Barrow Gurney’s season ended last Sunday in traditional style at the Double Wicket Competition.
A beautiful sunny autumn day saw 9 teams of two battle it out in 6 over segments with teams earning points for runs scored, wickets, catches and stumpings taken but with points being lost for wickets lost and catches dropped or avoided.
With no final this year, the team with the most points after the initial round would be declared the winner. With the barbecue fired up and the bar open it was good to see a few spectators come to enjoy the fun.
Mark Brown and Leo Brace took the Double Wicket Trophy
Usually it is hard to identify the winners due to the complexity of the scoring system, but the relentless power hitting of Mark Brown made it clear his team would be ahead at the finish. We witnessed several of the biggest hits seen at Barrow in recent years whilst his partner, Leo Brace, sensibly pushed singles and avoided getting out. Leo also contributed some handy wickets with his bowling.
Nick Heal launches another big shot
Nick Heal and Ali Hood were not too far behind, as Nick too treated the crowd to some clean hitting, whilst Ali, as always, surprised everyone with his ability to take wickets with the slowest of bowling.
Ali Hood partnered Nick into second place
Third place went to Josh Yelland an Bernie Forge who might well have been in contention if they had taken a few wickets with their bowling to add to an excellent batting performance.
The highlights of the day though were probably the domestic rivalries of the Jonny Sykes and Charlotte Huntley partnerships, and the sibling bickering of the Matt and Kieran Owen duo which all added to the fun!
Many thanks as always to Jane Holdaway for scoring, Mark Forge for umpiring, Harry Brace for the barbecue, Pete Holdaway for managing the bar, and preparing his final pitch of the season, and of course to Ali Hood for organising and making up the rules as he went along!