Saturday, 7 November 2009

NEWTY'S RECORD

Chippy Clay's recent revelation in Lincs Cricket Latest that he played in the famous Alkborough match when Dave Newton took 10 for five prompted me to dig out the details from my collection of cricketing curios.
The game was in June 1988 and Dave (and a very young Chippy) were playing for Alkborough 2nds in a South Humberside Alliance division two match against Caistor 2nds.
Keeper Graham Bontoft managed four catches behind, Lee Brocklebank held two at silly mid-off, one batsman was caught and bowled, and Newty scattered the timbers on three occasions to finish with 8-5-5-10.
At the other end, Stu Sharp went wicketless but sent down seven overs for only eight runs - Caistor 2nds being dismissed for 16, which was only one run better than the lowest Alliance team total of all time.
With damaged knees, Newty, then 43, explained he'd had to cut his run-up down to just a few paces, but the tactic was "getting a few results."
Skipper Gordon McDaid revealed: "Dave had a bit of help from Pete Borrill who dropped a catch off Sharpy, but obviously not on purpose."

FAREWELL, TED

South Kelsey's Ted Sparrow has died, aged 82. The funeral service was held at the church in this well-known cricketing village yesterday. We hope to bring you a tribute to him at a later date.
Earlier this year, of course, Kelsey lost Walt Blackburn, former player and club secretary. I attended Walt's funeral but, unfortunately, was working in Scunthorpe yesterday.

Thursday, 5 November 2009

EX-ENGLAND STAR IS GUEST SPEAKER

Report and pictures from Andy Clay, 2nd X1 captain, Alkborough CC
Alkborough Cricket Club's Annual Dinner/Dance/Presentation Evening was at the Wortley Hotel, Scunthorpe.
Our guest speaker was director of cricket at Lancashire, ex-England man Mike Watkinson, who listened diligently to reports from 1st and 2nd team skippers, Steve and Andy Clay, on the fortunes of the sides through the 2009 season.
Steve explained that the first team, who one of few teams without a 'pro' in the top flight, led the league at various stages and with four games to go were still in the hunt of the championship, but two defeats in the run-in saw them slip to 6th in a very tight league and they were controversionally knocked out of the GM Cup in a bowl out!
John Knapton was crowned first team players' player and also collected the award for most runs scored within the club.
Lee Brocklebank (seen above with Mike Watkinson) took the most wickets within the club(spanning across 1/2/3 teams) and Ian Roden claimed the first 5-wicket haul of the season in a run out for the 3rd team to claim the Dave Newton Cup, in memory of our stalwart bowler who passed away but still holds the record for 10-5 in one innings(in fact a game in which, as a youth, I played).
Craig Ross (seen here with the guest speaker) claimed the first 60 cup within the club and the 3rd team player of the year award and young Liam Hebblewhite was the most improved U15 Player, with Callum Render the most improved U17 (and in fact Lincs League fielder of the year).
Neil Gray walked away with 2nd team players/player as I said a few words on our season.
Steve Clay collected the Kim Barker Cup from Kerry Barker, wife of James. Kim was father to James who sadly passed away 3 years, and this converted award has been keenly fought amongst the young and old at Alkborough in his memory.

FOOTBALL TRIUMPH FOR CAISTOR CC


From Wes Allison, Caistor CC
Here are two photos of Caistor Rovers FC (in red and black) and Caistor Town Cricket Club (in blue and yellow) who played in a charity match for Wish Upon A Star (the children's charity). The result was Caistor Rovers 3, Caistor CC 4.
There is also a disco and group at our club on Saturday, November 14.

Wednesday, 4 November 2009

WORTH A LOOK

If you enjoy visiting Lincs Cricket Latest, perhaps you might want to take a look at my other major website BRIGG BLOG, which has now received a new lease of life and is enjoying daily updates once again. Just follow this link BRIGG BLOG

