Sheffield Cricket Lovers' Society Year Book 2016

39 who bowled hostile opening spells to rip the heart out of any run chase, Rob Shaw taking 3 – 15 and Matt Moroney taking 4 – 16. This left Liversedge in huge trouble at 45 for 7 after 18 overs. At this point the heavens opened and within ten minutes it was clear no more play would be possible. The rules of the competition were that the team with the highest score at the point play stopped would be the winner, so count back to 18 overs was made. SCCC were 18 runs ahead and thus went through to the YCC Supplementary Cup final for the second time in as many seasons. The final was to be held at a neutral ground, Carlton CC and our final opponents were Sandal CC 1st XI. Our usual skipper Simmo was at a wedding in Italy meaning Ben Fielding was captain on the day. We won the toss and elected to field so that we knew what we would have to chase in the second innings. Our team talk was about setting the tone and unfortunately this didn’t quite go to plan with the first ball flying 2 metres down the leg side for 5 wides! Sandal reached 54 before a wicket fell Rob Shaw picking up the wicket of their dangerous opener for 31 including three 4’s and three 6’s. With only two seamers in the side, we turned to our slower bowlers, Alex Varley bowling mystery medium pace, and then three left arm spinners. Again our slower bowlers did a useful job and kept chipping away with wickets at regular intervals. However a composed 71 not out from Sandal number three Matthew Westwood meant Sandal finished on 192-7 in their 45 overs. Bowling figures included 4 – 34 from slow left armer Ben Fielding and 2 for 27 in another good opening spell from Rob Shaw. At tea we knew we would have to bat well to chase this down against a verbal Sandal side. Before we move onto our batting innings though a mention must go to the tea ladies at Carlton CC who produced probably the finest cricket tea we have ever seen! We went out knowing a good start would make our run chase a lot easier. Unfortunately we did not get the start we were looking for and were soon 13-2 with Lexi Moore and Ben Rooke both gone. We badly needed a partnership and we got one courtesy of Adrian Meadows and Tom Moore. They put on 51 together before Adrian fell for 34, crucial in the context of the game. However it was at this point the old cliché ‘one brings two’ proved to be dead on as we lost Matt Lee first ball. Chris Pickford joined Tom in the middle and the pair took the score to 93-5 when Tom was out for 32. This meant skipper for the day Ben joined Chris Pickford in the middle with 100 needed off about 110 balls. Chris scored well on both sides of the wicket before being bowled by a Yorker for 35 leaving the score at 132- 6 and SCCC needing 61 off the last 10 overs. Ollie Pearson joined Ben in the middle and the two slow left armers set about trying to score a run a ball to win the game. Ollie was the aggressor in the partnership and hit several boundaries as the pair whittled down the target to 20 off about 25 balls. A big over followed and with three overs to go we needed just 9 to win. With the field up Ollie hit 2 fantastic lofted drives after Ben had taken a single first ball of the over to end a fantastic run chase and bring a great victory. Ollie finished a superb 32 not out off only 27 balls and Ben 44 not out off 49 balls. It was a great victory by a very young side, with only one player over the age of 24. There were good performances throughout the side but the man of the match went to Ben Fielding for 4 for 34 with the ball and then 44 not out with the bat. With such a young side it is a huge positive for the future of the club that this cup has been won two years in a row by virtually the same side and it will be interesting to see how they fare in the South Yorkshire Championship next season. Looking forward more generally to the club as a whole there are exciting times ahead with the restructured Yorkshire League South beginning next season, two teams in new higher divisions, and our junior section ever expanding! One other piece of good news for an individual at our club is that Matthew Dixon has been asked to chair the Players and Fixtures Sub-Committee of the MCC, a fantastic honour so well done to Matt. As we begin to think about our winter nets and preparation for the 2016 season let’s hope that the successes this season can be built upon and all of our players, from our first team captain to the youngest member of the u9s can enjoy a prosperous and successful 2016 . Sheffield Cricket Lovers’ Society www.sheffieldcricketlovers.org.uk