On a wet, sticky wicket the last thing Barrow 2nds wanted was to be put in to bat at Patchway. Unfortunately, on losing the toss, that is exactly what happened and they found themselves on a very difficult pitch against some very experienced, consistent bowlers. Scoring was slow especially in the middle overs due to the unhelpful conditions and even with a short boundary on one side Barrow could only managed a total of 127 from our 40 overs. Captain Ellie Holdaway made the top score of 25 followed by Bernie Forge who made 21. Batting highlights include Jonny Sykes’s big 6, on to the roof of the adjoining social club which was then superseded by Steve Owen’s much bigger 6 on to the same roof, much to Jonny ‘Happy Gilmore’ Sykes’s despair.
As Barrow took to the field, Barrow’s bowling attack, ably lead by Oscar Livesey and Mike Lilley, discovered that Patchway were also having some problems with the conditions. They also started slowly and all of a sudden it was game on. All Barrow needed to really give themselves a chance were some quick wickets. Here came Nick Heal, starting his spell with a wicket on his first ball (a full toss) and going on to take 4/27 throughout the match, including 2 catches to Mark Gracey! (Hockey friends’ favouritism seemed obvious). Nick then began to show off as he also took a catch later on but Patchway, despite a late two-wicket burst from Jordan Allen (2/12) to leave them 6 down and leaving things closer than expected, were prepared for such a collapse and their lower middle order saw them home
It turned out to be a much closer game than it looked like it would be at times and a good fight against the top of the table team on a tough, weather affected pitch.