Memorial game and fun day set for this Sunday

A memorial cricket match and family fun-day for former Walsall Health skipper Tim Oliver will be taking place this Sunday at Rushall Cricket Club.

Two clubs which Tim held close to his heart – Walsall Health and Rushall – will be taking part in the game which will include many of his former team mates from down the years, as well as current players.

Tim – who was leader of the Labour group on Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council – died in May after a long battle with illness.

The game at Rushall’s Carter Park home in Pelsall Lane will start at 2pm with a BBQ and a disco and karaoke afterwards. A raffle – with prizes including a pair of tickets to any Midlands football match, a Harvey Nicholl’s hamper and a whole host of is currently underway and charities which will benefit from the event include Pancreatic Cancer UK, Macmillan Nurses and Amnesty International.

The match ball is being sponsored by Firesec Electrical Limited and local business Katie’s Castles has helped us out with a bouncy castle to keep the kids entertained.

A multiple record holder for The Elf, Tim started playing for the club in the late 80s and soon took over as skipper, continuing to play right up until 2012.

Need directions to Rushall Cricket Club? Have a gander here

v Highwood Park (17/9/2014)

Walsall Health beat Highwood Park by 10 wickets.

The Elf clinched the decider in their three-match series with Highwood Park with a ten-wicket victory spurred on by brilliant performances the flatmate combo of Ian Chuck and debutant Josh Butler.

Ian Chuck – man of the match thanks to brilliant bowling and back-to-back 50s

The win means The Elf take the series by the odd win in three after the defeat in June followed by the series levelling win the following week.

Butler was one of two players making their dayboo for The Elf – along with Shane O’Callaghan – while Dutch import Neil Van Limbeek was making his first appearance in over a year, after he injured his shoulder playing darts.

Winning the toss on a cloudy day which offered up a handful of rainy interruptions, skipper Dave Preece put Highwood Park into bat.

Initially it looked like a decision that would suit the visitors with Park’s dangerman Shaun Allsopp doing what he does best on his way to being the top-scorer in the game with 53.

A string of frustrating dropped catches, edgy appeals and misfields during the opening phases did little to settle The Elf down as Allsopp and fellow opener Owen proved mulish in their opening stand.

Josh Butler – three wickets on dayboo.

The ultra-economical bowling of Chris Hall – now (as if there were any doubt at all) back to the full extent of his extensive powers – Tom Davies and John Nicholls stemmed the flow of runs on what was an awkward track for batsmen. Hall opened his account with four successive maidens followed by two successive overs for one in each, meaning his first six overs went for just two runs. Davies meanwhile was equally frustrating for the Park openers, his opening spell of five overs going for just eight and Nicholls’ six overs included four maidens for just seven runs.

At the 17 over stage, Park had notched up 44 runs without loss before Chucky’s Super Over effectively turned the match on its head.

First, the South African spin merchant clean bowled Owen for an unlucky 13 before continuing his hoodoo over Park hitter Stephen Beattie, luring him into holing out to Preece at mid-off for a second-ball duck.

Andy Gorton – two stumpings and a half century for the main man.

Even then, Highwood Park held firm and it took another ten overs and a 36 run partnership (during which time Allsopp continued to carve himself an excellent innings) before The Elf made another breakthrough, Nathan Martin grabbing the wicket of Allsop leg before wicket.

With the run-scoring threat of Allsopp back in the pavilion, Park crumpled slightly with Tallis stumped by Andy Gorton for nine off the bowling of Butler followed by a brilliant run-out of Cox by Preece for four. Debutants Butler and O’Callaghan combined to dismiss Lapper for nought thanks and Butler then claimed his third wicket – again thanks to a stumping.

And Hall and Davies got the wickets their early spells deserved – Davies first taking Olly Holliday clean for five and then Hall skittling Ralph for two.

Shane O’Callaghan – great catch on dayboo.

The Elf’s pursuit of the 118 needed to win the match and series only looked in threat when the brooding clouds over Aldridge had a tantrum early during the home side’s innings.

But the weather failed to disrupt the tempo too much and openers Chuck and Gorton set about steadily building the response.

