OUTCASTS BACK ON TRACK

By Glen Sands

Having lost their previous three matches Outcasts went into their game at Louth looking for an improvement and that was just what they got from the same eleven players that had suffered a hefty defeat only a week earlier against Hykeham.
Skipper Mark Coulman won the toss and chose to insert the opposition , a decision that appeared well made after just one over when Jason Whiteley bowled Louth captain Lee Freeman round his legs with the total on two. Laurence Scott and Dean Jacklin took the total to 47 before Jacklin was bowled by Liam McAnaney having scored 13 , but that brought the impressive Zeehan Ahmed to the crease and along with Scott they took the score past three figures. Just when they appeared set to take the game away from the Isle side Scott edged a catch to Mark Coulman off Andy Torr after he had brought up an excellent half century ( 59 ) and Torr's introduction , coupled with Jason Whiteley and latterly McAananey saw the scoring rate stall. ber five batsman Zaid Saddiqui joined Ahmed at the crease and they added 52 runs before Ahmed was run out having reached a very well constructed 54 and just one further run had been added when Dale Chambers was caught by Oliver Coulman off McAnaney without troubling the scorers himself. Siddiqui was trapped LBW by Whiteley for 27 with the total on 173 and McAnaney then picked up his third wicket when Mike Searle was caught by wicket keeper Coulman for eight. A late blast from John Medler saw Louth squeeze to a full five batting points as they ended their 45 overs on 201 for 7 and both teams were relatively happy with their first innings performances.
Sadly for Louth the same could not be said of their bowling performance as Outcasts overhauled their target with over seven overs to spare. Oliver Coulman and Richard Wroot put together an opening stand of 83 with 16 year old Coulman in particular showing terrific form. He reached an exceptional half century with a barrage of tremendous boundaries but just when he looked set to go further he was caught by Lee Freeman off Nathan Russell for 53 , miscuing a delivery that in truth could easily have been called a no ball , then as is often nthe case Wroot followed quickly , caught by wicket keeper Mike Searle off Jon Dixon for 19 with the total at 84. Mark Coulman and Andy Torr rebuilt the Outcasts innings when taking the score up to 130 before Torr was caught behind off Lee Freeman for eight and Russell Fletcher also made eight only to be run out by a splendid direct hit from Nathan Russell with the overall total standing at 163. Skipper Coulman was batting superbly and along with number six batsman Darren Clark they took the score to within six of victory with some outstanding shots , Coulman in particular proving to be in exceptional form as he raced to 70. Unfortunatley for him he missed out on a " red inker " when he was caught in the deep by Jon Dixon off Zain Siddiqui and despite losing another wicket when Peter Tait was stumped by Searle , again off Siddiqui , the Isle side cruised to 203 for 6 and in doing so collected a valuable 18 points lifting them up into the top four of the Division One table.

Outcasts 2nds produced their best cricket of the season when picking up a tremendous victory over high flying Grimsby Town 2nds , this being their first league win of the season. Anthony Fitzgerald top scored with 43 with David Hobson just one run behind him as Outcasts set a target of 165 for the Grimsby side , Ian Fletcher blasting a late 35 to give his side a total to defend and that is just what they did as Simon Lewis picked up four wickets and Fitzgerald three when bowling their opponents out for 155.
Both sides will go into the weekend in good form then, the firsts entertaining Scothern at Hirsts Priory whilst the seconds travel to Caistor Town 2nds looking to continue with the winning formula