Disley Cricket Club

In the driest summer in recent memory, Disley and Romiley have sadly been destined to clash in conditions unbefitting of their relative league statuses. This has guaranteed a positive result in both fixtures, but also that whoever is on the wrong end gets short-changed and it was Disley’s turn this weekend as they collected a meagre 4 points. This game could easily have replicated the first had Disley mustered a few more runs, but the deciding factor was an over in which the 1stXI threw away three wickets on their way to 85 all-out. To their immense credit, the team still slugged it out with the league leaders as Xan Wood (3-39) and James Banner (2-10) could have forced an unlikely victory if only they had been given a few more runs to play with.

The DASC had been battered by the elements all week, but work continued in the hope of a game and Disley, Romiley and both league-appointed umpires deserve praise for this game being played to a conclusion. You didn’t need Paul the Octopus to know this wasn’t going to be a run-fest (though he might have enjoyed conditions) and it was a real hammer-blow to have to bat first on a “win the toss, win the game” type of day. By the second over the players were already off for the first of several rain breaks that punctuated a Disley innings that never got going in any context, both openers falling shortly after resumption (11-2). As with the reverse fixture it was clear anything in three figures was competitive and Disley appeared set to do that as Clarke and Baker broke the shackles a little until the loss of the captain triggered a massive collapse. AC didn’t seem too enthused to be sent on his way, but there was little doubt about the rest as the heart was torn out of the innings by visiting captain Alex Barber – including a remarkable triple-wicket maiden as Disley fell from 32-2 to 39-7. The real sickener was that low scores were being combined with no stickability when even a scrappy 20 or 30-ball ‘failure’ could have been valuable. Instead, Tim Baker had to sit on his bat and watch his colleagues fall without a hint of building an innings or, heaven forbid, a partnership. Conditions were tough, but too many in the ranks didn’t find the stomach for the fight before the lower-order at least sought to support Boc. Tailenders often exceed expectations in such circumstances as they find motivation in the form of disdain for their fallen comrades, and 46 runs were added for the final three wickets to show it was possible to bat before Baker was the last man out for a gutsy 25 (85ao) after another rain break had been combined with an early tea.

Sadly the hard graft of Baker (25 from 88 balls) couldn’t be replicated elsewhere as only two others managed double-figures. It also proved tough to generate any momentum in an innings punctuated by regular stoppages for rain as Disley got nothing going against an attack well-led by skipper Barber (7-27). 85 was well short of expectation, but Romiley’s D&C background means they bat aggressively and there would be chances for Disley to register some points and possibly even generate some pressure.

If things hadn’t gone badly enough, for the second time this season a Disley bowler broke down in the opening over and Romiley responded to Hare’s injury troubles by uncompromisingly clubbing 9 runs. The fun didn’t last long as replacement Xan Wood knocked Allcock’s off stump clean out of the ground (16-1), but Disley needed quicker wickets up top if they were to force a win. Rolph struggled to get the bowling away and gifted his wicket to Arrowsmith (34-2), however the more flamboyant innings’ of Bashford and Kelly did just enough to protect a middle-order which Disley would later expose. Xan Wood was in the middle of his best spell this season and, after some close LBW calls, he tempted Bashford to knick off (52-3) before Ross Arrowsmith was fortunate to remove Kelly (66-4) in a bizarre over that doubled his figures from 1-14 to 2-28! For the first time in the game Disley had generated a bit of positive momentum, and, as Wood and Banner reeled off some maidens, the failings of the first innings became all the more frustrating as Romiley limped rather than romped to victory. Wood (1) and Banner (2) picked up more well-deserved wickets, and in the midst of it all Disley also grounded chances and saw others loop to safety as the visitors snuck home unconvincingly seven wickets down. Fittingly it was first-innings hero Barber who hit the winning runs, but Disley should have been sniffing an unlikely victory when he skied his first ball to mid-off where Clarke badly misjudged what could have been a game-changing catch.

It rather summed up the way things went for Disley, as, like in all of the 1stXI’s defeats this year, they mixed frustration and encouragement in equal measure. Wood (3-39) and Banner (2-10) were the undoubted positives but, in a game that was very similar to the earlier encounter, Disley failed to repeat their team effort in the reverse fixture that yielded a match-winning score of 100+.

For the 1stXI’s part they have largely stood their ground with the league leaders in two well-contested fixtures, even though 35 wickets falling for 393 runs in the two games hasn’t been the prettiest of cricket. Given they have been brushing aside other teams with disdain, a return of 29 points from Romiley isn’t to be sniffed at but there is food for thought for the 1stXI who have obviously lost ground after their first single-figure point return since the opening weekend.

Certainly they need to find a way of transferring their team attitude in the field into the individual batting efforts. This is a division where batting strength is King and the 1stXI will live or die by their efforts with the willow from here on in.

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