NINE MEN WENT TO...OUTCASTS

By Glen Sands

Outcasts were made to fight extremely hard by lowly Nettleham 2nds who through work, holiday and injuries arrived at Hirst Priory with only nine men.
On winning the toss Nettleham understandably chose to bat first and had reached 20 before they lost their first wicket when Alex Fletcher had Chris Smith sensationally caught by Liam McAnaney high above his head , the fielder ending up flat on his back after clinging on to the ball. Ash Graham was next to go , trapped LBW by Tom Sharpe for two and with 31 runs on the board opener Phil Brown was comprehensively bowled by young Fletcher having made a steady 18. Ben Connor and James Pickering took the total to 47 but had to br quite circumspect with only nine men to bat and it took an impressive piece of stumping by home skipper Mark Coulman off the bowling of Jason Whiteley to remove Pickering for seven. Kieren Baker hit one terrific boundary before he was bowled by Liam McAnaney , again having reached seven then Phil Cosgrove joined Connor and between them they took the Nettleham total to 100 Cosgrove in particular hitting some excellent shots. He had made 25 when he skied a catch to Oliver Coulman off Peter Tait , then Coulman junior picked up a rare wicket when Tait returned the favour to catch Luke Pickering for just a single and the innings was ended when Mark Coulman produced yet another outstanding stumping to take out last man Dobbs , leaving Connor on 22 not out and Nettleham 2nds on 107.
Outcasts reply to such a low total should have been relatively comfortable but it was anything but as James Pickering produced an inspired spell of bowling that almost left the Isle team red faced ! Oliver Coulman was bowled around his legs for four and dad Mark then followed for seven when he edged to wicket keeper Phil Cosgrove , again off Pickering. 22 for 2 became 22 for 3 when Pickering bowled Andy Lawson then opener David Hobson and Russell Fletcher steadied things with a stand that took the Outcasts total to 59 before Pickering bowled Fletcher for 12 , that being his fourth wicket. Hobson and Peter Tait then added 26 runs but just when he appeared set to guide his team home Hobson was well caught by Ben Connor off Pickering for 39 and once again Outcasts were being made to sweat. Tait and Andy Torr batted sensibly and had moved the score on to 91 when Tait was caught behind by Cosgrove , this time off Ben Connor , for 14 and when Tom Sharpe was bowled by the impressive Pickering who by now had no less than six wickets to his name. Outcasts needed some old heads to step forward and they don't come any older than Andy Torr and Jason Whiteley , Torr ending with 17 not out and Whiteley with the winning four runs that ensured them of 20 points.
So Outcasts will go into their final match at Cleethorpes on September 12th happy in the knowledge that they are safe in Division One but make no mistake Nettleham 2nds gave them one hell of a match before succumbing to the Priorymen.