GARGOYLES SCALE NEW HEIGHTS

Smashing their previous run scoring record, Alstonefield St. Peter’s Cricket Club achieved a convincing 86 run victory over Oakamoor last Sunday. Batting first in front of a large crowd, the Gargoyles’ openers, Neil Shotton and Andy Siddons got the innings off to a cracking start. Shotton in particular played with gay abandon, making 26 rapid runs against Oakamoor’s fiery pace attack. Andy Southwick, making his annual appearance, continued the five runs an over pace, before he was caught in the deep for 23. At the other end, Andy Siddons was steadily playing himself back into form and when joined in the middle by Mark Wright, the innings moved into another gear. Siddons finished on a season’s best 50 not out, while Wright elegantly worked the ball to all points on the boundary in compiling his unbeaten 52. Phil Bagshaw launched his customary attack on the spin bowlers, making a ferocious 29 in no time at all. 220 for 5 wickets at over 6 runs per over looked like a winning total if the bowlers did their job.

This they did. Mark Wright and Sunil Angris made sure the first 10 overs were tight, conceding only 34 runs and heaping the pressure on the batsmen to take chances. The beneficiaries were Phil Bagshaw and Ian McKay who then proceeded to take 7 wickets between them, as consecutive batsmen attempted to catch up with the required run rate. They were backed up by some sharp ground fielding and amidst the customary dropping of simple chances, two brilliant catches from Simon Smith and Phil Bagshaw. Sunil Angris continued his fine form with the ball with 2 wickets and although there was some mature batting late on in the Oakamoor innings from three of the talented youngsters on show, the final wicket fell at 134 and an 86 run winning margin was another record.