Embarrassing, depressing and sad. Just three words to describe the drubbing of Hayfield at the hands of a record-breaking Dinting side who showed little mercy on their way to breaking the DCCL first division points scoring record in the final game of the season.

Hayfield’s depleted first eleven became even weaker in the run up to the game with a succession of withdrawals leaving the remaining players scurrying around trying to find extra players whilst the Dinting boys went through yet another warm up routine. Injuries, rugby, football, cricket, work, birthday parties, university, and the priority to leave the seconds with a reasonable side, all combined to leave the villagers with only five regular first team players supplemented with four juniors, one ex-player and a call to arms for borderline retiree Steve Shaw.

Hayfield batted first and opened up with Dave Aldridge and Sam Hudson. When both were back inside the pavilion without a run on the board, utter humiliation loomed. However, Dave Platt saved some blushes with a determined 45 and George Wood will rue the coming of winter as he looked in good form for his 23. Steve Shaw and Chris South provided a sprinkling of boundaries but, as expected, the tail succumbed to Greg Hardwick and Danny Brightmore and Hayfield’s innings wilted to 105 all out after just 23 overs.

With only Dave Platt offering anything with the ball, Dinting cruised to victory with many overs to spare. Only Platt with the ball and wicketkeeper Shaw showed any real class, although Robinson took a fine catch running backwards from point and the youngsters showed keen enthusiasm in the field.

Amidst all the doom and gloom and the frequent rain showers, the players, and in particular stand-in skipper Hudson, showed commendable attitude in trying to continue with the game when some clubs would have been less keen to do so. This was a fact not unnoticed by the Dinting players and supporters.

But this was a bad day for Hayfield who, following five consecutive defeats, finished just one place above the relegation zone when third place was a possibility just a month ago. If the limit of our ambitions is to avoid relegation then we will surely struggle next year. By contrast, Dinting have had a fantastic season with only a single league defeat to their name. In romping to their first league title, Adam Wilson’s men have shown the rest of us how quality and desire will bring success and it will be a tough job for anyone to knock them off their perch next season. Come on you Dinting Boys!

Hayfield paid their first ever first eleven league visit to Buxton Cricket Club but came home with their tails between their legs after a deserved ten-run loss and a fourth consecutive game without victory. Defeat to their determined hosts could have proved disastrous had Compstall and Chapel not both lost their games too. Avoiding relegation does not disguise the fact that commitment and attitude at Hayfield sometimes leave a lot to be desired and that complacency has left the club in a position that does justice neither to the hard work of the non-playing members nor the ability of those who represent the club on the field of play.

The opening exchanges in the game proved a pointer to what was to follow when the Buxton opening pairing marched purposefully to the wicket with the Hayfield fielders arriving behind them in dribs and drabs and with at least one of the bowlers still having lunch in the changing room. It was therefore no surprise that the first few overs saw the batsmen, and in particular Steve Knighton, dine out on the assortment of pies and cakes sent down in the first five overs.

Buxton had already had already been gifted a start before Dave Platt and Gareth Davies found any real rhythm, but eventually Davies induced an edge from Knighton to peg back the scoring and to bring former Hayfield player Julian Burgess to the crease. Opener Luke Smith and his new partner batted steadily to take the score past 125 without further loss as a steady but unthreatening attack struggled to pose any real problems to the home team. Hayfield’s cause was not assisted by some embarrassing fielding that was more befitting of a lady’s pub six-a-side competition on a wet day than decent club cricket.

Tom Jarvis and Jason Ward both bowled steady spells before Dave Aldridge replaced Jarvis and Platt returned at the pavilion end. Platt took Hayfield’s second wicket with a fortunate full toss that Smith spooned back to him and, following a brief cameo, Amrit Singh was LBW playing across the line to Aldridge.

Meanwhile, Burgess had reached a serene 50 but the real impetus to Buxton’s innings came from Tom Forder and, following Forder’s dismissal, Ian Betts who struck the ball sweetly to take his side to a healthy 229-5 after 45 overs. Burgess provided the ballast to the innings and finished undefeated on 81.

Hayfield’s response to the total started poorly with Shane Furness departing to Mark Hill in the third over. However, Sam Hudson and Gareth Davies took the score to 44 before rain interrupted proceedings for half an hour. On the resumption, the score moved to seventy before Hudson was bowled by McKenzie for 23. Aldridge and Davies added thirty before Aldridge fell in a similar vein and at 102-3, and with a lengthy tail to follow, things looked bleak for the visitors.

