Masham v North Perrow

Match Report/Information

Masham welcomed reigning champions and league leaders Thorpe Perrow to the MCG for the penultimate Worrisome Wednesdays clash of the 2011 season. Thorpe Allerton won the toss and elected to bat and the massive gulf in class between the two sides was immediately apparent as Smart sent Aurelius' middle stump cartwheeling towards stand-in keeper Jones; North Perrow, 0 for 1. Smart and leading wicket-taker Broadley bowled consistent spells with neither team capitalising; 'Thallerton trundled along at 5 an over but unable to score a boundary Sonic Fishburn turned plenty of ones into twos as he made the most of playing on such a fabulous ground; no chipping boundaries here unlike at either of his home grounds. Fishburn struggled on. At the bowling change, the Skegness Scouser, Liam Taylor once again showed plenty of ability and racked up a very tidy 2-30. Finally, Fishburn completed his 50 after an agonising 178 balls and Perrallerton finished on a lowly 140ish, disappointing the expectant crowd with an MGC 20-over par score. Of note, Masham's fielding was comfortably the best performance of any Masham team for a long time; Gill, Greene, Taylor, Metcalfe and Smith, despite shelling a couple of difficult chances all contributed to containing Perrow to 144. Perhaps the most outstanding was McCourt's
full-length dive at short cover displaying the reactions of an Olympic sprinter and the agility of an alley cat. The spilled outcome hardly mattered; the fielding bar at Masham had been raised significantly. Thorpe Perrow were rightly disappointed with such a low target given the drafting in en-masse of the Northallerton batting line-up, where 240 might have been expected.

Spin-twins Hill and Smith lead the assault on the Northallerton bowling; Senior pro Chandler and county trialist Clarkson bowled economically but Masham's run-rate showed Hill and Smith hadn't had as many Weetabix as Fishburn: Masham's innings was played to a soundtrack provided by Northallerton's chief cheerleader. Ear-plugs are surely to be recommended at the next Spennithorne-Northallerton/Perrow clash where Fishburn and Mawer will join verbal battle. Verbal dihorrea, more like. Spears bowled a tidy spell picking up the wickets of Hill and Taylor for only 6 runs to earn a well-deserved Man of the Match.

And so it was that Masham trundled along, never really threatening the target but with Thorpallerton unable to winkle out Masham's junior string. Thorpe Perrow ran out eventual, if unconvincing, winners.

Thorpe Perrow attain a vertigo-inducing 9 sportsmanship points tonight! Despite the 20 over ear-ache and a brief wobble into gamesmanship as Usain Fishburn claimed the batsmen had crossed as Breckon was caught at mid-on to a ball that never went above head height, the game was played in good spirits. It would have been 10 points but for Aurelious' sledging of 13 year-old Taylor, batting against Northallerton first team bowler Chandler and taking
one on an unprotected thigh; "Use your bat next time!" Hardly rapier-like wit, Albert.

So congratulations to Thorpe Perrow who must have secured the title. Masham, meanwhile face the prospect of that trip to Eyrholme next season unless something dramatic happens next week against Leyburn. Good luck!