For the second successive game, Chuck engineered himself a half-century (albeit thanks to hitting a boundary through mid-wicket for the winning runs, interestingly off the bowling of Beattie) while Gorton added yet another half-ton to his list of achievements.

Gorton’s 51 not out came off just 63 balls (a particularly amazing achievement given the challenging surface) while Chuck’s was a slightly more circumspect, taking 88 balls as the total was reached in the 24th over meaning The Elf could celebrate the series win with ten wickets and sixteen overs to spare.

The Elf’s next outing is in Tim Oliver’s memorial match next Sunday at Rushall Cricket Club.

Batting		Runs
Gorton, A	not out	51
Chuck, I	not out	51
O’Callaghan, S	DNB
Hall, C	DNB
Martin, N	DNB
Nicholls, J	DNB
Van Limbeek, Neil	DNB
Preece, D	DNB
Fitzpatrick, G	DNB
Davies, T	DNB
Wright, M	DNB
Extras		19
Walsall Health		121

Bowling	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Martin, N	7	1	33	1
Davies, T	7	3	11	1
Hall, C	8	5	10	1
Chuck, I	4	0	11	2
Nicholls, J	6	4	7	0
Wright, M	3	0	15	1
Butler, J	3	0	11	3

O’Callaghan

Man of the match: Ian Chuck

Top bat: Ian Chuck and Andy Gorton (51 not out – tie)

Top bowler: Another tough one – but Chris Hall’s figures against the opening attack were impressive.

Rachel Hangover Rating: 8/10 – although she is claiming a migraine was to blame. Until we see some medical evidence, we’re raising an eyebrow to that one.

Rain Dampens a Fixture with Cancellation… …But not ‘The Spirit of the Elf!’

Matt Wright – guest writer from The Elf training camp

Guest writer and spin wizard Matt Wright reports as The Elf make the most of the cancelled clash with Swynnerton.

Amber weather warnings threatening biblical downpours and meteorological armageddon may not have arrived at our doors in the Midlands, but the overnight precipitation that continued into this morning were enough to cancel Walsall Health’s away fixture against a potentially strong Swynnerton team.

Not to rest on our laurels, Rob Hewlitt, fresh from viewing yesterday’s England Victory over India at Old Trafford, organised an indoor alternative. With Stumps, Oldbury, providing a venue for an ‘Elf’ training session.

Eight of the rostered starting XI made it to Nets where three tracks were in action. Batting, bowling and fielding drills were the order of the day. With Hewlitt & Wright turning the middle net into the party zone. It was where all the fun and games was. Vodka filled bails and stumps are mooted for future antics and a petition put into stumps to rename it the Stuart Slater Tribute Track. The accuracy award going to Dave Stephens, taking home a large cuddly toy and a golf fish. Watch out travelling fairs he could punish you.

One lane was erratic with debris all over it. Mat Danks coping well with some mystery balls. And dispatching some that pitched up around his ears. The dynamic Danks will now be sidelined possibly for the remainder or the season. Everyone associated with Walsall Health CC wish him the very best for the pending operation and a swift recovery.

After spectating on Thursday nights session Tipton’s Tony Stark, Iron Man, Chris Hall was back in action and treating us to some of his vintage bowling, however, it was his floral flourishes with the bat that may now have given him a new monica, Lord Chally of Tipton. However, rumour had it there may be a slight weakness in the Iron Man armour being undone by the Chuck & Wright spin bowling combination.

Super Andy Gorton, he bats, he keeps wicket.. And what’s that?… He bowls too! Is there nothing this Elf star can’t do!? Deceptive looping deliveries causing a couple of wickets to clank.

Is Rob Hewlitt the new King of the Swingers? And I’m not talking about fishing car keys out of a bowl to get lucky, but the all round, all action, Walsall Wizard is getting movement in the air.

It was unusual to have Tom Davies bowling without 10 nicknames per second shouted out. Secretly happy that the game was rained off so he could watch the golf.

iChuck buzzing around all over the place with helpful coaching tips. With recent batting heroics it shouldn’t be forgotten he is a ninja with the ball too.

