Sunday 19th July 2009

hosted by SILSDEN CC

Oxenhope under 11s winners of the 2009 Barritt-Stephenson Cup vs Oakworth Sharks at Silsden CC 19th May

Pendle Forest under 15s winners of the 2009 Raleigh Hargreaves Cup vs Oakworth at Silsden CC 19th May

Oxenhope won the toss and asked Oakworth to bat first. Ben Weatherall and William Rankin started cautiously against Callum Holmes and Tom Addison in sunny conditions with showers forecast. It was Rankin who got the tins moving and he sparked aggression in the stylish Weatherall. The pairing settled and after 6 overs the score was 18-0. The accurate Addison had allowed just one scoring stroke (4) from his 2 overs and Lewis Hopkinson and Thomas Mawer were also in mean mood. The Sharks began to show their teeth with boundaries off Hopkinson, Edward Jackson and Reece Webb-Foster. The acceleration came from Weatherall and he reached a deserved retirement on 20 despite 2 overs for just 2 runs from Mawer. At 12 overs the score had moved on to 42-0 with Rankin and Dan Scott continuing to pick up the rate. Rankin went on to also reach his retirement with 21 including four sweetly struck 4s. Scott now took centre stage for the Sharks as the Oxenhope bowlers frugality gave way to more ragged bowling.

After 16 overs the Sharks had 59 and the Oxenhope attack had still not found a way to take a wicket. The impressive Tom Mawer had completed 3 overs for just 3 runs in contrast to the 14 shipped from the normally exemplary skipper Hopkinson, whilst Edward Jackson tightened up with a maiden after conceding 10 in his first over. The Sharks sensed there was more for the taking and Scott led the Oakworth charge reaching h1s retirement (24) with a six from Webb-Foster. The last four overs saw 29 runs added as caution was no longer the watchword. There was a number of wayward balls with extras mounting to 15. Tom Bradley gleaned 8 no in the push whilst Aidan Kelly faced just a couple of balls.

The Final Sharks score was a challenging 88 and to boot they hadn't lost a single wicket in sharp contrast to the 10 they lost in the last encounter between the two sides.

The Oxenhope innings started with runs coming only in ones as the boundary remained intact. Opener Lewis Hopkinson lost partner Edward Jackson for 5 superbly caught by 9 year-old Kieran Blakeley off the bowling of Tom Bradley. Just one over later The Sharks took a huge bite out of the Oxenhope armoury with the scalp of Hopkinson for 7 who pulled to Dan Scott to give a cock-a-hoop Ben Weatherall a first wicket at 13-2. The new pairing of Callum Holmes and Tom Addison needed to repair the damage but they too found only singles on offer. By the half-way mark the Oxenhopers had rallied to 38-2 but were some way behind the Sharks overall run-rate. Weatherall was a model of control with 1-4 from 2 overs and Bradley had 3-0-9-1 to savour.

At 12 overs it was 43-2 but the required urgency form Oxenhope was just around the corner. But not before the cool Addison was bowled for 14 by Jack McGrogan as the match entered a crucial phase. That Sharks sucess was followed up immediately with another wicket for the impressive Weatherall clean bowling Matthew Fleetwood for 0. It was to be McGrogan though who shipped the riposte from an all-action Reece Webb-Foster with 10 runs to take the score to 67-4 after 16 overs. Callum Holmes reached retirement on 21 with 2 boundaries as a major contributor to the league leaders tally.

The target was 22 runs in 4 overs and the finely balanced match began to see-saw fortune to both sides. Aidan Kelly's first brought a fifth wicket for the Sharks, that of big lad Liam Colgan for 7 courtesy of another stunning catch from Scott. It was 74-5 with 3 overs to bowl so a close finish was certain. Oxenhope required 15 from the 18 balls and they perhaps faced the greater pressure.

The responded superbly with another 9 runs from McGrogan's third over and at 83-5 the pressure visibly shifted onto the Sharks. Something special was needed by the Sharks to capitalise on their terrific batting display. It came in the guise of a maiden over from Will Rankin to re-open the melting pot once again. Webb-Foster and Thomas Mawer were at the wicket needing 6 to win from the final 6 balls. Place your bets! Only 2 singles came from Aidan Kelly's first 3 balls at 85-5. Two more singles brought the Oxenhope score to 87-5 and 2 were needed from the final ball. A single would not suffice as a tied match would have given the Cup to Oakworth, who had lost fewer wickets so a 2 or better was the requirement.

Reece kept his head and swung well at the ball and its leg-side trajectory was helped on its way to split the Oakworth field and cross the boundary. For the Oxenhope boys there was a dance of delight as the Sharks fielders sunk to their knees.