HOPE ROSES WILL BLOOM AGAIN

Seeing Glen Sands' Lincs Cricket Latest reference yesterday to the Roses ground in Gainsborough leads me to hope they might, one day, be in a position to re-apply to join the North Lindsey League on Sundays.
Many of us down the years have enjoyed games against Chick Barratt and his team; some of us also played hockey against Chick who was a top-notch performer in the winter sport.
Roses CC still play in the Bassetlaw League on Saturdays but team-raising difficulties saw them pull out of the Lindsey League, and they haven't re-applied for 2010.
It's been good to get Morton into the Lincolnshire League (ground-sharing at Roses), and they did pretty well in their first season in division four - more than holding their own, and pulling off that shock 10-wicket George Marshall Trophy victory away to premier division Barton Town, of course. Sorry to keep bringing that up, old friends at Marsh Lane.
Will that ever be bettered as a giant-killing performance?
Hopefully some more teams in the Gainsborough area - a large town by Lincolnshire standards - may wish to apply for Lincs League membership in the years ahead.
The other week I drove over to Retford to meet someone getting off a London train, and while driving through Gainsborough passed over the Trent and glimpsed what I still call Holy Trinity's ground alongside the river (not sure if it's still in use).
I conceded many big sixes over 30-odd years as a slow off-spinner in league cricket, but back in the late 1970s one of the Trinity boys hit me for a really massive one on that ground in a Lindsey fixture.
I did get my own back a few years later on the much smaller Brigg Sugar ground by lifting one over square leg which clipped the top of a caravan parked in the road nearby. But it must have gone only half the distance of that six conceded at their venue.
If any Gainsborough area clubs are interested in trying out the Lincs League, it must be stressed that the rules of the county's biggest Saturday competition state membership is only open to those playing within the old Lincolnshire boundary. And once you cross the Trent it's only a very short distance before the "Welcome to Nottinghamshire" sign is encountered by the roadside.
The Scunthorpe and District Umpires' Association sometimes helps out the Bassetlaw League by sending officials to stand in games in that competition, when they are short of numbers.
On the topic of umpiring, we note our good friend Gordon Turner, who oversees appointments in the Grimsby area and is also a ground inspector for the Lincs League, has now gone online. Being able to email him will make things a lot easier for many clubs, league officials and, no doubt, his fellow umpires.
We haven't got Gordon's permission to post his address, but if he gets in touch and wishes us to put out his email details for 'general consumption' we'll be very happy to do so.
At last week's North Lindsey League AGM it was agreed to start sending all league correspondence by email, rather than post - something the Lincs League has been doing for some time. It speeds things up, particularly in view of the current postal situation, and saves a lot of effort (and expense) printing off loads of sheets and putting them into envelopes.
This struck home the other day when I received a request to print off all the Lincs League draft fixtures for 2010 and post them to someone in the Lincoln area who is without the benefit of email.
Turning back the clock, however, it was always a highlight every winter, as a club secretary, to receive a buff envelope from Jack Swain (Cleethorpes), the long-serving fixture secretary of the Lincs League, and open it to reveal your games for the following season - all neatly typed and displayed in A4 format.
Back then it was considerably easier to format the fixtures, as most Lincs League clubs had only one, or two, teams in the competition and did not play in others.
I seem to recall Jack used the Football Association mathematical model system, which I later used very successfully to format games for the Humberside Alliance (as fixture sec). I also passed the numbers square on to Glen who, I think, uses it today as the starting point for the Lincs League's five divisions.
Basically, you allocate numbers to clubs/teams and the mathematical chart takes account of those who share grounds (eg Scunthorpe Town 1sts and 2nds) to ensure when one is at home (in the premier) the other will be away (in division three).
It also put the fixtures in order - so you would play home, then away against each opponent until the mid-point of the season (early July) when the matches would reverse. The only downside, if you think it one, was that, mid-season, you would play the same opponents twice in successive weeks - at home and then away, or away and then at home.
I was informed about the FA fixture format model by Ken Stones - that magnificent servant to Scunthorpe Saturday League football - who loaned me his official copy received from FA HQ in the 1950s.
In Lincs League terms it's very much more complicated today, of course, as some clubs also have teams in other competitions, or have three sides using one ground, or we have different clubs sharing the same venue.
Plus, in decades gone by, we had the option of full fixture lists on bank holiday Mondays (May and August), which made sorting the programme must easier. These days, with most Lincs League clubs playing in competitive and extensive Sunday competitions, bank holiday Monday dates are generally unpopular. It's also true that many present-day players no longer wish to play Saturday, Sunday and Monday (a bit of wifely pressure?).
Getting Mondays off work is also a factor to consider in these times of recession.
The fixture secretary's task when you are working out games in five divisions, for 50 teams, is certainly not an easy one.
To paraphrase the fittingly-named Abraham Lincoln: You can please some of the cricketers some of the time, but not all of the cricketers all of the time!

Tuesday, 3 November 2009

CHANGES UNAVOIDABLE

Glen Sands, fixture secretary of the Lincolnshire County Cricket League, has now emailed all division four teams with a new set of fixtures for 2010.
He says: "Please note the changes that have had to be made now that the Bassetlaw League have released their fixtures. There were several clashes between Roses Leisure and Morton which have necessitated some changes to accomodate Morton's ground availability. Sorry for the changes but hopefully we have now managed to accomodate everyone."