The session started with Dave Stephens smashing the stumps in the fielding practice and ended much the same, clean blowing Matt Wright chasing ‘4 to win’ off the last ball.

We assume those not present had individual training plans…The skipper was working on his running between wickets, Nathan at anger management classes and well Sam is just too good anyway, deserves a day off!

Rachel ‘2 Jugs’ Gorton was also missed as it was hot and humid in Sweltering indoor conditions and a refreshing beverage would have been very welcome.

It’s not quite Game Day, but it’s a great team spirit at the ‘Elf’ and a fun training session was had by all!

v Coventry Willow (3/8/2014)

Walsall Health beat Coventry Willow by 147 runs.

History-making back-to-back centuries by captain marvel Dave Preece provided the cherry on a particularly tasty cake as The Elf bulldozed their way to another excellent win.

Superb notable performances by Ian Chuck (who magnificently carved his way to his first half-century in Elf colours), Matt Wright (who took two catches and two wickets), Chris Hall (whose Lazarus-like recovery continued with a brilliant bowling performance) and Tom Davies (perhaps his best Elf showing with the ball) saw the visitors to a memorable victory.

Winning the toss and electing to bat, The Elf got off to a steady start on a slightly sticky pitch which became a bit livelier as the day went on.

Openers Andy Gorton and Preece were looking good, taking the total to 59 by the 14th over before Gorton was caught off the bowling of Keogh for a credible 22.

This only served to pave the way for the partnership which would see through the total as Chuck went one step further than his encouraging knock the previous week to sail past the half century mark and even threaten to make it to three figures.

Although only 80-1 at drinks, the duo worked through the gears during the last 20 overs to add a further 165 and finish on 245, setting an impressive total and providing Mat ‘Where’s my keys?’ Danks and Rob Hewlitt with severe cases of pad rash.

Such a lofty total was always going to be a challenge for the home side and an explosive performance by The Elf’s strike bowlers Dave Stephens (12 for 2), Hall (10 for 3) and Davies (13 for 1) helped shatter the resistance.

It took the opening pair of Hall and Stephens until the fourth over to see off the Willow opening pair, with Hewlitt and Wright pulling off nifty catches to help the process along.

Hall – in only his second match back in The Elf fold after an enforced lay-off – ultimately grabbed three wickets, clean bowling two Willow batsmen in addition to his opener for just ten runs off his five overs.

The rampant Elf had the home side on the wrack at 27 for five after 11 overs and it required a stubborn seven-over stand by Carl Fenton and Mike Lee to stabilise the collapse, adding 39 runs.

Stuart Slater – good spell of bowling by the squad playboy.

Eventually it was the introduction of Hewlitt that smashed the partnership, grabbing the wicket of the magnificently dreadlocked Fenton (‘FENTON!’) with just his third ball – clean bowled as you like – before Davies produced a brilliant Wales-South Africa combination with Chuck to account for Lee.

With the mid-inning resistance shattered, the wickets came thick and fast with Preece taking great catches from the bowling of Wright (who finished 1 for 2) and Hewlitt (who finished 6 for 2).

A super spell by Stuart Slater effectively opened the way for Wright to arrive and add to his two excellent catches with two wickets in the last over of the game, leaving him on a tantalising hat-trick for when he opens his spell in the next game.

The win represents the seventh victory for The Elf this season and another fantastic showing with everybody playing a contributing part in the win.

* An honourable mention must go to Rich Fell who gallantly fielded for 40 overs (40 TOUGH overs) for the home side after they ended up men down. He then proceeded to bat for them, producing the third highest score, enduring some horrific South African abuse, playing some wonderful strokes to the boundary and avoiding being bowled by Chris Hall.

Batting		Runs
Gorton, A	c b Keogh	22
Preece, D	Not out	106
Chuck, I	Not out	91
Hewlitt, R	dnb
Danks, M	dnb
Forrester, T	dnb
Stephens, D	dnb
Wright, M	dnb
Davies, T	dnb
Hall, C	dnb
Slater, S	dnb
Extras		26
Walsall Health		245

Bowling	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Slater, S	4	0	24	0
Stephens, D	5	3	12	2
Davies, T	5	2	13	1
Danks, M	1	0	5	0
Wright, M	0.5	0	1	2
Hewlitt, R	3	1	6	2
Hall, C	5	2	10	3

Forrester, T

Man of the match: Ian Chuck

Top bat: Dave Preece (106 not out)

Top bowler: Pick the bones out of the figures above but I point to Matt Wright’s two wickets for one run off five balls. Superb bowling all over the shop. But tough to say.

