Stanhope v Medomsley, Unthank Park, Stanhope 10^th May 2008

The sound of leather on willow returns to Unthank Park on the banks of the River Wear at the start of the 2008 season. The sun has emerged from behind the clouds and shines on a beautifully prepared ground, everything is looking grand.

After a shaky away fixture last week at Wearmouth; Stanhope were looking to return to their 2007 winning form. Stanhope went in to bat with Rob Young & Paul Fitchett opening. The first couple of balls of the innings did not trouble the batsman, however the third ball caught out Rob Young and he was caught for nought. Steven Muse came in to replace Rob and the batting steadied to a nice partnership for Paul & Steve before Paul was caught for 17. Frankie (gloves) Stephenson went in to support Steve who was steadily producing an impressive innings of nice stroke play. Frankie managed to escape a few near misses as he was dropped twice as he moved slowly on to 8 runs before been finally caught successfully.

Adam Robinson replaced Frankie at the crease and immediately started to look for some runs to move the scoreboard on. He managed to move it on by 1 run before been caught. Richie Hanlon arrived at the crease to continue supporting Steven Muse who moved on to 44 runs before been bowled out. The captain took up the challenge armed with a new bat for the season, proceeded to hit the ball quite sweetly, however he was caught for two runs. He left the field with a smirk as the fielder was muttering about how his hands were still stinging from the well hit shot.

It was up to Eddie (The Rock)Rowell to steady the innings and entered the fray to support Richie Hanlon who managed to move on to 24 runs before succumbing to a superb catch. Ian Muse went in and out in short succession for no runs as he was bowled out. Richie Pringle walked out to the crease and continued the steady flow of runs supporting the Rock as the pair scored 26 not out and 23 not out respectively stearing the side to 167 runs. Medomsleys’ Attack bowler W Shaw posted good figures of 4 wickets for 36 runs and G Shaw 2 wickets for 22 runs. The Skipper Simon Campbell had set a target of 150 runs as a defendable innings total and was well pleased with the sides’ performance it was now up to the bowlers.

Medomsley opened with M Charlton and M Grinter. Stanhope’s opening bowling attack of Adam Robinson & Rob Young started well inspired by the teams batting performance. The wickets fell at a steady pace throughout the innings. The notable run suppliers for Medomsley were Opener M Charlton & P Dixon as Medomsley fell short of the target all out for 107. Pick of the Stanhope bowlers were Adam Robinson with an impressive 12 overs, 3 Maidens, 20 runs for 5 wickets. Young Andrew Kitching is looking to be a good prospect for the side returning good figures of 5 overs 1 maiden, 10 runs for 2 wickets.

So the Cricket season has returned to Weardale. Let’s hope the winning ways and weather continues in the same vane throughout the rest of the season.

^{Next match Saturday 17th}May “Belmont” away

Good Luck Stanhope

Steve Wilson