Birmingham V Northamptonshire

Birmingham Sports V Northamptonshire VIXINS BBS League Division 1

Saturday 29th June 2006

Report by David Gavrilovic

It's fair to say you won't see many games in blind cricket like this one! The day started in utter chaos when the Northants team bus was broken into on Friday night and vandalised with almost all of the teams kit and equipment stolen. This meant the away players all had to get taxis to the ground and after several getting lost eventually the Northants team plus an umpire and scorer managed to find the ground ready to start the game.

This game could only to ahead to start with due to the Birmingham players kindly lending the Northants team two bats to go with the two that the side had that hadn't been in the bus the night before so hadn't been stolen.

When eventually the game did get under way Northants were put into bat by their hosts and got off to the worst possible start when Jack Kirkby claimed a wicket off the first ball of the game for the second match running to dismiss last weeks Northants centurion Shah Miah caught behind for a diamond duck. VIXINS captain David Gavrilovic and Ian Goodearl then steadied the ship batting the next 10 overs before David fell for 6 with the score on 47. Charles Ronayne then joined Ian and they batted sedately until the end of the 15th over bring the score to 74/2. Then the innings came alive with 72 runs coming off the next 5 overs without the loss of a wicket. Eventually Ronayne was out for 15 in the 23rd over after a partnership of 115 with Ian. Dave Keeling then got a golden duck the next ball but Kurt Butler was unable to complete the hat-trick with another 10 over passing before the next wicket fell. Ian Goodearl was caught on the boundary trying to increase the run rate for a fantastic chanceless 97. Simon Hill ended 16 not out and added 11 from the final over with Elliot Stonhill before Northants declared when Elliot was out for 4.

Birmingham's six partials were all young and fit and made it very hard to score quickly was there were few gaps and there was always a danger of getting caught if you hit the ball in the air, It was an excellent fielding performance from them.

This left Birmingham 21 overs to get 248 if they were to have any hope of winning the BBS league this season.

Ben Quinn gave Birmingham early cheer as after 0.1 overs the score had already raced along to 9/0 with two early boundaries one of which was a no ball. Adam Ringland was however out early on caught in the deep off the bowling of Shah Miah. Wickets fell steadily through to the end of the ninth over when Birmingham found themselves 5 wickets down. The main contributor early on was Ben Quinn before Dave Keeling got him out for 30. Kurt Butler was going well and was joined at the crease by Vic Foulsham who stayed in and hit a few attacking short as Butler crashing boundarys off all the Northants bowlers. Butler was given out LBW from the bowling of Elliot Stonhill but the decision was over ruled when Northants captain David Gavrilovic along with Nick Killen, Simon Hill and Charles Ronayne informed the umpire that the LBW decision given was incorrect as he had got a thick edge on the ball before it hit his leg. Vic Foulsham finally fell LBW to Nick Killen in the 16th over for a composed 18 and it looked like he had given Birmingham a chance of victory. At the start of the 18th over it looked like the game could still have been won by either team or have ended in a draw. Nick Killen bowled an economical over before Shah Miah dismissed Kwame Porter for 14 to leave Birmingham needing 63 from the final 2 overs with just a wicket left. Northants then surrounded the bat and Shah Miah came on the bowl the final over of the match knowing a wicket would not only make Northants almost certain champions but also give him the clubs first ever five wicket haul. The wicket came from the third ball of the over when he got Kurt Butler out plum LBW after a captains innings of 80.

This result means Northants only need a draw against Northern Galloways at home on August 13th to claim the title in only their second season of blind cricket.

Man of the match: despite an excellent all round performance from Kurt Butler and a brilliant five wickets from Shah Miah man of the match has to be Ian Goodearl without whom Northants would have made far to small a total and have surely been beaten.

	Birmingham V VIXINS Scorecard
	Birmingham Sports V Northamptonshire VIXINS BBS League Division 1 Saturday 29th June 2006 Report by David Gavrilovic It's fair to say you won't see many games in blind cricket like this one! The day started in utter chaos when the Northants team bus was broken into on Friday night and vandalised with almost all of the teams kit and equipment stolen. This meant the away players all had to get taxis to the ground and after several getting lost eventually the Northants team plus an umpire and scorer managed to find the ground ready to start the game. This game could only to ahead to start with due to the Birmingham players kindly lending the Northants team two bats to go with the two that the side had that hadn't been in the bus the night before so hadn't been stolen. When eventually the game did get under way Northants were put into bat by their hosts and got off to the worst possible start when Jack Kirkby claimed a wicket off the first ball of the game for the second match running to dismiss last weeks Northants centurion Shah Miah caught behind for a diamond duck. VIXINS captain David Gavrilovic and Ian Goodearl then steadied the ship batting the next 10 overs before David fell for 6 with the score on 47. Charles Ronayne then joined Ian and they batted sedately until the end of the 15th over bring the score to 74/2. Then the innings came alive with 72 runs coming off the next 5 overs without the loss of a wicket. Eventually Ronayne was out for 15 in the 23rd over after a partnership of 115 with Ian. Dave Keeling then got a golden duck the next ball but Kurt Butler was unable to complete the hat-trick with another 10 over passing before the next wicket fell. Ian Goodearl was caught on the boundary trying to increase the run rate for a fantastic chanceless 97. Simon Hill ended 16 not out and added 11 from the final over with Elliot Stonhill before Northants declared when Elliot was out for 4. Birmingham's six partials were all young and fit and made it very hard to score quickly was there were few gaps and there was always a danger of getting caught if you hit the ball in the air, It was an excellent fielding performance from them. This left Birmingham 21 overs to get 248 if they were to have any hope of winning the BBS league this season. Ben Quinn gave Birmingham early cheer as after 0.1 overs the score had already raced along to 9/0 with two early boundaries one of which was a no ball. Adam Ringland was however out early on caught in the deep off the bowling of Shah Miah. Wickets fell steadily through to the end of the ninth over when Birmingham found themselves 5 wickets down. The main contributor early on was Ben Quinn before Dave Keeling got him out for 30. Kurt Butler was going well and was joined at the crease by Vic Foulsham who stayed in and hit a few attacking short as Butler crashing boundarys off all the Northants bowlers. Butler was given out LBW from the bowling of Elliot Stonhill but the decision was over ruled when Northants captain David Gavrilovic along with Nick Killen, Simon Hill and Charles Ronayne informed the umpire that the LBW decision given was incorrect as he had got a thick edge on the ball before it hit his leg. Vic Foulsham finally fell LBW to Nick Killen in the 16th over for a composed 18 and it looked like he had given Birmingham a chance of victory. At the start of the 18th over it looked like the game could still have been won by either team or have ended in a draw. Nick Killen bowled an economical over before Shah Miah dismissed Kwame Porter for 14 to leave Birmingham needing 63 from the final 2 overs with just a wicket left. Northants then surrounded the bat and Shah Miah came on the bowl the final over of the match knowing a wicket would not only make Northants almost certain champions but also give him the clubs first ever five wicket haul. The wicket came from the third ball of the over when he got Kurt Butler out plum LBW after a captains innings of 80. This result means Northants only need a draw against Northern Galloways at home on August 13th to claim the title in only their second season of blind cricket. Man of the match: despite an excellent all round performance from Kurt Butler and a brilliant five wickets from Shah Miah man of the match has to be Ian Goodearl without whom Northants would have made far to small a total and have surely been beaten.