Rachel Hangover Rating: 8/10 – partly carried over from the previous day when she failed to climb out of bed until 7pm after a day hiding from her hangover.

Tea Rating: 7/10 – a very very acceptable collection of snacks. The cheese sandwiches, in particular, went down very well indeed.

v Lichfield Nomads (27/7/2014)

Walsall Health beat Lichfield Nomads by 133 runs.

Dave Preece - a brilliant knock by the returning skipper

Dave Preece – another brilliant knock by the skipper. Suggestions that married life is doing our leader good in terms of his batting.

The return of two Walsall Health legends from different eras helped underpin The Elf’s comprehensive 130 run victory over Lichfield Nomads.

Elf Living Legend Jon Nicholls made his first appearance for over 12 months and seamlessly hit his stride, scoring valuable runs and taking wickets, while Chris ‘Iron Man’ Hall returned after illness and likewise made an impressive impact with both bat and ball.

But it was yet another brilliant performance with the bat by skipper Dave Preece – carving a superb 105 – that was the deciding factor.

Winning the toss and electing to bat on what was an odd track that presented challenges for bowlers and batsmen alike, The Elf set off at a decent rate with Preece and Andy Gorton putting on 25 without loss after four overs.

Jon Nicholls – returning legend had everybody in awe.

In the sixth over Gorton departed for 11, trapped lbw by Hughes, opening the door for the returning Sam Stephens to smash his way to 27 – with a much larger target looking likely – before he was clean bowled by Lee Westwood in the 11th over leaving The Elf at 65 for 2.

Ian Chuck continued where Sam had left off and appeared in tremendous shape with a series of dynamic shots during a partnership with The Skipper that lasted 14 overs.

With Chuck looking a cert for a long overdue 50, he was perhaps unfortunate to lose his wicket trying to sweep George for 35.

But with The Elf on 160 for 3 after 26 overs, the foundations had been laid for a strong total which needed the remaining batsmen to consolidate.

FOUR! Textbook cover drive by Tom Davies but, alas, he was unable to be The Elf’s highest scoring ginger.

Mat Danks notched 12 before his wicket was claimed by Blackburn, Neil Antcliffe (making his dayboo for The Elf and appearing in his first game in over a decade) went for a duck and Dave Stephens added four to the total.

Enter Jon Nicholls – making his first appearance of the season after recovering from injury – who added another 14 to the total before becoming Blackburn’s third victim.

The closing stand of Tom Davies (who survived a very dubious lbw decision on his way to five) and the returning Chris Hall (who knocked 16 runs off just nine deliveries) provided The Elf with a competitive total of 246.

In truth, Nomads never looked like threatening the total and when Sam Stephens saw off the opening pair of Gardener and Paul Fearon for 23, clean bowling both, the battle was even more uphill for the home side.

Nomads made a good fist of frustrating the attempts of The Elf to finish the resistance.

Neil Antcliffe – dayboo boy.

Dave Stephens saw off George for just one before Westwood racked up nine runs before he was bowled by Davies.

The returning Elf legends of Hall and Nicholls then went about their business – strangling any resistance by Nomads.

Ian Hughes fell to Jonty as he attempted a dirty slog shot for 14, opening up a fiercely resilient partnership of Scott and Dave Rolfe which stubbornly refused to capitulate the game, even with Nomads a long way off the total.

Scott top-scored with 21 before a trademark Hall fizzer finally removed him and his next delivery accounted for Blackburn Jnr for a golden duck before his hat-trick was cruelly denied by a questionable lbw decision.

Chris Hall – the returning Iron Man was, as expected, immense.

Dave Rolfe and Blackburn Snr ensured Nomads batted out their overs – despite some exceptionally tight and economical bowling from Chuck, Nicholls and Hall – although ultimately the 133 run margin meant a resounding victory for the visitors.