SATURDAY APRIL 17TH
Alford 2nds v Keelby 2nds
Caistor Town 3rds v Old Lincolnians (@ Old Linc)
Morton v Market Rasen 2nds
Scunthorpe 3rds v Hykeham 2nds
South Kelsey 2nds v Brigg Town

SATURDAY APRIL 24TH
Alford 2nds v Scunthorpe 3rds
Brigg Town v South Kelsey 2nds
Hykeham 2nds v Market Rasen 2nds
Keelby 2nds v Caistor Town 3rds
Morton v Old Lincolnians

SATURDAY MAY 1ST
Market Rasen 2nds v Alford 2nds
Scunthorpe 3rds v Keelby 2nds
South Kelsey 2nds v Old Lincolnians

SUNDAY MAY 2ND
Caistor Town 3rds v Brigg Town

SATURDAY MAY 8TH
Brigg Town v Scunthorpe 3rds
Caistor Town 3rds v Hykeham 2nds
Keelby 2nds v South Kelsey 2nds
Morton v Alford 2nds
Old Lincolnians v Market Rasen 2nds

SATURDAY MAY 15TH
Brigg Town v Keelby 2nds
Hykeham 2nds v Alford 2nds
Scunthorpe 3rds v Old Lincolnians

SUNDAY MAY 16TH
Caistor Town 3rds v South Kelsey 2nds

SATURDAY MAY 22ND
KO CUP 1ST ROUND

SATURDAY MAY 29TH
Hykeham 2nds v Brigg Town
Old Lincolnians v Morton
Scunthorpe 3rds v Market Rasen 2nds
South Kelsey 2nds v Alford 2nds

SATURDAY JUNE 5TH
Alford 2nds v Brigg Town
Keelby 2nds v Market Rasen 2nds
Morton v Scunthorpe 3rds
Old Lincolnians v Caistor Town 3rds

SATURDAY JUNE 12TH
Hykeham 2nds v South Kelsey 2nds
Old Lincolnians v Brigg Town

SATURDAY JUNE 19TH
KO CUP 2ND ROUND

Market Rasen 2nds v Keelby 2nds (if both out of Cup)
Morton v Hykeham 2nds (if out of Cup)

SATURDAY JUNE 26TH
Alford 2nds v Market Rasen 2nds
Brigg Town v Caistor Town 3rds
Hykeham 2nds v Morton
Keelby 2nds v Scunthorpe 3rds
Old Lincolnians v South Kelsey 2nds

SATURDAY JULY 3RD
Market Rasen 2nds v Hykeham 2nds
Old Lincolnians v Keelby 2nds
Scunthorpe 3rds v Alford 2nds
South Kelsey 2nds v Morton

SATURDAY JULY 10TH
Alford 2nds v Old Lincolnians
Hykeham 2nds v South Kelsey 2nds
Morton v Brigg Town
Scunthorpe 3rds v Caistor Town 3rds

SATURDAY JULY 17TH
Brigg Town v Market Rasen 2nds
Hykeham 2nds v Old Lincolnians
Keelby 2nds v Morton
South Kelsey 2nds v Scunthorpe 3rds

SATURDAY JULY 24TH
Brigg Town v Old Lincolnians
Caistor Town 3rds v Market Rasen 2nds
Hykeham 2nds v Scunthorpe 3rds
Keelby 2nds v Alford 2nds
Morton v South Kelsey 2nds

SATURDAY JULY 31ST
Alford 2nds v Hykeham 2nds
Keelby 2nds v Brigg Town
Market Rasen 2nds v Morton
Old Lincolnians v Scunthorpe 3rds
South Kelsey 2nds v Caistor Town 3rds

SATURDAY AUGUST 7TH
Hykeham 2nds v Keelby 2nds
Market Rasen 2nds v Brigg Town
Morton v Caistor Town 3rds
Old Lincolnians v Alford 2nds
Scunthorpe 3rds v South Kelsey 2nds

SATURDAY AUGUST 14TH
Alford 2nds v Morton
Hykeham 2nds v Caistor Town 3rds
Market Rasen 2nds v Old Lincolnians
Scunthorpe 3rds v Brigg Town
South Kelsey 2nds v Keelby 2nds

SATURDAY AUGUST 21ST
Alford 2nds v Caistor Town 3rds
Brigg Town v Morton
**Caistor Town 3rds v Scunthorpe 3rds ( clashes with Prem League fix )
Keelby 2nds v Hykeham 2nds
Market Rasen 2nds v South Kelsey 2nds

SATURDAY AUGUST 28TH
Alford 2nds v South Kelsey 2nds
Brigg Town v Hykeham 2nds
Market Rasen 2nds v Scunthorpe 3rds
Morton v Keelby 2nds

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 4TH
Brigg Town v Alford 2nds
Keelby 2nds v Old Lincolnians
Market Rasen 2nds v Caistor Town 3rds

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 11TH
Caistor Town 3rds v Keelby 2nds
Old Lincolnians v Hykeham 2nds
Scunthorpe 3rds v Morton
South Kelsey 2nds v Market Rasen 2nds

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 18TH
South Kelsey 2nds v Hykeham 2nds (to be confirmed)