Best Team Performance of The Year?

After a busy bank holiday weekend filled with high points and then low points it was important that the 1st team bounced back and not let the season fade away to a disappointing conclusion.

This week’s match was a Sunday fixture due to the fact we were playing Thirsk CC at their home ground, which is in the middle of the racecourse and a race meeting on the Saturday made the ground unavailable. Didn’t feel quite the same if you ask me.

Thirsk had been leading our division for much of the season but had lost a couple of games in the last weeks and dropped down to third place. So today was important for them to see if they could get back to winning ways and leave them a chance of taking the title next week at the last game of the season.

Thirsk’s ground is massive and fills just a small part of the racecourse infield. As a result, you get the slightly bizarre situation of the clubhouse been separated from the pitch by the racecourse. Still quite a view as you look out over the ground and see all the grandstands in the background.

Winny limping into an early season finish last game and young Joe Thompson away on county duty were the only changes to the team that lost away to Sheriff Hutton Bridge on bank holiday Monday, Will Hodgkiss and Dan Reid stepping up as replacements. So, the batting strengthened and another couple of options in the bowling for at least a few of overs.

The weather forecast for the match had been lousy all week, but the sky only got brighter as we approached Thirsk and by mid-day it promised to be a lovely day. Milford skipper Alex Ward won the toss and decided we would have a bat.

A nice steady start to the innings as openers Charlie Bramley and Harry Jackson tried to settle in. Fortunately, the outfield going was firm to hard so despite its size the ball ran quickly to the rope. Then has been the case a lot of the season just when it looked like both batsmen were getting on top a wicket fell. Harry holing out to Thirsk captain James Wilkinson for just 14 on the last ball of the 7th over.

The change in the batting partnership with Will Hodgkiss joining Charlie was reflected by a big change in the tempo of the innings. No longer were quick singles been taken to swap the strike and as a result the match almost seemed moribund. Will seemed to be struggling with his footing at times and on a couple of occasions could be seen flat on his back on the wicket.

The lack of quick runs seemed to frustrate Charlie the most and his mood wasn’t helped by his uncanny knack of picking out fielders whenever he tried to hit out.

The drinks break at the halfway point gave Milford skipper Alex Ward the chance to remind both batsmen there was plenty of time left in the game and keeping wickets in hand for the last 3rd would allow us the opportunity to push the run rate well up.

Not sure if it was the captains pep talk which made the difference or the fact the Thirsk opening bowlers had now finished their allotted spells but after the break the Milford innings started to gain momentum. A mighty 6 over long on looked to be the sign of Will’s attack starting but sadly he was bowled six balls later for 37.

Ben White replaced Will and Charlie seemed to flourish with a new partner. There were just under 17 overs left in the game, plenty of time for Ben to make a big impact. Charlie raced to his 4th half century of the season hitting a surprise 6 over long on in the process. A great effort, not only having to battle the Thirsk bowling but himself along the way. Though not his highest score of the year perhaps the most impressive as he really had to dig deep to keep the innings going.

Sadly, he was caught out soon afterwards, but he had helped lay a strong foundation for South Milford. Skipper Alex Ward joined Ben for the 4th wicket and with 10 overs left we all sat back expecting to enjoy an exhibition of big hitting. Alex certainly provided the entertainment with a quick fire 28 ball fifty. Ben Crewe and Tom Spence taking most of the punishment. Unfortunately, Ben never really got going and was given out LBW for just 10. All that sanding and oiling of his new bat proving to be a waste of time.

Joe Barr and Dan Reid made great little cameo appearances helping Alex push the score well over 200 and by the end of the innings we had reached 236 for 7. Quite a surprise considering we were just 70 for 1 at the halfway mark. Just goes to show the benefits of keeping wickets in hand till the last 3rd. Skipper Alex Ward just took the honours with a top score of 55 but Sean Nesbitt gets the medal for selfless team effort when he ran himself out for a Diamond Duck with one ball to go. Made all the difference.

It was Thirsk’s tea lady’s last match of the season today and she pulled out all the stops. Also, I think she wanted to empty her freezer as she was due to fly out to Bali for a holiday in the next couple of days. So, there was a very impressive spread. Spring rolls, samosas, roast potatoes amongst the usual open sandwich selection. Cream & jam scones, obviously home-made, topped things off. The tea lady obviously knew her business as these were plain sweet scones, which I argue, are the proper way to do a jam & cream scone. Having fruit in the scone is a case of more is less. The jam & cream want to be the star of the show.

Momentum in the match had certainly swung Milford’s direction as the first innings ended and it continued in the same direction once the Thirsk reply started. Milford skipper Alex Ward made the surprise decision of opening the bowling with spin today, James Bramley joining Joe Raynor. It proved to be an inspired bit of captaincy as right from the off both bowlers kept the home team under the cosh. The run rate struggled to reach 3 an over and Joe Raynor picked up the wickets of the first three Thirsk batsmen, all caught.

With no young Joe Thompson in the team this week you might have expected Alex Ward to return to keeping wicket, but Ben White volunteered, he even bought some new gloves in the week. A fine job he did too, one catch, two stumpings and only conceding 4 byes.

By the time Joe Raynor & James Bramley were removed from the bowling attack Thirsk were really behind in the game. 55 for 3 off 15 overs. Their only hope was Ben Collinson, batting at four, who held their innings together. He made the best score of the day (68) until he was excellently caught low down by Will Hodgkiss. That catch really sealed the match and made up for the dolly he had dropped a few overs earlier.

Sam Thomas cleared out the Thirsk tail with a fine spell of bowling, 4 for 35 off 13 overs, but it was James Bramley who got the final wicket when he was brought back once Sammy had bowled out. It only took 3 balls and gave James a wicket which he really deserved for his excellent opening spell. Thirsk all out for 150.

In a perfect Sunday evening the Milford side sat in a circle on the outfield and celebrated with a beer their almost perfect team performance. It has certainly set the standard that we must try to maintain next weekend and going forward.