Batting		Runs
Gorton, A	lbw Hughes	11
Preece, D	c Scott b Blackburn	105
Stephens, S	b Westwood	27
Chuck, I	b George	35
Danks, M	b Blackburn	12
Antcliffe, N	c Rolfe b Fearon	0
Stephens, D	b Pickering	4
Nicholls, J	b Blackburn	14
Davies, T	Not Out	5
Hall, C	Not Out	16
Mate of Chuckie’s	did not show, the nob
Extras		16
Walsall Health		246

Bowling	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Stephens, S	8	2	18	2
Stephens, D	8	2	16	1
Davies, T	6	1	21	1
Chuck, I	5	2	6	0
Nicholls, J	6	2	10	1
Antcliffe, N	1	0	17	0
Hall, C	6	2	8	2

Man of the match: Dave Preece

Top bat: Dave Preece (105 not out)

Top bowler: Chris Hall (two wickets for eight runs off six overs and his first over went for five)

Rachel Hangover Rating: 1/10 very poor. Once the girl gets a full time job we are expecting a marked improvement in performance.

v Old Moseley Arms Fitmen (20/7/2014)

Moseley beat Walsall Health by 10 runs.

Gary Fitzpatrick – a superb performance by the Gerry McCann lookalikey.

Two heroic batting partnerships bookending The Elf response couldn’t prevent the home side slipping to a narrow defeat against an impressive Moseley outfit.

Rich Fell (sporting a Rachel Gorton-esque hangover after a stag do) and Ian Chuck put on a fantastic stand early on which was mirrored by a brilliant late stab by Gary Fitzpatrick and Nathan Martin.

Fielding first in gruelling heat, The Elf found themselves facing a formidable opening pair of Tom Caeser and Mike Ralph, with the later in particular playing some devastating shots on his way to his match winning knock of 87.

Although Caeser survived the plummest of plum LBWs off the bowling of Davies in the third over, the opening pair carved out an impressive start, getting to 74 before Caesar holed out to the safe hands of Rob Hewlitt on the boundary for 36.

But with Ralph smashing the runs at the one end, The Fitmen were happy to let a series of partners play supporting roles.

Nathan Martin – almost won it for The Elf.

Simon Howarth hit 13 – including two brutal boundaries – before he was trapped LBW by Dave Stephens in the 23rd over before Taz Yousaf added another nine before Matt Wright added to his growing list of scalps with a clean bowled wicket.

Ralph finally saw his demise when Tony Forrester pulled off a brilliant catch off his own bowling to remove the danger man for a brilliant 87 and the same bowler got Adrian Martin for 14 after a good catch in the deep by Chuck.

Fitzpatrick claimed a catch behind the stumps to end a brilliant boundary-laden cameo by Sunny Singh for 19 off the bowling of Martin and then Tom Davies saw off Guy Brentnall and Ian Nutt (both for ducks) to leave The Elf with a challenging target of 204.

The Elf’s response took an early blow when Hewlitt fell clean to Brentnall, but this paved the way for the partnership of Chuck (who undoubtedly produced his best performance for The Elf with the bat on his way to 36) and Fell (who flailed away in the midst of a psychedelic hangover to get a brilliant 44).

The pressure of chasing the Fitmen total was perhaps too much as Chuck was run out after 18 overs, signalling the arrival of Fitzpatrick at the crease for an innings that saw The Elf, against all odds, knocking on the door of victory.

Rich Fell – A great showing for a bloke who was clearly hanging.

Fell was caught out for 44, windmilling a shot off the bowling of Adrian Martin, before Mat Danks (4), Stuart ‘Where’s Me Wallet?’ Slater (5) and Dave Stephens (10) chipped in to move The Elf towards the total.

But it was the late partnership of Fitzpatrick and Martin that saw the fireworks, taking The Elf from 139-5 after 32 overs to requiring 15 off the last over to snatch an unlikely victory.

Sadly, the pressure told and Ralph was brought in to see the job through for The Fitmen, taking the wicket of Martin for a mouth-watering 30 and provide the visitors with a deserved 10 run victory.

