Uttoxeter Online Magazine

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Uttoxeter had yet another stutter with an untimely defeat to Derby Congs. The defeat Uttoxeters’ 2nd in 2 weeks was another disappointment in what has been an up and down campaign.

Losing the toss the home side were asked to bat on what looked like a reasonable wicket. The home side made a steady start with James Burton looking in good form and Dave Hunt supporting him at the other end.

The openers kept the score ticking over before Hunt tried to up his own rate and skied one, Hayes and Bailey unfortunately couldn’t hang around long and both were caught by the keeper. Despite Uttoxeters mini collapse Burton was still finding scoring pretty easy and crept up to 41 before he was bowled by a jaffer, Tim Powell was looking good at the other end but yet another mini collapse occurred and Mellor went 1st ball and was soon followed by Powell.

Walmsley and Cottier put together a mini revival but again both fell in quick succession. Again a mini fight back came in the shape of Alan Bennett and Ash Young before Bennett and Skelham both fell towards the death trying to push the home sides score up to something respectable. Uttoxeter finished on 143 all out off 45 overs meaning Derby Congs gained an extra over for their chase.

The bowling was exceptional and skipper Walmsley had a wicket with the 2nd ball of the innings after having Shakil caught in the gully by Cottier off a ball which rose and jagged back sharply at the batsman who was desperately trying to leave the ball. Skelham opening at the other end was also looking dangerous and the opening pair were severely restricting the scoring rate. Walmsley picked up his 2nd wicket of the day when he clean bowled the opener before Skelham got his name in the book, Cottier talking a sharp catch in the gully.

The rest of the bowlers picked up where the openers had left off, restricting the scoring and nearly all chipped in with wickets. The bowlers were supported in the field as no catches went down, Alan Bennett took two very difficult chances and Ian Bailey gave Walmsley his 4th wicket when he dived forward to pluck the ball out of the air.
At this point the Congs were 7 down with only a few runs required and Uttoxeter had just left themselves too much to do with the ball after a poor showing with the bat. The experienced Ian Gillot guiding congs home with a couple of overs to spare.

The home side will take great pride in their bowling performance and will look for a better performance with the bat when they take on struggling West Hallam next week.