Northamptonshire VIXINS V Birmingham Sports

Northamptonshire VIXINS V Birmingham Sports, BCEW / Nemesys League

Saturday 17th May 2008

Report by David Gavrilovic

Northants VI.XI.NS and Birmingham SCVI faced each other in the BCEW Nemesys blind cricket league at Obelisk CC in Northampton on a day spoilt by constant rain on a good but wet pitch.

Birmingham comfortably won both meetings between the sides last season so went into the game as strong favourites. Northants gave a debut to Owen Bainbridge but where without key partials Ian Goodearl, Dave Keeling and Mark Provan so fielded a very low sighted team. Birmingham missed opening pair Ben Quinn and Luke Darnell so handed debuts to Ashley Reynolds and Cellina Lit.

After winning the toss Birmingham were rewarded with instant success as Kurt Butler claimed 2 early wickets. John Wood was out LBW in the 2nd over for 1 with David Gavrilovic bowled at the end of the 6th over for just 2.

Brad Fisher and Alastair Provan then changed the game in three overs, between overs 7 and 9 which were bowled by Adrian Snellgrove, Simon Dowelling and finally Snellgrove again, the score raced from 13/2 to 58/2 thanks to some power hitting and a succession of wides. Fisher eventually fell for 25 with Provan making around 18.

Northants then lost a succession of quick wickets only punctuated by some powerful stroke play from Mark Horbatowski who was run out for around 20. Tom Willis was stranded on 0 not out with Northants dismissed in 19 overs for just 90. As the teams took a 5 minute break between innings the majority of both sides were heard to comment that if Birmingham knocked off the runs as quickly as expected it would be over in time to see the last 15 minutes of the first half of the FA Cup final.

Nick Acton and Matt RIngland opened up the innings and some early wides from Alastair Provan accompanied by some powerful play from Acton suggested that indeed the chase would not take long. However on Primary Club day the cricketers charity gained a potential new member as Matt Ringland saw his stumps sent flying by his first ball as Provan unleashed a fast full delivery that crashed into off stump.

Acton with help from Simon Dowelling began to steady the ship before Northants captain David Gavrilovic bowled Dowelling for 4. Brad Fisher then started alarm bells ringing in th Birmingham camp as he bowled Acton clipping his off stump for around 20. But with Provan continuing to let fly a steady stream of extras including a set of 5 wides and Jack Kirkby and Kurt Butler looking in good touch Birmingham were still strong favourites. The balance of the game shifted though in Gavrilovic's second over, first the Northants skipper trapped Jack Kirkby LBW before Kurt Butler attempted a tight run from the non-strikers end and a fantastic turn and throw from John Wood saw the Birmingham captain left short of his ground. Adrian Snellgrove fell soon after bowled by Brad Fisher.

John McDougald and Ashley Reynolds attempted to rebuild and looked solid enough and with the score on 61/5 the game was far from over. GAvrilovic then struck again dismissing Reynolds before Eddie Claridge claimed his first wicket for the club with just his second ball as debutant Owen Bainbridge snapped up an excellent catch to dismiss McDougald. Talented low partial Vic Foulsham had no intention of giving up and due to Claridge and Elliot Stonhill bowling a host of wides Birmingham were suddenly only needing 13 runs to win when Foulsham attempted to grab a single to keep strike but missed the ball which struck his off stump as Stonhill closed out the game. Gavrilovic finished with 3-15 from his 3 overs but felt the win was down to the excellent fielding of his teammates especially Mark Horbatowski and Tom Willis who put in brilliant performances stopping boundarys and building pressure on the batsmen.

Despite the fowl weather the game was played in a great spirit by both teams and provided one of the closest finishes to a league game in some time. Oh and everyone still got to see the last 50 minutes of the cup final!!!

	VIXINS V Birmingham Scorecard
	Northamptonshire VIXINS V Birmingham Sports, BCEW / Nemesys League Saturday 17th May 2008 Report by David Gavrilovic Northants VI.XI.NS and Birmingham SCVI faced each other in the BCEW Nemesys blind cricket league at Obelisk CC in Northampton on a day spoilt by constant rain on a good but wet pitch. Birmingham comfortably won both meetings between the sides last season so went into the game as strong favourites. Northants gave a debut to Owen Bainbridge but where without key partials Ian Goodearl, Dave Keeling and Mark Provan so fielded a very low sighted team. Birmingham missed opening pair Ben Quinn and Luke Darnell so handed debuts to Ashley Reynolds and Cellina Lit. After winning the toss Birmingham were rewarded with instant success as Kurt Butler claimed 2 early wickets. John Wood was out LBW in the 2nd over for 1 with David Gavrilovic bowled at the end of the 6th over for just 2. Brad Fisher and Alastair Provan then changed the game in three overs, between overs 7 and 9 which were bowled by Adrian Snellgrove, Simon Dowelling and finally Snellgrove again, the score raced from 13/2 to 58/2 thanks to some power hitting and a succession of wides. Fisher eventually fell for 25 with Provan making around 18. Northants then lost a succession of quick wickets only punctuated by some powerful stroke play from Mark Horbatowski who was run out for around 20. Tom Willis was stranded on 0 not out with Northants dismissed in 19 overs for just 90. As the teams took a 5 minute break between innings the majority of both sides were heard to comment that if Birmingham knocked off the runs as quickly as expected it would be over in time to see the last 15 minutes of the first half of the FA Cup final. Nick Acton and Matt RIngland opened up the innings and some early wides from Alastair Provan accompanied by some powerful play from Acton suggested that indeed the chase would not take long. However on Primary Club day the cricketers charity gained a potential new member as Matt Ringland saw his stumps sent flying by his first ball as Provan unleashed a fast full delivery that crashed into off stump. Acton with help from Simon Dowelling began to steady the ship before Northants captain David Gavrilovic bowled Dowelling for 4. Brad Fisher then started alarm bells ringing in th Birmingham camp as he bowled Acton clipping his off stump for around 20. But with Provan continuing to let fly a steady stream of extras including a set of 5 wides and Jack Kirkby and Kurt Butler looking in good touch Birmingham were still strong favourites. The balance of the game shifted though in Gavrilovic's second over, first the Northants skipper trapped Jack Kirkby LBW before Kurt Butler attempted a tight run from the non-strikers end and a fantastic turn and throw from John Wood saw the Birmingham captain left short of his ground. Adrian Snellgrove fell soon after bowled by Brad Fisher. John McDougald and Ashley Reynolds attempted to rebuild and looked solid enough and with the score on 61/5 the game was far from over. GAvrilovic then struck again dismissing Reynolds before Eddie Claridge claimed his first wicket for the club with just his second ball as debutant Owen Bainbridge snapped up an excellent catch to dismiss McDougald. Talented low partial Vic Foulsham had no intention of giving up and due to Claridge and Elliot Stonhill bowling a host of wides Birmingham were suddenly only needing 13 runs to win when Foulsham attempted to grab a single to keep strike but missed the ball which struck his off stump as Stonhill closed out the game. Gavrilovic finished with 3-15 from his 3 overs but felt the win was down to the excellent fielding of his teammates especially Mark Horbatowski and Tom Willis who put in brilliant performances stopping boundarys and building pressure on the batsmen. Despite the fowl weather the game was played in a great spirit by both teams and provided one of the closest finishes to a league game in some time. Oh and everyone still got to see the last 50 minutes of the cup final!!!