Oak n Ash 214-5 (35 ovs) beat Walsall Health 174 All Out (34.4 ovs) by 40 runs

On a day in which Andy Murray won his second Wimbledon title & Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix there were more triumphs for British Sport, especially for Walsall Health CC. Dave Stephens became one of the few to complete the double of 100 wickets and 1,000 runs along with captain Rob Hewlitt who reached 1,000 runs with a maximum.

Before all of the historic feats were reached, the Elf suffered an embarrassing blow when Aldridge Cricket Club was ‘triple booked’ which resulted in Nicka Dunn driving back from Alton Towers to unlock Rushall CC to save the day from Oblivion.

That was the first BIG HAND of the day but the second and most important big hand went out to the team of Rachel Gorton, Alex Nunns and Gail Bradley who valiantly rushed around Morrisons to put together a make-shift tea at a moment’s notice, it really was a top effort and should not go unnoticed.

Skipper Hewlitt opted to bowl first on a day of light drizzle. Stephens opened the game with a swinging delivery which did for B Cotton for a golden quack. Matt Wright was on at first change and he picked up the wicket of Mansfield who after looking in good shape, spooned a delivery to Tom Davies and shortish deep-backward square leg who took the catch. In Wright’s next over, dangerous looking batsman J Cotton edged to Gort but the ball just fell through his fingers. Cotton went on to make 76 before Dave ‘Priest’ put an end to his innings with a caught and bowled. Tom Davies picked up the next wicket of Finn for 7 which DS took a steepling catch and Mid On. Stephens took the fifth wicket of Price before the visiting side amassed 214 off their 35 overs in a ‘village mix up’ meant the game could not be started until later than 2.30.

After both sides had scoffed the last minute tea (which was excellent by the way) The Elf set about their run chase just after half past five. With Andy Murray’s Wimbledon win still on the TV in the clubhouse, two more sporting conquests were to be reached in the second half of the fixture. Gort and Chuck opened the innings and put on 42 before Gort was given out LBW for 17. Greg Philpott was next in and despite having about half an hour of throw downs from Gary Fitzpatrick, left a straight one and was bowled for his fourth duck of the year, much to Dan Dunn’s delight.

Fitzpatrick himself then joined the fray and played some good shots before he was run out by Chuck for 16 when he deserved much more for his efforts. Stuart Slater was next to arrive and was unluckily caught by the catch of the day at slip off the bowling of Kellerher for 3.

Skipper Hewlitt was the next man in and with his third scoring shot, he smacked a six over mid wicket to reach the 1,000 run milestone. Hewlitt was caught for 26 later on. Dave ‘Priest’ was next to arrive but only managed four singles before his stumps were sent flying by Finn, not Stephen.

Ian Chuck had steadily made his way to another half century before he danced down the track to Price, missed a straight one and was stumped. Jonathan ‘Priest’ was the next to bat and he certainly wasn’t delivering the goods and became a victim of changes when he was bowled first ball by Price to leave Tom Davies facing a hat trick which he duly defended.

Davies got off the mark to the apparent shot of the day when he smacked a ball through the covers with an eloquent  cover drive. He was out next over when he chipped Price to short cover.

Matt Wright limped out at 11 to help Dave Stephens  to his 1,000th run. Wright himself finished 9 not out before Stephens was caught off the penultimate ball for 28.

The Elf played well in a game that has proved to be tough down the years against a strong outfit but despite their best efforts the total was just out of reach.

The Elf play their next game at Aldridge (hopefully) against usual July opponents Old Moseley Fitmen next week.

Written by Tom Davies

Batting		Runs
Gorton, A	lbw Kelleher	17
Chuck, I	st b Price	55
Philpott, G	b Kelleher	0
Fitspatrick, G	run out	16
Slater, S	c  b Kelleher	3
Hewlitt, R	c  b Price	26
Preece, D	c  b Price	4
Stephens, D	c  b Price	28
Preece, J	b Price	0
Davies, T	c  b Price	5
Wright, M	not out	9
Extras		5
Walsall Health		174

Bowling	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Stephens, D	7	0	27	2
Davies, T	7	1	32	1
Hewlitt, R	4	0	31	0
Wright, M	5	0	31	1
Preece, D	4	0	35	1
Preece, J	2	0	15	0
Chuck, I	6	0	31	0