 253-5
Woodbank (0) 143-7 v Flowery Field (4) 145-7
