There was a distinctive aroma of overconfidence in the air as MHL embarked on the task of demolishing Section D basement club, Birchencliffe.

What should have been a formality, started out as anything but as MHL’s opening bowling pair of Brian Martin & Mark Eastwood struggled to make inroads into the home batting line up.

Put in to bat on a strip resembling coconut matting, Birchencliffe’s openers H Law (39) & skipper J Morris (10) put on 48 for the 1^st wicket before Whitters, having replaced the ineffective Easty, struck by having Law pouched at point by Jack Snelgrove. (13 overs gone & Jack still awake, things are definitely on the up.)

Graham Kirkby entered the attack and immediately repaid the captain’s faith in him by having Morris caught on the square leg boundary. Whitters followed up his earlier success by dismissing N Jagger, stumped by Danny Martin and bowling R Watson, before young Kirkby lured another home batsmen into the legside trap, Tim Dixon once again taking the catch to get rid of M Jagger.

The only other Birchencliffe batsman to reach double figures was Imran (24 not out), batting at number 7, as Whitters, even at half pace, (the “dodgy knees” having flared up again) proved too hot to handle, by disposing of the home side’s long tail to finish with the enviable figures of 10.5 overs 0 maidens 32 runs 7 wickets.  

Stand in skipper, Trevor Kellett sent in the dependable Tim Dixon & a not quite so dependable Luke Kelly (who couldn’t even see the end of his arms, let alone a small round missile hurtling towards him) to open the innings. Luke perished early on, the victim of his own lethargy as he attempted an “easy single” only to see a direct throw knock down the stumps. Whitters and Tim took the score to 49 before Tim (25) suffered the same fate as Luke; another direct hit finishing his innings. (Lightning can strike twice in the same place Tim.)

Whitters (29) got under a short ball from Imran, to present Walker with a gift wrapped catch at backward square to leave Danny Martin and Chris Kirkby to see things through. Unfortunately, Chris seemed to misunderstand Danny’s instructions to make sure the pair ended the game, and, having batted well to reach 15, he decided that the captain should have the honour, & lost his middle stump, trying to put C Fellows into Elland town centre with only 2 runs required for victory.

The skipper’s icy stare as he entered the arena, & Chris’s sheepish glance at him as the two passed each other spoke volumes, but Trevor duly obliged with the winning runs, despatching the fourth ball he faced through square leg for a comfortable 2, to complete a 6 pointer.

Man of the Match: G. Whitworth
Fielding Point: T. Dixon
Next Match: Denby Grange - Away - 9th June 2007

Birchencliffe B Innings						Mirfield B Bowling
No.	Batsman	How Out	Bowler	Runs		No.	Bowler	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Avge
1	J Morris	Ct. T Dixon	G Kirkby	10		1	M Eastwood	5	2	22	0	-
2	H Law	Ct. J Snelgrove	G Whitworth	37		2	B Martin	7	1	28	0	-
3	N Jagger	St. D Martin (w/k)	G Whitworth	9		3	G Whitworth	10.5	0	32	7	4.57
4	R Watson	Bowled	G Whitworth	8		4	G Kirkby	6	1	24	2	12.00
5	M Jagger	Ct. T Dixon	G Kirkby	4		5	T Dixon	2	0	6	0	-
6	C Fellows	Bowled	G Whitworth	6
7	Imran	Not Out		24
8	J Walker	Ct. D Martin (w/k)	G Whitworth	5
9	Tokeer	Ct. M Eastwood	G Whitworth	2
10	T Lockwood	Bowled	G Whitworth	0
11	10 Men Only
			Extras	11			Extras			4
	Total	For  9	Wickets	116			Totals	30.5	4	116	9	12.89
Mirfield B Innings						Birchencliffe B Bowling
No.	Batsman	How Out	Bowler	Runs		No.	Bowler	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Avge
1	L Kelly	Run Out		2		1	J Morris	6	2	18	0	-
2	T Dixon	Run Out		25		2	M Jagger	4	0	32	0	-
3	G Whitworth	Ct. J Walker	Imran	29		3	J Walker	4	0	13	0	-
4	C Kirkby	Bowled	C Fellows	15		4	Imran	4	1	16	1	16.00
5	D Martin	Not Out		15		5	Tokeer	3	1	5	0	-
6	T Kellett	Not Out		2		6	C Fellows	4	0	13	1	13.00
7	R Denton					7	N Jagger	2	0	7	0	-
8	M Eastwood					8	H Law	1	0	7	0	-
9	J Snelgrove
10	G Kirkby
11	B Martin
			Extras	29			Extras			6
	Total	For  4	Wickets	117			Totals	28	4	117	2	58.50