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Hirons XI Mascot Wins Trophy for Last Man Stands Team

Neston CC

On Saturday (22nd September) the winners of the West of England Last Man Stands cricket league the Colin Hirons XI travelled to Neston, Liverpool, for the National Finals.

The team was due to play second seeds Dominate and Penetrate, ranked 8th in the World and 3rd in the country.

Captain Hirons won the toss and decided to put the Kiwi based team from London into bat. Joshua Barrett got them off to a good start bowling their opener in the second over.

Joshua Barrett sending down a delivery 

This was short lived as Pete Simmons ranked 25th in Country dispatched the bowling all around the park, and helped with some tired looking fielding he and David Marinovich got the score past 100-1 off 10, both retiring on 50's.

Hirons XI then started to stamp some authority on the game, with some tight bowling and a superb catch from Charlie Payne. Unfortunately the experienced team kicked again and added 38 runs off 2 overs, posting a mammoth total of 200-4 off their 20, 30-40 runs needlessly given away through miss fields, wide's and no balls.

Dan Bowditch on strike 

In reply Ian Buchanan and Dan Bowditch set about the chase, and at 33-0 off 3 Buchanan was caught on the boundary. This brought Kiwi Joshua Barrett to the crease. He played some extravagant shots and hit the ball hard, but was dismissed, again caught on the rope. With the rate increasing wickets began to fall at regular intervals. With some lusty blows from Hirons and Payne they brought their score to 142-6 off their 20, a par score for the pitch. This defeat meant a place in the Sunday plate competition for £500.

Mascot derby winner fenton

The disappointment was only short lived however as the inaugural Last Man Stands mascot race got underway. Team mascot ‘Fenton' as worn by Justin Harris was competing against 9 other competitors including Iggle Piggle, a seagull and a matador. Harris ran a superb race despite the costumes limited vision, and coming into the back straight he was neck and neck with a Kiwi man dressed as a sheep. Fortunately Fenton had the stamina and desire to sprint for the line which sparked jubilant scenes to take the trophy and cash prize.

On Sunday the Hirons XI began the 8 over plate competition with a quarter final verses the Speedline Superstars. Electing to field first the Hirons XI bowled well and with a much improved fielding effort restricted the opposition to 67-4 off 8. In reply Justin Harris and Harry Tudball (30*) went about the task, Harris hitting a massive six off the opposition's star bowler. However a couple tight overs left them needing 15 off the final 5 deliveries. Up stepped Ian Buchanan, first ball six over long on, second ball 4 through cover, he and Bowditch then scored 4 off the final 3 to take the game to a bowl off.

Justin Harris hits a 6

Speedline took an early advantage hitting with their first delivery. Following a succession of misses captain Hirons, a genuine non bowler produced a hit, this then followed by a miss leaving Dan Bowditch the chance to seal victory. He produced a delivery which hit the stumps and sent the team into the semi-finals.

In the semi-finals they faced Taurus from Bradford, hot favourites for the plate, and had previously scored 102 off 8 overs in the last game. Electing to field first the Hirons XI struck the first blows removing their two young superstars, unfortunately some lusty blows reached the boundary and they posted a score of 65-4 off 8. The team started well in reply, up with the run rate, until 2 tight overs, the fith and sixth left 18 required off the final 5 deliveries. Again Buchanan was on strike, could he seal the most unlikely of victories? first ball, six runs, second ball, six runs. The third delivery he mistimed and was caught. A single from Craig Sully left Dan Bowditch needing 4 to draw and 6 to win off the final ball. The spinner delivered a flighted delivery but the spin prevented a clean hit and Bowditch was only able to skew it into the off side. The dream was over, but it was a fantastic morning of cricket.

The Colin Hirons XI and supporters

It was a fantastic way to end an excellent summer of Last Man Stands Cricket and the team and supporters represented the Somerset franchise and played in a way in which the game should be played. In a team which boasted some excellent cricketers in terms of the levels they play at club level all the squad contributed, even at crucial stages of the competition. Congratulations to all who participated.

Join the team!

To register an interest in Last Man Stands 2013 The Culbone West Somerset Leagues, Taunton League, Taunton Business League and the West Somerset Sunday Club League please contact Steve Hayes at somerset@lastmanstands.co.uk  or shayes@sasp.co.uk  

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Comments

Baz

At 21:53 on 26th September 2012, Baz commented:

Good report, but just to pick you up on an error - Neston is not in Liverpool, it's in Cheshire, technically, and Wirral, physically. Liverpool is across the other side of the Mersey. Great cricket club they have there, in Parkgate, a village forming part of the town of Neston.

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