Davies and George Wood, however, had other ideas. Davies was playing comfortably the best innings of the day and found an ally in Wood who struck the ball cleanly from the outset to set his side on the road to victory. The pairing put on seventy in ten overs to keep pace with the chase. But disaster struck when Davies spooned a Hill full toss to mid-wicket to dent his side’s chances. Wood was still seeing the ball well in the gloom and smote a huge six over mid-wicket to prompt a remarkable set of acoustics from some of his team mates. However, the delirium subsided as the new batters failed to match his sparkle in the descending gloom. Both batters and fielders struggled to see the ball and Hayfield’s response fell ten runs short with Wood bowed, but undefeated, on a brave 71. For Buxton, McKenzie bowled a tidy spell to pick up three wickets and Amrit Singh was perhaps the pick of the bowlers with his ability to hold his nerve at the end of the innings.

Congratulations to Buxton who stay up after four consecutive victories and commiserations to Chapel, whose battling end of season performances finally stalled at Newton to send them down. Unbelievably, Compstall will join Chapel in Division 2 next year after defeat at Broadbottom. After playing second fiddle to their arch rivals for five years, it would be too easy, and not to mention inappropriate from a not-so-lofty perch, for us to gloat on Compstall’s demise. Instead we’ll offer our condolences and accept (with good grace) that it could so easily have been us playing second division cricket next year. But please JR, let’s have a resumption of the Compie match reports. We’ve missed them and hopefully you’ll win a few games next year to put you in the right mood….. "You only script when you’re winning, script when you’re winning…."

Despite a much-improved batting performance by the villagers, Hayfield slumped to a hat-trick of defeats as Newton made surprisingly light work of what should have been an imposing total of 226 following a fine undefeated century from ‘Captain Fantastic’ Shane Furness.

Hayfield took first knock on a green but flat wicket but openers Furness and Dan Humphries soon found the going tough against Andy Grant and M Pottage who beat the bat regularly and forced the batsmen into a succession of false shots. However, the partnership stayed intact until Humphries drilled Pottage to mid-off just as he began to find some form.

Gareth Davies’ arrival at the wicket brought a touch of quality to proceedings as the run rate increased with a flurry of textbook shots. But a fine cameo reached an ugly end as Davies lost his middle stump to a heave off Grant. Meanwhile Furness’ obdurate innings was beginning to find some bluster and he and Dave Aldridge (32) put on a quick-fire fifty partnership in the last ten overs. Aldridge fell with four overs remaining but Furness took the reins and blasted his way to a fine century which included fifty runs in the last five overs. George Wood hit boundaries as Hayfield’s score blossomed from 140-3 after 35 overs to 226-5 after 45.

After a wonderful tea, which reciprocated Newton’s magnificent effort earlier in the season, Hayfield took to the field confident of a comfortable win. Their optimism was further heightened with a Gareth Davies wicket in the first over and when a rain shower arrived to interrupt proceedings after fourteen overs, it was the Newton players who were the team more eager to leave the field.

Newton’s batting, however, is always dangerous and, on the resumption of play, the visitors batted positively to keep themselves in the hunt. Phil Hammond fell to Anthony Ebbrell for thirty and Dave Aldridge took two wickets in his first three overs to reduce Newton to 93-4. But, despite a cagey start to his innings, AJ Grant played a superb knock to change the course of the game and he received crucial support from Alan Barnard who played second fiddle to his partner in a sensible innings that ensured Newton kept wickets in hand.

When Grant fell for 67, Hayfield sensed a turning of the tide but Barnard took charge as he continued Newton’s domination of a disappointing Hayfield bowling attack which was again sorely missing Dave Platt. In the end, Shane Furness ran out of options as Barnard (47 not out) and Gary Wilde bludgeoned the last few runs to win with more than two overs remaining.

Hayfield will look to reverse their losing run at an improving Buxton side next weekend.

Missing six first team regulars, Hayfield’s depleted side were unable to overpower basement side Chapel who are showing some determination in trying to avoid what was beginning to look like certain relegation.

Chapel took first knock on a damp pitch and were able to muster 153 despite Gary Pheasey suffering a rare batting failure. Instead, Chapel had their inexperienced middle order to thank for posting what proved to be a challenging total. Jordan Pickering (34) and Ben Harding (36) put together an impressive half-century partnership after Gareth Davies had decimated their top order on a sporting pitch. Tom Jarvis once again bowled a lengthy spell without much luck and it left Davies to take the plaudits with 4-49. Dan Humphries also provided useful support in taking 2-41 from twelve overs.

