Sibton Cricket Club

Sibton CC

Saltwood fans were treated to that rare sight- a relatively comfortable Saltwood run chase. There were no scares, no bitten fingernails, no frantic scrambles through the kit bag and no comical run outs, as the Wood chased down 152 for the loss of only two wickets. The victory was secured when Duckboy hit the winning six to end unbeaten on 87. At the other end, Oliver Ash looked a real find as he timed the ball impressively, particularly off the back foot, to finish unbeaten on 32. A number of Wood players have performed impressively in their early games for the club, before curiously sinking into comical Wood levels, but all of the new players this season have already added a huge amount to the club.

The day had started less promisingly when Billy had lost the toss in a direct confrontation with Gambo's protege '15 year old Bryan Washer' who was captaining for Sibton. News of Washer's appearance swept through the Wood dressing room, but he was largely powerless as the Wood secured wickets at regular intervals. Oliver Ash took a good catch at cover and Dan Moxham had another tidy day behind the stumps. Of course the highlight of the Wood's fielding performance was Ninja's attempt to throw the ball in from the trees after collecting a ball that had gone for four. As he went to throw the ball underarm, all co-ordination appeared to leave his body and in a scene played out by a number of greats before him (Sparkes-1999, Crumbie-2002, Osbourne-2005), Oakes managed to throw the ball back over his head. He was then spotted looking for the ball once more in the bushes while his teammates all laughed.

The Wood wickets were shared around with Duckboy collecting four and Leeds- Tumber collecting a few (he'll know how many). However, not for the first time this season, the Wood took their foot off the pedal and failed to finish off Sibton Park . From 66 for 6, Sibton fought well to get 150. Fortunately, the runs did not prove crucial on this occasion, as the Wood batted calmly and sensibly to secure another good win.

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