Batting		Runs
Chuck, I	run out	34
Hewlitt, R	b Brentnall	1
Fell, R	c b Martin	44
Fitzpatrick, G	Not out	44
Danks, M	b Martin	4
Slater, S	c b Fay	5
Stephens, D	c b Fay	10
Martin, N	b Ralph	30
Davies, T	Not out	0
Forrester, T	did not bat
Wright, M	did not bat
Extras		20
Walsall Health		194

Bowling	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Martin, N	8	1	26	1
Stephens, D	8	0	35	2
Davies, T	4.3	0	28	2
Chuck, I	8	0	45	0
Forrester, T	5	0	30	2
Wright, M	5	0	30	2

Man of the match: Gary Fitzpatrick

Top bat: Well…. both Rich and Fitz scored 44 but Nathan got 30 off 19 balls. Pick the bones out of that one.

Top bowler: Welsh Tom

Rachel Hangover Rating: 9.5 – a brilliant effort. The poor girl was in some glam place the night before, was vomiting all over the shop and everything. Brilliant work.

Tim Oliver memorial match date confirmed

A memorial match for former Walsall Health skipper Tim Oliver has been confirmed for Sunday August 24.

Tim – who was leader of the Labour group on Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council – died in May after a long battle with illness.

The game at Rushall’s Carter Park home in Pelsall Lane will start at 2pm with a BBQ and a disco and karaoke afterwards.

An alcohol-laden raffle is currently underway and charities which will benefit from the event include Pancreatic Cancer UK, Macmillan Nurses and Amnesty International.

A multiple record holder for The Elf, Tim started playing for the club in the late 80s and soon took over as skipper, continuing to play right up until 2012.

Tim will be remembered as a fiery, committed and supremely talented batsman and bowler whose trademark ‘square-jaw’ look at crucial stages during games served as an inspiration to his team mates and a warning sign to the opposition.

Steve Fell, a long-time team mate of Tim’s, said: “Tim was a much-loved character on the local circuit with both players who played with and against him.

“As a result, a lot of players around the local circuit will be taking part in the match and it promises to be a great day.

“It might involve trips into the loft to retrieve kit and some sore Bank Holiday limbs for some of the older players, but it will all be worth it.

“The game will be a great opportunity to raise funds for Rushall and also for charity, in addition to celebrating Tim’s life and his love of cricket.”

Team mate Rick Jarrams said: “On the field Tim was a colossus, amazing with both bat and ball and a reluctant but successful captain for several years.

“Tim will always be a true WHCC legend and will be sadly missed by your team mates past and present and also by many of our friendly opponents over the years.”

v Breadsall (6/7/2014)

Breadsall beat Walsall Health by 4 wickets.

Dave Preece – second successive fifty

A second successive fifty for skipper Dave Preece wasn’t enough to save The Elf as they were defeated by a very talented young Breadsall side.

And in further good news for the skipper, he only ran out one of his team mates on his way to his half century.

The Elf welcomed back the man with more lookalikes than Madame Toussands, ‘Welsh’ Tom Davies back into the fold for his first game of the season.

In what was the first encounter between the two sides, Breadsall won the toss and elected to put The Elf in to bat on a wonderfully sloping pitch in picturesque surrounds.

Breadsall were patting themselves on the back for that decision when opener Rob Hewlitt fell in the first over, lofting a relatively straightforward catch to mid-wicket for a duck.

Ian Chuck came in and restored some order, with him and Andy Gorton putting on a partnership for 22 before Gorton departed for an unlucky 13.

The ship was well and truly stabilised with the arrival of Preece as he and Chuck took full advantage of the slope to begin turning the momentum against the opening bowlers Holmes and Payne.

Tom Davies - great bowling by the Ben Stokes lookalike

Tom Davies – great bowling by our very own Ben Stokes lookalike

At the half-way point, The Elf were 54 for 2 and sensing the platform for a push for a decent total.

The immediate departure of Chuck – yet another relatively straight-forward catch – for 23 meant the arrival of Dave Stephens who put on 15 before he was run out by the skipper, who continued to chalk up the runs at the other end.