Hayfield’s reply never really got going as a string of low scores undermined the run chase. Only Dan Humphries made it past twenty runs as Joe Jackson (4-25) and James Hawtin (5-83) proved too good. George Wood (17) and Chris South (18) showed some fight but despite a late flurry from Jarvis, Hayfield were never really in the hunt as they limped past the third batting point without getting anywhere near Chapel’s score.

Broadbottom completed the league double over a Hayfield side that continues to be consistent only in its ability to be inconsistent. Once again, a weak batting effort undermined a solid and disciplined bowling effort that had put Shane Furness’ men in sight of victory over a side that should now comfortably secure the league runners up spot.

Broadbottom’s in-form batting line up was challenged by a marathon bowling spell from veteran seamer Tom Jarvis who bowled unchanged for twenty overs in recording impressive figures of 4-59. Jarvis found an ally in Gareth Davies who is gradually finding his rhythm after two years in the bowling wilderness. The opening pairing had the home side reeling at 23-3 before Aaron Walsh (40) and Phil Rowston (20) repaired the innings to leave Pratt and Riley to add some bite to the late innings and give the home side some cause for optimism.

Davies secured two late wickets to complete a four wicket haul and Anthony Ebbrell once again bowled a tidy spell at the death and conceded only four runs per over in securing two late wickets.

Hayfield’s reply never really gained any impetus as Furness fell for a duck and Sam Hudson was bowled by paceman Jay Riley. Dan Humphries fought hard for his 26 but wickets fell regularly and it was left to Ebbrell and Chris South to battle past the hundred mark before subsiding to a paltry 106 all out.

There are two burning questions when a side hosts Old Glossop: "Have we made enough food?" and the secondly "Which OG side will show up?". Hayfield’s history against this weekend’s dangerous visitors has been sketchy although more recent performances have proved more fruitful. Fortunately, on this occasion, the villagers had a little too much for their visitors with an at times nervy, but ultimately well-deserved, victory.

Shane Furness won the toss and invited OG to bat first on a firm but green wicket which had been shielded from the inclement weather earlier in the week. Dave Platt and Josh Unsworth found some early movement against the opening pairing of Wright and Eyre who found only the occasional bad ball to punish. Wright was the first wicket to fall, miscuing a pull to mid-wicket off Unsworth, and Platt soon found Eyre’s off stump via an inside edge.

OG at this stage were on 25-2 when their captain Matt Woodcock was joined by McGrail. Both batsmen initially kerbed their natural instincts to attack as they sought to consolidate their side’s poor start. However, with Platt and Unsworth tiring, boundaries began to flow as they took the score to eighty with little reason to be concerned.

Andy Cox was introduced to the attack following his late promotion to the first eleven. Despite a nervous start, Cox found a steady rhythm and some late swing and was rewarded with two wickets, including the valuable scalp of McGrail for 46. Meanwhile, at the other end, Dave Aldridge bamboozled Woodcock with a delivery so poor that it had the unlucky batsmen caught in 22 different minds as to where to hit it for six. Amazingly, the ball was fired back into the hands of the startled bowler who pouched a fortuitous caught and bowled to remove the OG danger-man.

Thereafter, the OG batting faltered and only Andy King offered any real thrust to the score as Hayfield’s fielders clung on to their catches to close out the innings for a below-par 159. Unsworth returned for a second spell as and he and Gareth Davies, who replaced Cox from the playground end, shared six wickets in a disciplined late innings effort.

Hayfield’s response to the total was positive from the start as Sam Hudson and Shane Furness drove the ball confidently to give some early innings impetus. However, both batsmen were caught behind in the twenties to increase the tension in the home dressing room that was missing messrs Higginbottom, Humphries and Ebbrell. However, for the second week running, Gareth Davies produced some exquisite batting to settle his side’s nerves. Davies’ assault on Declan Hall, normally a reliable and economical bowler for his team, was quite remarkable in its quality and precision placement. The OG spinner lasted just two overs before McGrail was introduced in a last desperate attempt to alter the course of the game.

