BROUGHTON v OUTCASTS, LINCS DIV ONE

By Glen Sands

Broughton and Outcasts went into their game without a victory between them and it was Broughton who picked up their first 20-point haul when easing to a hefty victory over their Isle of Axholme opponents.
Runs came quickly when Broughton began their innings and had reached 28 when Steve Johnstone was caught by Oliver Coulman off Liam McAnaney for 10, but that brought Neil Simpson to the crease to join skipper Matt Hammond which saw the scoring rate continue to race away both batsmen taking advantage of any width provided by the Outcasts bowlers. Hammond had reached a well constructed 54 when he was deceived by Craig McAnaney and bowled, then Paul Clark suffered a rare low score when trapped LBW by the dependable Jason Whiteley for just eight. Joe Wiley and Simpson then took the score to 160 before the latter was caught by Tom Sharpe off Liam McAananey for 59 valuable runs. Wiley went on to reach 35 and Paul Reed 24 before both went to the wily Whiteley, who finished the day on a hat-trick when picking up Shaun Clixby (brilliantly stumped by the returning Andy Colebrook) and then bowling Robbie Glentworth with the last ball of the 45 overs, leaving Broughton on 236 for 8 and Whiteley with 5 for 70.
Outcasts' response saw opener Oliver Coulman reach 14 before playing on to a Paul Clark delivery, and the same bowler then saw Craig McAnaney's wild attempt at a drive produce the dreaded death rattle, leaving Outcasts on 30 for 2. David Hobson was then caught and bowled by Tom Brock for 12 without a run being added and when skipper Mark Coulman was deceived by quick delivery from the impressive Ryan Musslewhite and was caught by Joe Wiley for 16, Outcasts were floundering on 59 for 4. Graham Clark's first innings of the season saw him make just two before he was trapped LBW by namesake Paul, then Tom Sharpe and Andy Torr put together a bit of a fightback, taking the score to 80 before Sharpe was bowled by Clark for 15. Torr continued to show good form, having hit a half-century last week, and with Peter Tait the Isle side went past three figures. But Clark was not to be denied and he bowled Tait for 17 to pick up his fifth wicket of the innings. Whiteley joined Torr who by then had reached his second successive fifty but he was then bowled by Paul Reed, having made 59, and from the game soon drew to a close, the Priorymen eventually making 149 all-out - over 80 runs behind the target set by Broughton.
So Broughton are up and running with their first win of the season, but for Outcasts it is three straight defeats now and already they find themselves at the wrong end of the early league tables, as do their second string who lost for the second successive game when failing to overcome Cleethorpes 4ths' 170 for 9 at Hirst Priory, being bowled out for 154.