Rich Fell notched up a boundary-laden knock of ten before he was clean bowled by an elementary delivery by Holmes.

But the last ten overs were heavy going for The Elf as they would have been looking to accelerate towards two hundred they were well pegged back by Breadsall.

The last three overs saw The Elf drop two wickets while adding just nine runs with Forrester trapped lbw for another unlucky 13 and Nathan Martin run out for a duck.

The Elf’s total of 144 might have been better if Matt Wright had been successful in his effort to carry on batting after the 40 overs were complete, charging out with a purpose to the middle following Martin’s dismissal only to be met by the fielding team heading back towards the pavillion.

In the defence of Wrighty, the fact that he was walking AWAY from the food, just as it was being made available just shows his commitment to the cause.

Matt Wright – a fine catch at midwicket to dismiss the opener Pook and his bowling saw the exit of the match winner Sam Buck.

Wright did contribute almost immediately in the field, taking a gobsmackingly brilliant diving one-handed catch to remove Pook for a duck off the bowling of Martin.

But The Elf came up against the excellent poised batting of Sam Buck who frustrated the visitors’ bowling attack as he notched up a brilliant 70, almost carrying his bat through the innings.

However, The Elf had no shortage of chances to remove the dangerman as he was dropped on a number of occasions en route to his match winning knock.

The Elf made a reasonable fist at chipping away at Buck’s partners with Chuck claiming the wicket of Golding with his first ball and repeating the feat by clean-bowling Hindmarch for seven.

Buck kept piling on the runs, however, holding up the Breadsall innings, even as Dave Stephens claimed the slightly fortuitous wicket of Smith for 12.

The arrival of Redhead at the wicket (the Breadsall batsman, not Tom Davies) following the run-out of Avi for four, effectively killed The Elf’s chances of taking anything from the game as he knocked an impressive 24 as he Buck continued to turn the screw.

Redhead eventually fell to the bowling of Martin, forcing a handy catch from Dave Stephens and Stephens was responsible for finally removing Buck with another catch off the bowling of Matt Wright.

But it proved too little, too late, as Breadsall’s partnership of Holmes and Holmes steered the side over the line without much trouble earning the home side a deserved win with three overs to spare.

Batting		Runs
Gorton, A	c b Payne	13
Hewlitt, R	c b Holmes	0
Chuck, I	c b Smith	23
Preece, D	b Holmes	58
Stephens, D	Run Out	15
Fell, R	b Holmes	10
Forrester, T	lbw Buck	13
Martin, N	Run Out	0
Davies, T	Not Out	1
Danks, M	did not bat
Wright, M	did not bat
Extras		11
Walsall Health		144

Bowling	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Martin, N	7	2	35	2
Stephens, D	8	2	22	1
Davies, T	4	3	10	0
Chuck, I	8	1	29	2
Forrester, T	4	0	15	0
Wright, M	2	0	14	1
Fell, R	3	0	9	0

Man of the match: Dave Preece

Top bat: Dave Preece (58)

Top bowler: Probably Ian Chuck (2 for 29) but Nathan Martin’s (2 for 35) was decent and Tom Davies did brilliantly also.

Rachel Hangover Rating: 9.5 – carried forward from the previous Thursday’s Elf Social at the Red Lion in West Bromwich which the poor girl cannot remember attending and had to take a day off sick the following day…. very impressive stuff.

Tea rating: 10. Brilliant. Acarn spake. They clearly like their teas up in Derbyshire. Homemade cake, peanut butter sandwiches, the lot. Quite special.

v Highwood Park (29/6/2014)

Walsall Health beat Highwood Park by 141 runs.

Dave Preece – a brilliant knock by the returning skipper

Walsall Health squared their three-match series with Highwood Park with a comprehensive win after last week’s defeat.

The Elf welcomed back skipper Dave Preece and opening bowler Sam Stephens while Gary Fitzpatrick donned the gloves as wicketkeeper.

Outstanding batting performances by Andy Gorton (85) and Dave Preece (95 not out) provided The Elf with the platform necessary to build a commanding total which the multi-faceted bowling attack by the home side was able to ensure was never really threatened.

