OUTCASTS BREAK DUCK

By Glen Sands

Outcasts finally produced the type of cricket they are well capable of playing when they comprehensively defeated Louth 2nds last Saturday to gain their first win of the 2010 season.
Skipper Mark Coulman gave a stirring team talk before the match, following a string of below par performances, and it proved to be a good choice of words as his team mates rallied round to put promoted Louth to the sword. Mark and his son Oliver opened the innings and made a confident start, both of them batting well against the Louth bowling attack and the score had reached 37 when Coulman junior was caught by wicket keeper Searle off the bowling of Dale Chambers for 19. Simon Lewis joined his captain in the middle and with a steely determination the two of them put together an excellent partnership of 65 with Coulman contributing a terrific 54 before he edged a delivery from slow bowler Mark Roberts to Searle with the total on 102. Lewis had made 28 when he was third out , clipping a simple catch to Chambers at mid wicket off Lee Freeman and David Hobson became Searle's third victim when he edged Roberts behind to make it 128 for 4. Andy Torr made 19 then became another Roberts victim , trapped LBW and Peter Tait had reached only a single when he was bowled by Chambers leaving the score on 152 for6. Craig McAnaney and Matthew Teal batted well , taking the score to 168 before Teal was caught by the impressive Searle off Roberts for eight and that man Searle added a fifth victim when stumping McAnaney off the wiley Roberts for 16. Outcasts eventually made 180 for 9 in their 45 overs which represented a huge improvement on their previous batting display , visiting Mark Roberts finishing with 5 for 50 from 15 overs.
Despite leaking 14 from his first two overs, Jason Whiteley quickly tightened things up whilst debutant 17 year old Matthew Teal produced a magnificent spell in his first outing for the first eleven as Louth were made to toil for any runs at all. The youngster from Garthorpe was bowling wicket to wicket, offering little width and he was rewarded when he trapped Lee Freeman LBW for six with the total on 18 then Whiteley made it 18 for 2 when the other opener Scott inexplicably shouldered arms to a delivery that smashed into the offstump bowling him for eight. Zane Siddiqui was next to go, another to be trapped infront of his stumps by Teal, and when David Hobson took a sharpe catch at backward square to send Clark packing Outcasts had their opponents floundering on 23 for 4 with Teal having captured three of them. Whiteley then got the fifth wicket , trapping John Medler LBW for just two and the visitors were in serious trouble having lost half of their men with less than 25 on the board. From then on wickets fell at regular intervals as the McAnaney brothers entered the fray , Craig picking up two for 15 and Liam one for 13 as Outcasts ground their way through the lower middle order to wrap up a marvellous win but it was fitting that young master Teal returned to take a fourth wicket and it was all over when Simon Lewis bowled the Louth number eleven to ensure a full 20 points for the Priorymen , Mark Roberts hitting 20 and Dale Chambersa 26 not out for the visitors.
Teal ended the innings with an impressive 4 for 20 from 10 overs, a great reward for some straight and accurate bowling, whilst, as a whole, the Outcasts display was as different as chalk from cheese to their previous outing. Everyone knuckled down and showed a great resolve when batting and fielding which shoulsd encourage them when they take on Premier Division Appleby-Frodingham 2nds in the George Marshall Trophy this weekend.