Paraguayan Elbows 148 all out (Deacon (M) 39, Kearns 22, Deller 21, Hollands 6-52)

Leigh 150-2 (Gordine 46 not out, Clark 39)

Leigh won by 8 wickets

Highlights

•   Some classy batting from Deacs …

•   … well backed up by solid innings from Big Bob Deller and Alfie Kearns

•   a traditional Elbows collapse

•   Six fer for Leigh’s Doughnut

•   Tidy bowling from Philbrook, bowling 7 maidens in 11 overs (a record, Phil?)

•   Streaky batting by Gordine and Bishop

•   A goose

A disappointing finish to the Elbows season, but it started promisingly.  Elbows won toss and batted and despite losing Firoze fifth ball for a duck (3-1), Bob Deller Dug In Deep and, in the company of Mark Deacon, put on 79 for the 2^nd wicket.  After Our Bob drove to point where he was caught, A Helmetless Alfie Kearns joined Deacs and formed the backbone of the second half of the innings.  Deacs was unfortunately caught on the square leg boundary (a splendid but rare Phil Wynn Owen diving effort) when looking set for a big score, and it sadly went rather downhill from there.  The only bright spot thereafter was a rapid fire 17-in-seven-balls cameo from Veraf (playing his first game for a couple of years). 

Bamboozled by Leigh’s 18-year old leg spinner David ‘Doughnut’ Hollands (where was Kalif?), the Elbows collapsed from 125-4 to 148 all out with only Alan Philbrook chipping in with a late 15 of just 22 balls before driving lazily to give Doughnut his sixth wicket for 52. Incidentally, there were 32 extras including 21 byes!  Debuts were made by young Thomas Deacon (a budding oak tree) and Alex Cribben, a wicket keeper from Bromley).

 *  *  [tea] * *

Short of a target to bowl at (given the known strength of Leigh’s middle batting order), the Elbows tactics in the field were to contain the sluggish openers and hopefully set the game up for a tight finish.  The first part of this went well, Philbrook bowling a very tidy spell for little reward ably backed up by, first, Malc Many A Mile Featherstone (9 overs for 16) and Veraf (8 overs 1-23).  As Bob D remarked from the relative safety of backward point: “this’ll bring the crowds back, hey?!”. Nevertheless, by the time Harris brought himself on to bowl, Leigh had clawed their way towards the target, the first wicket falling to the Big V at 70.  

Getting rid of the other stubborn opener, Vic Clark (who is sixty next month / b Harris 39) merely brought Leigh’s “acclaimed” First XI middle order of Gordine and Bishop together and the Elbows needed quick wickets otherwise it would be all over soon.  It was (or could have been) close: First Gordine drove lazily at his first ball from Chopper but the ball merely brushed the diving Firoze’s fingers at mid-wicket on its way to the boundary; then he chinese cut another.  Bishop (a not-so-old Elbonian in his time) also rode his luck, being fortunate that the Elbows had too few runs to post a slip, edging twice past the diving debutant keeper for streaky fours.  He’ll be sanding the red marks off his bat edge before next season, undoubtedly.  All of which is meaningless banter because in the end Leigh won comfortably, despite the ominous arrival of a grey goose who joined Bob The Goose Man Deller at backward point for the final few overs. But on another day it could have been different …. (maybe)

Sept 15