Woodcock’s gamble provided a twist in the tale to Hayfield’s victory story. Firstly, Davies played too early on a pull shot to a McGrail long-hop that ended up in the wicketkeeper’s gloves, resulting in a successful appeal for caught behind. Then Steve Farmer, following decades of plundering runs for the second team and now with the opportunity to make the number five position in the first team his very own, had his very own Ravi Bopara moment of ‘what could have been’ as he tried to repeat a glorious cover drive only to drill a McGrail half volley to extra cover.

Meanwhile, Tom Hudson was keeping his nerve and was joined by Dave Aldridge with over fifty still needed for victory. Aldridge immediately went on the offensive with a flurry of boundaries, some off the middle of the bat and some more fortunate, but within eight overs, Hayfield had crossed the victory line with Hudson undefeated on 21 and Aldridge 38 not out.

Hayfield have now won four successive league games and have moved effortlessly up into fifth place with Hawk Green and Hazel Grove now firmly in their sights.

At first sight, this appears to have been a comfortable victory for the villagers at a ground where positive results have been hard to come by and where even the clacking of the passing trains appear to run to the tune of ‘can we play you every week?’. However, no victory against the youthful Grove side is easy and Hayfield only prevailed thanks to a magnificent unbeaten partnership of 135 between Sam Hudson and new signing from the Potteries, Gareth Davies.

Shane Furness won the toss and inserted his hosts on a sporting wicket which had received a good soaking prior to the game. Dave Platt and Josh Unsworth took the new ball and found plenty of movement in the track and Unsworth made an early breakthrough with the important wicket of Geoff Noden. However, opening partner Nick Hayward fought through the difficult first few overs to register another half century. Along with Rick Burke and the Grove middle order, Hayward played a gritty innings which laid the platform for some late hitting by Andy Oldfield to post a competitive score.

Hayfield will have been slightly disappointed with their fielding as at least two catches were spilled but Tom Hudson made up for the missing sparkle with a brilliant piece of work to initiate a late run out. All the bowlers bowled decent spells and seamers Platt, Unsworth and Jarvis shared five wickets.

Hayfield’s reply again started poorly. Any thoughts of a typical ‘carry your bat’ innings from Furness soon disappeared as opening bowler Rogers got a ball to lift and Hayfield’s captain was on his way back to the pavilion without scoring. Dan Humphries soon followed after a misjudging a ball that nipped back and Ben Higginbotton and Tom Hudson both spooned catches to leave Hayfield teetering on 21-4 with Rogers the successful bowler on each occasion.

Despite the carnage that was ensuing around him, Sam Hudson was making batting look easy and he found a perfect ally in Davies who, despite the occasional play-and-miss, played both correctly and positively. The pairing led their side out of turbulent waters and into the Sea of Tranquility (no prizes for spotting the ‘Moon’ connection) as they punished a tiring attack. With Ian Hayward unavailable, Rogers and Ryan Hayward were not backed up by the Grove change bowlers who were smashed to all parts as Hayfield raced home. Davies finished on 76 not out and Hudson on 58 to see their side to 18 more points and, for the first time since the first match of the season, Hayfield have won more games than they have lost.

The Hayfield villagers prevailed over Hawk Green in one of the more memorable and closely contested games witnessed at the Market Street ground. However, the victory assumed almost Phyrric status as a serene run chase metamorphosed into a shambolic near-capitulation which was only averted thanks to a puzzling late bowling change that allowed the hosts wriggle to a barely-deserved win.

Hayfield were sent out to field on a hot day by visiting captain Lee Hallas. Shane Furness made the slightly left-field decision to open the bowling with Dave Aldridge which nearly paid dividends when he found Sam Messih’s outside edge early on. However, the sharp chance went begging and Messih and Mike Shenton batted without further alarm to reach 33 after ten overs.

Josh Unsworth replaced Aldridge and immediately accounted for Shenton with a slower ball that Furness held on to in the gully. Justin Blackhurst joined Messih and both rode their luck, especially the Green number three who made it past twenty with a succession of edges punctuated only occasionally by a crisp cover drive. Dave Platt was particularly unfortunate and was unlucky not to have Blackhurst’s wicket on numerous occasions.

After reaching his half-century, Messih began to struggle with concentration but Blackhurst found some form as the Green innings gained momentum. Platt tired after a lengthy first spell and the Hayfield support bowlers offered little else to trouble their visitors. Messih perished in an attempt to slog Unsworth but this only brought the evergreen Craig young to the crease who scored quickly from the outset.

