CLOSE ENCOUNTER OF THE CHERRY KIND

By Glen Sands

Lincolnshire League division one leaders Cherry Willingham were given a battle royal by Outcasts before they squeezed home by the narrowest of margins in what was a low scoring but thrilling game.
Outcasts batted first and were quickly in trouble as Oliver Coulman offered a simple catch to Will Carter off Joe Dobson without a run on the board then father Mark played on from a delivery by Carter leaving them on 1 for 2. Richard Wroot and Andy Torr reacted positively with some aggresive shots and appeared set to put together a decent stand when Wroot picked out Dave Patten at backward square off the bowling of Keith Whiteley for 11 with the total on 28. Torr continued to take the game to Cherry but was undone when having reached 23 by a delivery that he seemed to strike to early , sending a catch spiralling up to Carter to give Whiteley his second wicket and when Darren Clark was bowled by the same player Outcasts had slumped to 50 for 5. Tom Sharpe was next to go , caught by wicket keeper Scott Coupland off Dobson but just when their innings appeared set to collapse young Charlie Mason and Russell Fletcher dug in to rebuild things. Sixteen year ols Mason showed no fear on his first Division One game of the season and he made an excellent 10 runs before he was bowled by the wiley Graham Priestley with the total on 71. Scott Buttrick then joined Fletcher and he helped move the score up to 91 before he too was deceived by slow bowler Matt Spikings for 12 and with a further three runs added Fletcher was caught by Lee Coupland in the deep off Spikings for a hard earned 21. Liam McAanaey and Alex Fletcher took the total past three figures only for the latter to become Priestley's second victim , trapped LBW to leave the final Outcasts total on a seemingly poor 106 , Keith Whiteley picking up 3 for 19 whilst Joe Dobson , Matt Spikings and Graham Priestley all took two wickets each.
If Outcasts were to have any chance of winning the game they needed to pick up early wickets and that was just what happened when Liam McAananey bowled Lee Coupland for one and followed that by trapping Andy Johnson LBW for six , leaving Cherry on 27 for 2. Both Macca and Tom Sharpe were bowling well but both were overstepping the crease to gift the Lincoln team some easy runs. Will Carter and Scott Coupland took the total to 64 although both were put under severe pressure from the opening bowlers and sixteen year old Alex Fletcher who bowled exceptionally well when he replaced Sharpe. Soupland had made an impressive 29 when he was unfortunate to be given out caught behind off the bowling of McAnaney and when Alex Fletcher then bowled John Drabble and had Matt Good caught by Scott Buttrick Cherry were wobbling at 69 for 5. Joe Dobson joined Carter at the crease and they steadied the ship with a partnership of 23 to take their team to within 15 of victory but Outcasts refused to give in and it was young master Fletcher that picked up another wicket when Dobson edged a catch to Mark Coulman having scored 11 valuable runs. Carter appeared set to guide his team home but he inexplicably hoisted a catch to Russell Fletcher off brother Alex when he had reached 22 and at 95 for 7 the impossible seemed possible after all. Sadly for the visitors they continued to over step the crease and ultimately it cost them dear. Tom Sharpe returned to trap Dave Patten LBW with the score on 102 and a further three had been added when McAnaney bowled Keith Whiteley for one , taking Outcasts to within one wicket of a tremendous victory. However that was not to be and it was ironic that the winning runs should come from a boudary struck off another no ball , seeing Cherry squeeze home by just one wicket much to their relief.
Despite only picking up four points from the game Outcasts can take a lot of positives from their performance against undoubtedly the best team in Division One. Youngsters Charlie Mason , Scott Buttrick and Alex Fletcher stood up superbly well in what was a terrific match which might well have gone in favour of Outcasts but for those pesky no balls ! Next up for the Isle side is a home game against Hykeham which will offer them a chance to get back to winning ways following two defeats against the top two sides in the table.
Outcasts would like to offer their heartiest congratulations to long-serving Jason Whiteley and his wife Alison on the birth of their second child Oliver last week. That's baby boy number two for the Whiteleys so Outcasts CC should be well served in the future if they take after dad!