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Report from the Meths website
Mark Stelfox27 Sep 2010 - 21:43
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a fair report as usual from DB
West Yorkshire Press recovered from a dreadful start to win the Joe Dews Trophy for the second time in three seasons in an unusually low scoring final at Harewood.
In a game in which ball dominated bat almost throughout, Mark Noblet was rightly adjudged man of the match for beligerent 50 which rescued his team from the precarious position of 24-7 after some excellent bowling from Meths quick/slow opening combination of Eddy Brown and John Dodgson.
When Brown's first ball of the match had disappeared over the pavilion for 6 few in the ground could have anticipated what was to come. Thankfully this proved to be a minor abherration as the young South African found his line and length to pick up 3 wickets.
Not to be outdone by his junior partner, Dodgson used a cunning variation of swing and spin to snaffle 3 wickets of his own, all thanks to the work of Amit Pandey behind the stumps with 2 stumpings and a catch. JD finished his 5 over spell with remarkable figures of 3-9.
Alex Rhodes also affected a direct hit run out in this opening burst, but the strength in this Press batting line up was evident when Noblet walked out at number 9 we knew the innings was far from over and he and Gul (19) rebuilt the innings with some lusty blows, helped by a couple of mishaps in the field from the Meths, before Gul poked a catch to Naylor at point off Butland.
Noblet was joined by skipper Nick Saunders, scorer of 50 when the two sides met in the final 3 years ago, and these two put together an aggressive partnership of 50 in 6 overs, with Noblet depositing 3 sixes into the neighbouring field in an impressive display of hitting.
This burst allowed Press to reach 111, not a huge score and one that Meths skipper Westlake would have no doubt taken at the start of the game, but a remarkable effort from the start they had and certain not to be an easy target with the pitch beginning to deteriorate.
The father-son combination of Ed and Dave Britton opened the Meths innings and made steady progress until Ed was adjudged LBW to one that kept low from Gul's first delivery.
Ed was followed by Pandey who struck a 6 and a 4 from consecutive deliveries and looked in excellent form, only to nick the next ball from Ifty and provide Surtees with a simple catch.
Dave Britton was making steady progress at the other end despite struggling against the tight bowling and at 10 overs Meths were well placed at 52-2.
At this point Matt Williams was introduced to the attack and, along with Gul, they took all the pace off the ball and really restricted the scoring. Only 6 runs came from 4 overs for the loss of the wickets of Rhodes and Naylor and suddenly Britton and Brown had to score at nearly 8 an over to give themselves any chance.
In an attempt to do just that, Britton got underneath what was probably the worst ball Gul bowled all day and was caught in the deep. When Donley followed soon after to an excellent catch from Chris St Clair Whicker, the Meths had slumped to 66-6, needing 10 an over from the final 5.
Eddy finally got on to one and deposited it into the conker tree to give the pink and greens some hope, but that was short lived as he was bowled next ball and it was effectively game over.
Westlake and Nick Kershaw managed to salvage some pride at the end but the damage had been done and with the field set deep they could not find the boundaries to give us a chance.
Williams and Gul had been the main destroyers with 4 and 2 wickets respectively, but none of the Press bowlers had offered much for the batsmen to hit and their fielding was far superior to Cambridge's on the day too.
So another enjoyable Joe Dews Trophy campaign came to an end with the best team winning the competition. Cambridge were left to reflect on what might have been but will come back stronger for the experience, nobody likes losing these games!
Dave Britton
In a game in which ball dominated bat almost throughout, Mark Noblet was rightly adjudged man of the match for beligerent 50 which rescued his team from the precarious position of 24-7 after some excellent bowling from Meths quick/slow opening combination of Eddy Brown and John Dodgson.
When Brown's first ball of the match had disappeared over the pavilion for 6 few in the ground could have anticipated what was to come. Thankfully this proved to be a minor abherration as the young South African found his line and length to pick up 3 wickets.
Not to be outdone by his junior partner, Dodgson used a cunning variation of swing and spin to snaffle 3 wickets of his own, all thanks to the work of Amit Pandey behind the stumps with 2 stumpings and a catch. JD finished his 5 over spell with remarkable figures of 3-9.
Alex Rhodes also affected a direct hit run out in this opening burst, but the strength in this Press batting line up was evident when Noblet walked out at number 9 we knew the innings was far from over and he and Gul (19) rebuilt the innings with some lusty blows, helped by a couple of mishaps in the field from the Meths, before Gul poked a catch to Naylor at point off Butland.
Noblet was joined by skipper Nick Saunders, scorer of 50 when the two sides met in the final 3 years ago, and these two put together an aggressive partnership of 50 in 6 overs, with Noblet depositing 3 sixes into the neighbouring field in an impressive display of hitting.
This burst allowed Press to reach 111, not a huge score and one that Meths skipper Westlake would have no doubt taken at the start of the game, but a remarkable effort from the start they had and certain not to be an easy target with the pitch beginning to deteriorate.
The father-son combination of Ed and Dave Britton opened the Meths innings and made steady progress until Ed was adjudged LBW to one that kept low from Gul's first delivery.
Ed was followed by Pandey who struck a 6 and a 4 from consecutive deliveries and looked in excellent form, only to nick the next ball from Ifty and provide Surtees with a simple catch.
Dave Britton was making steady progress at the other end despite struggling against the tight bowling and at 10 overs Meths were well placed at 52-2.
At this point Matt Williams was introduced to the attack and, along with Gul, they took all the pace off the ball and really restricted the scoring. Only 6 runs came from 4 overs for the loss of the wickets of Rhodes and Naylor and suddenly Britton and Brown had to score at nearly 8 an over to give themselves any chance.
In an attempt to do just that, Britton got underneath what was probably the worst ball Gul bowled all day and was caught in the deep. When Donley followed soon after to an excellent catch from Chris St Clair Whicker, the Meths had slumped to 66-6, needing 10 an over from the final 5.
Eddy finally got on to one and deposited it into the conker tree to give the pink and greens some hope, but that was short lived as he was bowled next ball and it was effectively game over.
Westlake and Nick Kershaw managed to salvage some pride at the end but the damage had been done and with the field set deep they could not find the boundaries to give us a chance.
Williams and Gul had been the main destroyers with 4 and 2 wickets respectively, but none of the Press bowlers had offered much for the batsmen to hit and their fielding was far superior to Cambridge's on the day too.
So another enjoyable Joe Dews Trophy campaign came to an end with the best team winning the competition. Cambridge were left to reflect on what might have been but will come back stronger for the experience, nobody likes losing these games!
Dave Britton
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