But what a Final !!! Webb-Foster finished with 22 no as the key player in the Oxenhope win. The late order swinging from Oxenhope had pushed their scoring shots up to 55 and proved enough to overcome the more classical approach of the Sharks, who took just 35 scoring shots to reach their total

The Umpires awarded the man-of-the match to Oakworth's Ben Weatherall for his 20 and 2-6.

The Oakworth start was the worst possible with the loss of form man Marshall Peddar for just 1 bowled by Joe Wilkinson and in the very next over high scoring Ben Fothergill was a victim for Thomas Ryland at 5-2. So Jack Davison and Lewis Wrathall found themselves at the wicket much earlier than they had expected. The jubilant Pendle side closed in to keep the run-scoring under the cosh as the Oaks tried to re-build.

For six overs thats exactly what they did with Lewis showing the aggression and Jack picking the gaps. With three boundaries under his belt league-leading run scorer Wrathall looked to have weathered the storm but he was run out for 17 by Joe Wilkinson at 28-3 in the 9th over. The diminutive Matty Lee paired with Davison and very steady progess was made for 4 overs. That lad Wilkinson was again a major factor taking a catch for Jamie Gribble at 42-5 with Lee out for 1. Big brother James Lee entered the fray but again stayed only 4 overs pulling to mid-on for 3 to be caught by Thomas Ryland fpr Andrew Hill.

The Oakworth innings was in complete disarray at 51-5 although their Captain Davison was still there but somewhat becalmed. Five runs later even he was gone well caught by Jack Stanworth for rival Captain Joel Duerden at 56-6. The introduction of Thomas Webb to the attack continued the Pendle stranglehold on the opposition and then Duerden added a second scalp in Jackson Rouse (6) at 60-7 as plumb an lbw as you'll see. James Heslop left a couple of balls but his first attacking shot had his middle stump awry bowled by Webb at 61-8.

The impressive Webb also took out a resilient Jordan Bates for 3 as the tail wagged a little before Liam Baker was bowled by Wilkinson at 79 all out to leave a stubborn Harry Hurren on 6 not out.

Wherever you looked the Pendle Forest bowling figures showed marvellous returns as the vaunted Oakworth batting was blown away with ease in 29.2 overs

Joel Duerden and Jamie Gribble were appointed to start the reply and tentative was not their approach. Buoyed by their startling bowling display they coped well with the Oaks bowlers and had 18 on the board after 6 overs. Gribble was dealing in boundaries whilst Duerden was the accumulator but both did their thing with a purpose, that of lifting the Cup.

After 12 overs a further 28 had been added and 46-0 was the perfect follow-on for the dominant Red Rose. Gribble was bowled by a determined Jordan Bates at 47-1 with 21 to his name. An over later at 48 Jack Davison had new batsman Jamie Glasgow back in the Pavilion bowled by a bamboozler. A direct hit from Marshall Peddar at backward point put paid to Duerden's run-getting for 23 to give Oaks some hope of an unlikely come-back.

This brought Gareth Hill to the crease and he went for it rattling up two huge sixes and  a couple of fours to finally dash any White Rose hopes. His 24 brought things to the inevitable head and with Thomas Ryland's 6 no the Forest reached 83-3 in just 18.1 overs.

It was one of those games when only one team turned up and only Jordan Bates could claim any semblance of normal form with 5-0-13-1. But for the Forest boys they thoroughly deserved their first UAJCL Cup win with consistently telling contributions form virtually all their players.

The man-of-the match award want to the all round inputs from Joe Wilkinson.

THE TEAMS

Oakworth: Joel Fothergill (Capt), Will Rankin, Ben Weatherall, Dan Scott, Tom Bradley, Aaron Blakeley, Kieran Blakeley, Lewis Allsopp, Aidan Kelly, Jordan Barclay, Jack McGrogan  Team Manager Mr. G Rankin

Oxenhope: Lewis Hopkinson (Capt), Edward Jackson, Callum Holmes, Tom Mawer, Tom Addison, Reece Webb-Foster, Liam Colgan, Joseph Haddani, Alex Baker, Matthew Fleetwood Team Manager Mr. D Hopkinson

THE TEAMS

Oakworth: Jack Davison (Capt), Lewis Wrathall, Ben Fothergill, Jordan Bates, Marshall Pedder, Matty Lee, Jackson Rouse, James Lee, Harry Hurren, James Heslop, Liam Baker & Fraser Atkinson Team Manager Mr. W Scarborough

Pendle Forest: Joel Duerden, Jamie Gribble, Jamie Glasgow, Gareth Hill, Thomas Ryland, Joe Wilkinson, Joshua Duffy, Andrew Hill, Thomas Webb, Alex Thornton, Jack Stanworth Team Manager Mr. A Webb

Action from 2009