For any cricket lover the 3 Ws will evoke the legends of those great West Indian batsman, Weekes, Walcott and Worrell, but on Monday night it was a different 3 Ws which characterised the Under 15 clash between Barrow Gurney and Cleeve: Wickets, Wides and Wind.
20 wickets fell in this 20:20 match which is pretty unusual as Cleeve were bowled out for exactly 100 with Jackson Bryant once again showing his wicket-taking prowess with 3 for 30. Captain Kieran Owen with 2 for 14 and Mark Fisher, 2 for 8, ably supported along with some good fielding with 3 sharp run outs (Mark & Guy Fisher one each and another from Ben Mead). Bernie Forge also took a high catch over her shoulder running back from the keeper’s position. Only Curtis reached double figures as coach Lee Bryant took the opportunity to give some new squad members a chance to bowl. Max Heron and Ben Mead being economical and showing some real promise.
Cleeve were also soon among the wickets and, bowling their front line bowlers for the maximum overs bowled Barrow out for 82, Kieran Owen 17 was top score in the match and Jackson Bryant made 14. Gray was almost unplayable taking 4-18 and D Jones took 3-6. Barrow lost by 18 runs but that is not quite the whole tale.
Wides were ultimately the deciding factor. Barrow’s juniors have suffered over the years seeing the umpires uncoil their arms far too often, but this season has hitherto been an exception. Sadly 32 wides to 11 (wides counting 2 with no extra ball) masked the fact that Barrow actually scored more runs off the bat than Cleeve.
The wind blowing across the ground and into the scorebox may well have been a factor for both teams in bowling all those wides and certainly it made your correspondent appreciate a warming Gin and Tonic afterwards!
This may have been Barrow’s first League loss in the League but it was an extremely close game. Next week a friendly against Clevedon before the League season resumes.