The cricket season ended at Hobbs Lane with the traditional Double Wicket Competition which was won by the partnership of Frank Forge and Rob Figuereido, who beat the sibling pair of Ellie and Ed Holdaway in a close-run final.
With teams drawn from a hat, there was little time to plan tactics as the players took to the field ready to gain points from batting, bowling and fielding, which always results in no-one (apart from the scorer Jane Holdaway) having a clue as to who is doing well or not. Adding to the uncertainty is the fitness of some of the players who had been on the (also traditional) end of season social on the evening before, leaving several with sore heads or worse.
Nevertheless, play started on time and in the round-robin stages Frank and Rob batted first, playing very sensibly and ensuring that no wickets (and therefore) points were lost. Rob had to hit the sixes as Frank has never cleared the ropes whilst his partner would come into his own later with the ball.
Rob’s brother Ben, not seen playing cricket at Barrow for some years, made a welcome return and enjoyed a good partnership with Connor Jones and only just missed out on the final.
Bernie Forge and Kieran Owen prospered mainly due to taking 6 wickets between them which was the highest of any team and came 4th. With each team having a pre-determined shot to attempt of the first ball of their innings, Kieran had to try and play a late cut to a half volley on leg-stump which made it hard to get full points!
Eventual finalists Ellie & Ed Holdaway also gathered lots of points through their bowling taking 5 wickets between them, while a couple of late blows from Ed into the fields propelled them into second place.
Whilst others picked up bowling points for wickets, Matt Owen and Leo Brace found themselves on the wrong end of dismissals 6 times whilst Adam Brace lost his wicket 5 times on his own.
The results of the round-robin were then finalised and announced by Jane:
1. Frank Forge & Rob Figs 82 pts
2. Ellie & Ed Holdaway 76 pts
3. Ben Figs & Connor Jones 67 pts
4. Bernie Forge & Kieran Owen 57 pts
5. Guy Fisher & Ali Hood 51 pts
6. Paul Glazzard & Adam Brace 47 pts
7. Mark Fisher & Mark Gracey 35 pts
8. Matt Owen & Leo Brace 12 pts
By the interval, the barbecue was going strong and with a growing gathering of supporters tempted by Simon Hudson’s free supply of home-brewed ales, the stage was set for an exciting final between 2 pairs who had played the rounds in a similar way with one partner looking for the big shot whilst the other looked to rotate the strike and run quick 2s and 3s, and both members of each team were quite capable and likely to take some wickets.
Batting first Frank and Rob continued in similar vein as the round-robin stage, again losing no wickets and with Rob smiting 3 huge sixes and Frank following up with some spirited running and one boundary of his own to put them in a strong position with 54 runs on the board.
In reply Ed immediately opened his shoulders to hit Frank for 6 but then came the key moment as Frank beat both Ed and Ellie in consecutive balls and thanks to his sister Bernie had them both stumped. With Rob also striking in his first over with Bernie taking a steepling catch then Ed and Ellie were 15 points down and looked to be out of the contest. However Ed, in particular, was not prepared to go down without a fight and 5 more blows cleared the ropes to bring the match extremely close but, ending with 48 runs, was just not quite enough.
For more photos of the day taken by Simon Hudson please click the following link:
https://simundo.smugmug.com/2018/Double-Wicket-2018/n-hc8gQq