Game 6 v Bold Dragoon

St Michael's Cricket Club

Opponent	:	Bold Dragoon
Date	:	7 June 2003
Venue	:	Old Northamptonians
Result	:	Draw

Innings of: Bold Dragoon

1	R Sparling	ct Ahearn	Swann	14	Bowling	O	M	R	W
2	M Pettit	b	Geddes	9	M Swann	12	4	20	2
3	J Kavanagh	ct Ahearn	Marlow	20	D Allen	10	1	40	2
4	P Handford	LBW	Geddes	32	I Geddes	12	2	38	4
5	J Billingham	b	Allen	16	T Marlow	11	3	47	1
6	N Page	ct Harrison	Allen	13
7	R Hirst	b	Geddes	6
8	M Billingham	LBW	Swann	9
9	M Chew		not out	5
10	G Welsh	st Ahearn	Geddes	8
11	D O'Dell		not out	1
	Overs	45	Extras	15
	Wickets	9	Total	148

Innings of: St Michael's

1	D Harrison	b	O'Dell	4	Bowling	O	M	R	W
2	M Collier	ct J Billingham	Kavanagh	5	D O'Dell	12	5	19	2
3	D Allen	ct & b	Hirst	22	J Kavanagh	11	2	30	1
4	W Kingston jr		run out	4	R Sparling	11	5	15	1
5	T Marlow	b	O'Dell	0	R Hirst	4	0	15	2
6	D Tebbutt	ct	Sparling	6	G Welsh	3	1	9	0
7	M Swann		not out	16	M Billingham	1	0	9	0
8	S Cannell	ct Chew	Hirst	0	P Handford	3	2	1	1
9	I Geddes	ct & b	Handford	23
10	B Ahearn		not out	9
11	W Kingston sr
	Overs	45	Extras	33
	Wickets	8	Total	116

Match report

St Michael's held on for a draw against the Bold Dragoon in a keenly fought match on Saturday. Bold, still smarting from their loss to St Michael's a week ago in the Garnett Cup, had the better of the game, but couldn't finish off a determined St Michael's tail to win the game.

Bold Dragoon batted first with openers Rob Sparling and the evergreen Martin Pettit making steady if unspectacular progress. Sparling was first to go, edging Malc Swann to keeper Brian Ahearn. New batsmen Joe Kavanagh almost followed, but he was given a live when Matt Collier dropped him at first slip. Pete Handford carried on from last week, hitting a quickfire 32 before he missed a deceiving slow full toss from Ian Geddes and was adjudged LBW. The run rate slowed towards the end with some tight bowling from Malc Swann and Ian Geddes, with the St Michael's skipper grabbing a creditable 4 for 38. The final total of 148 would prove challenging.

The St Michael's reply was in trouble early on, with openers Dale Harrison and Matt Collier soon back in the pavilion. Danny O'Dell started with 3 straight maidens in a tight opening spell, whilst Joe Kavanagh was equally mean. Dave Allen offered some resistance with 22, but was involved in an unfortunate run out with Will Kingston that left the reply stuttering at 27 for 4 after 13 overs. That soon became 51 for 7 when Richard Hirst bagged 2 wickets in 2 balls, removing Allen and Simon Cannell for a golden duck. The ship was steadied by Ian Geddes and Malc Swann, both looking comfortable and a late challenge still in the air. Geddes eventually spooned a simple catch to Rob Sparling for a rapid 23, leaving Swann and Brian Ahearn to fend off the overs with the target of a 3/4 the Bold score for the extra bonus points. This they did in the penultimate over, frustrating the Bold bowlers at the same time.

A good game of cricket, and with 2 more league matches still to come, more of the same is sure to be served up.