LUDD SUFFER SETBACK

NORTH LINDSEY LEAGUE DIVISION THREE

By Glen Sands, Luddington CC

Luddington's promotion hopes suffered a setback on Sunday when they were well beaten by fellow promotion hopefuls Misterton 2nds at their Park Lane ground.
Misterton were invited to bat first on what was originally a cloudy overcast day but they made light of the conditions with both Ian Coy and skipper Darren Emmingham playing splendidly. Emmingham, in particular, was in terrific form and it was something of a surprise when, having reached 42, he clipped a simple catch to Arron Curry behind square, off Matthew Mellers, with the overall score on 65. Jack Beecroft joined Coy and for a while Luddington reeled in the scoring rate, and when Coy was caught by Darren Clark, again off Mellers, for 16 the game was back in the balance. That brought the imposing figure of Tim Sharpe to the crease and he quickly settled in with an array of pwerful shots. Abley assisted by Beecroft they raced the Misterton total up to 137, although the introduction of Arron Curry to the bowling ranks saw both batsmen become a little more circumspect. Sharpe had made 42 when he struck a straight-forward catch to Mellers at deep mid-off to give Curry his first wicket and from that moment on it was Luddington who began to dominate as wickets began to fall at regular intervals. Curry went on to collect exceptional figures of 6 for 49, whilst veteran old soldier Barry O'Brien took 2 for 53 as Misterton slipped from 137 for 2 to 159 all out which Luddington felt was a chasable score for their in form batsmen.
Sadly for them that was not to be the case. Darren Clark, who had an average well over 50 for his team, was bowled by a tremendous delivery from Darren Emmingham which then saw the less experienced Danny Taylor and Kristian Reed come together in the middle. Emmingham and fellow opening bowler Mark Boscolo were bowling tightly and Luddington were falling behind the necessary run rate which eventually prompted a rash shot from Taylor when he had reached 18, leaving Ludd on 38 for 2. Skipper Gareth Parkin was next to the crease and the score had risen to 50 when Reed was caught by Bramham off the bowling of Boscolo for eight, bringing Andy Lawson to the middle. His first delivery saw Tom Denman take an exceptional catch to earn Boscolo his third victim and from that moment the game drifted aimlessly away from the Isle team. Boscolo went on to take 4 for 28, whilst Tim Sharpe finished with 2 for 12 as the Luddington batting slipped to 87 all-out as their promotion hopes took a hefty knock.
Luddington were certainly below par in this match but credit should also go to opponents Misterton who produced a very good all-round performance that could see them force their way into the top two as the season heads toward an exciting conclusion.