Despite the impressive total of 223 set by The Elf, Highwood Park’s opening bowling attack did a magnificent job of pegging back the openers Preece and Gorton.

After nine overs The Elf had managed to notch up just 13 runs, with Olly Holliday (8 overs, 4 maidens, 18 runs for no wickets) producing arguably the best spell of bowling faced this season which deserved a wicket.

As the overs ticked by the runs began to flow, with Gorton producing an array of aggressive strokes to reach his fifty first.

Turner finally trapped Gorton LBW for 85 in the 29^th over with The Elf on 134, opening the way for the returning Sam Stephens to step into the breach.

Mat Danks – late cameo.

Stephens provided the heavy foot for the runs accelerator, driving the skipper along towards his century, before he was caught on the boundary off the bowling of Ralph for 28.

A late cameo appearance by Mat Danks – adding five not out, running out of overs just as he was looking good for a ton – saw The Elf set 223, a marked contrast to last week’s effort.

The pincer attack of Sam and Dave Stephens set about Highwood Park from the off with Sam’s effort (a miserly five runs off six overs for one wicket) alongside a virtuoso spell by Dave (eight overs, three maidens, eleven for one) setting the tone.

It was Dave Stephens who drew first blood, claiming Tallis for one thanks to a nifty catch by Tony Forrester in the fourth over.

Stephens Junior was next, forcing Turner to chip to Dave Preece for six in the eighth over before Ian Chuck struck with the first ball of his spell, claiming Ralph caught and bowled for four.

John Preece – two wickets for Champ.

Then it was the turn of John Preece to do the damage, first claiming the wicket of Greenway LBW for seven and then claiming the scalp of Lapper for nought thanks to another brilliant catch by Forrester.

With the required run rate in excess of ten an over, top scorer Stephen Beattie creamed a succession of shots to the boundaries – including some magnificent cover drives – on his way to a head-turning top score of 23 before he was clean bowled by one of Chuck’s devious deliveries.

Meanwhile, Holliday, who had caused so much frustration for The Elf with the ball put on 11 before Forrester claimed his first wicket thanks to a catch from Sam Stephens.

Rob Hewlitt – first wicket of the season in his first spell.

Forrester claimed his second wicket, trapping Hutton LBW for a duck during a spell of devastating bowling which saw him claim two wickets in two overs for ten runs.

There was time for Rob Hewlitt to take his first wicket of the season in his first bowling spell, claiming the wicket of Hipkiss with a catch from Gorton and Matt Wright claimed the prized wicket of Shaun Allsopp thanks to a stumping by Fitzpatrick.

The 141 run victory levelled the three-match series (with the decider set for August 17) and paved the way for posh soap-based shower celebrations.

Batting		Runs
Gorton, A	lbw Turner	85
Preece, D	not out	95
Stephens, S	c Hipkiss b Ralph	28
Danks, M	not out	5
Forrester, T	did not bat
Stephens, D	did not bat
Hewlitt, R	did not bat
Chuck, I	did not bat
Fitzpatrick, G	did not bat
Preece, J	did not bat
Wright, M	did not bat
Extras		10
Walsall Health		223

Bowling	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Stephens, S	6	1	5	1
Stephens, D	8	3	11	1
Preece, J	5	1	17	2
Chuck, I	4	0	16	2
Forrester, T	2	0	10	2
Wright, M	3	0	15	1
Hewlitt, R	2	1	4	1

Man of the match: Dave Preece

Top bat: Dave Preece (95 not out)

Top bowler: Hard to say, pick the bones out of the stats above and chose for yourself

Rachel Hangover Rating: 8.5/10 – a really impressive return to form after an all-dayer in Digbeth.

Walsall Health Cricket Club

Spirit of The 'Elf

Memorial game and fun day set for this Sunday

v Highwood Park (17/9/2014)

Rain Dampens a Fixture with Cancellation… …But not ‘The Spirit of the Elf!’

v Coventry Willow (3/8/2014)

v Lichfield Nomads (27/7/2014)

v Old Moseley Arms Fitmen (20/7/2014)

Tim Oliver memorial match date confirmed

v Breadsall (6/7/2014)

v Highwood Park (29/6/2014)