The Thornton pitch was remarkably dry considering the amount of rain, I doubt if Bluecote Wood would have been!
The Ash team were keen to begin play promptly, with the England-USA World Cup game at 7.30 pm a focus of attention, they let out a groan as we lost the toss and were put on to bat.
We got a decent start before James Thompson (17) fell with the score at 44, we then had a second wicket partnership of 106 between Rob Clarke (73) and Ned McClelland's (54) as we moved to 150.
They both fell to Steve Fountain and with Joe Buckley (14) missing a straight one to be clean bowled we found ourselves 188 for 4.
We then sat back and enjoyed a fifth wicket partnership of 114 between Mark Taylor (77 not out) and Richard Turner (43 not out). There was some fantastic, clean hitting from both players, most notably in the final over which went for 25 runs as we amassed 303 for 4 wickets.
An excellent tea was cut short as the Ash team were keen for the second innings to start.
Any hopes Thornton had of chasing the mammoth first innings disappeared in the first over, as skipper Steve Atkinson fell to the second ball of the innings, edging a great ball from Mark Taylor (3 for 25) to slip where Rob 'safe hands' Clarke snapped up the chance.
Wickets fell regularly as Joe Buckley (2 for 25) and Ned McClelland (4 for 12) joined in the fun, a special mention to Dan Harrington (1 for 22) who deserved better and suffered from 3 dropped catches.
Talking of catches, Chris Horner's slip catch, one handed in mid-air, was a a beauty and an early contender for the Catch of the Season!
The Thornton innings closed, all out for 98 with only Steve Sowray (31), Steve Fountain (32) and Martin Yeoman (12) reaching double figures.
Scorecard:
Pannal Ash Innings:
| J Thompson |
Ct. M Thompson b. M Yeoman |
17 |
| R Clarke |
st. (H Stokoe) b. S Fountain |
73 |
| N McClelland |
ct. M Yeoman b. S Fountain |
54 |
| M Taylor |
NOT OUT |
77 |
| J Buckley |
b. A Ackerley |
14 |
| R Turner |
NOT OUT |
43 |
| C Horner |
did not bat |
- |
| J Bowman |
did not bat |
- |
| M Yarwood |
did not bat |
- |
| A Pitt |
did not bat |
- |
| M Merryweather |
did not bat |
- |
| |
Total Runs |
278 |
| |
Extras |
25 |
| |
Total (for 4 wkts) |
303 |
Bishop Thornton 2nds Innings
| S Atkinson |
ct. R Clarke b. M Taylor |
0 |
| M Atkinson |
b. J Buckley |
2 |
| S Sowray |
b. N McClelland |
31 |
| A Ackerley |
b. M Taylor |
0 |
| H Stokoe |
b. D Harrington |
2 |
| S Fountain |
b. N McClelland |
32 |
| E Paxton |
ct. b. J Buckley |
4 |
| M Thompson |
ct. C Horner b. M Taylor |
2 |
| M Yeoman |
b. N McClelland |
12 |
| J Kellett |
ct. b. N McClelland |
0 |
| J Atkinson |
NOT OUT |
1 |
| |
Total Runs |
86 |
| |
Extras |
12 |
| |
Total (all out) |
98 |
Bowling Analysis
| Pannal Ash Innings |
|
|
| |
Wkts |
Runs |
| - - - |
|
|
| - - - |
|
|
| Bishop Thornton 2nds Innings |
|
|
| |
Wkts |
Runs |
| M Taylor |
3 |
25 |
| N McClelland |
4 |
12 |