Burneside vs Warton

Hyningmen back to winning ways.

Warton looked to get back to winning ways, having lost to Arnside & Carnforth the previous weekend, with a trip to Burneside on Saturday. The recent good weather was replaced with a damp and foggy day as captain Crowther tossed up. Upon winning the toss Burneside we’re asked to bat first on a wicket that was firm with a green tinge to it.
Warton’s opening bowlers of veteran Crowther and Needham kept the opening spell very tight and this was well supported in the field by everyone. Needham was particularly suited to the track, finding good pace and bounce, and he made the first breakthrough after some excellent pace bowling by skittling Hope’s middle stump for 5, when the score was on 11. Captain Crowther was the next to be rewarded as Barnfield took an excellent catch behind after an edge by Greenwood for 10. At this stage Burneside were 24 for 2 which quickly became 3 when Ellwood had his stumps scattered from Needham. Warton’s fielders kept up the pressure in the field by chasing every ball down, with Adam ‘Bean Weatherill leading by example when after a long chase he seemed to disturb the local cows from chewing their ‘cud’! Captain Crowther seemed pleased with his team’s efforts, although he appeared to spend quite a lot of his time in the outfield sat on his backside cleaning his spikes.
The introduction of Partridge led to no let up the accuracy of Warton’s bowling as Burneside wickets continued to tumble despite the now damp conditions and with Needham continuing to run amok at the other end Warton would have fancied their chances of bowling the opposition out for under 100. Mayor taking an excellent ‘catch’ off Needham with the ball seemingly appear to lodge in Mayor’s ‘all inclusive’ Lanzarote belly. Also at this point Keith seemed to drift off in the field as he was dreaming of barbeques as he mis- fielded. With Burneside struggling on 63 for 8. The umpires made the decision to take the players off due to light showers at this point which meant that Warton would have 41 overs to chase down the target. Upon the resumption Burneside set about upping the run rate and after a quiet couple of overs from Price, Leacock dispatched him over the pavilion (big tree) for a six. Partridge, despite his many frustrations, continued to bowl well at the death and was mightily relieved when Price took a stunning catch in the deep, which went higher than the Colombia space shuttle to get rid of Leacock for 39. Burneside all out for 114. Needham finishing with excellent figures of 5/31 off his 18 overs.
After tea (super spread), Warton set about chasing down the inflated total, however their innings didn’t get off to the best of start’s when Barrow was cleaned bowled by Nightingale after just two deliveries with a high full toss he failed to pick up in the gloomy conditions. In came Ali Matthews full of running (fast walking, due to the girth of his thighs) and him and Price started to take the attack to Burneside’s bowlers with some excellent quickish singles. Unfortunately for Ali he was still catching his breath when he nicked one to Ellwood off Nightingale for 8, Warton 14 for 2. Barney strode to the crease and he and Price played some lovely strokes to, again, attempt to regain control of the match. Appearing to have done all the hard work, both Barney and Price lost their wickets in quick succession. Another wicket quickly followed when Finney was caught at cover, Warton now 43 for 5 and in danger of collapsing. However, the return of the Mayor and the excellent form of Crowther started to aid Warton’s recovery with some excellent running between the wickets and some mighty blows from Crowther who dispatched Nightingale over the pavilion for 6. Mayor felt unlucky to be dismissed for 14, despite his skipper totally agreeing with the umpires decision (plumb) with Warton still requiring a further 43 runs for victory. If ever Warton needed a man for the crisis, Weatherill stepped up and between him and Crowther, continued to knock the runs off reaching the target with 10 over to spare.
This was another great example of the strength in depth that Warton now possess and what a team is capable of when they have a great team spirit.

Match report by Phil ‘Big Keith’ Graseley