After a shaky start, Blackhurst was looking menacing and a huge score looked possible. That Hayfield remained in contention was purely down to the fielding brilliance of Ben Higginbottom who threw down the stumps to run out Blackhurst who fell just short of his fifty. Young however was in no mood to reflect on his partner’s demise and struck a hard-hit eighty to see his side to an above par total of 242. Whilst Platt was the pick of the bowlers, Unsworth achieved the best figures with 3 wickets including the valuable wicket of Young which meant that Green had new batsmen at the crease in the final five overs.

Hayfield’s reply could not have started better. Sam Hudson looked in imperious form as he pummelled the Hawk Green attack, including taking fifteen runs off opening bowler Hallas’ first over. Shane Furness also looked in better touch, and whilst not as fluent as Hudson, he ensured that the run rate stayed at five an over. The opening pair sailed past fifty, then a century and the 150 as they made good batting look simple. However, after the second drinks break and the landmark of a brilliant century from Hudson, Furness ran himself out before Humphreys was adjudged LBW to O’Connor and pandemonium ensued.

Green sensed a Hayfield wobble and with Messih finding some turn and O’Connor giving little away, Hayfield panicked. Hudson edged to the keeper, Higginbottom was caught on the boundary and Aldridge perished first ball. Tom Hudson was bowled trying to pull and George Wood played around a straight one. Platt fell LBW leaving Chris South and Josh Unsworth at the crease needing 23 off three overs.

Unsworth clubbed a six and some good running and lusty hitting meant that the pair were still at the wicket at the start of the final over with seven runs needed. However, Messih was removed from the attack despite having taken four wickets and gave way to Mike Hudson. Initially the gamble paid off as South skied the second ball of the over to mid-wicket. However, the batsmen crossed but bats were no longer required as four byes and scampered single off a no ball ensured that Hayfield got home by the skin of their teeth. A great victory but not a convincing one with only Sam Hudson and Shane Furness to congratulate for the successful run chase.

Heavy weekend rain put paid to Hayfield’s efforts to stage a game of cricket on Saturday. Hayfield play a vital league game at Compstall next week and visit Tintwistle in the Bissenden Cup semi-final on Sunday.

There were strange goings on aplenty as Hayfield received another warm welcome from their hosts, Newton, on a breezy and rain-threatened Saturday afternoon. Not only were Hayfield able to record successive league victories, but the weather stayed dry and the visitors to the Hyde suburbs were able to emerge victorious despite having to bowl and field on the back of the most excessive and glorious tea served in these parts for many a year.

With Hayfield’s inability to win games when batting second, it was perhaps not a huge disappointment to be inserted on a damp, rain-affected wicket that resembled a snooker table in colour but not in flatness. Captain Shane Furness led ‘Private’ Tom Hudson out to the wicket with the Newton firing squad waiting to deliver their execution via the media of a new ball and a bowler friendly track. However, following on from last week’s determined opening stand which set the platform for a large total, the opening pairing once again were able to dodge the bullets from a mis-firing Newton attack. Despite taking the occasional body blow from lifting deliveries, Hayfield moved to fifty without loss in 16 overs before Hudson was dismissed for 28, cutting to point after another promising innings in which he punished anything on leg stump.

Ben Higginbottom joined the fray and soon had his captain running frantically with some quickly taken singles. Furness was playing watchfully but punished the short ball well and Higginbottom played purposefully to take the score to 85 before both players perished in quick succession, Furness for a hard-fought 53 and Higginbottom 25.

Thereafter though, the innings somewhat fell away and although 157 was a respectable total on this wicket, 175 should have been attainable. Newton’s medium pacer Turner and spinner Koria bowled tightly in the latter stages as the last five wickets fell for fewer than twenty runs. Turner returned excellent figures of 5-28 to give his side cause for optimism.

Normally a cricket tea would have no place in a match report but if cricket were to introduce a ‘Hall of Fame’ for tea ladies, then Newton indeed have their very own Muhammed Ali, Pele, Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth all rolled into one. Not since the feeding of the five thousand has such a feast had been prepared on such a (presumably) limited budget and it could be back to the laboratory for Heston Blumenthal as the strawberry sandwiches proved an instant and surprising hit.

Well, anyway, back to the cricket. Newton’s reply was briefly held up Dave Platt’s dithering as to which end he would prefer to bowl. Presumably the decision was so difficult that a five minute sit down was required. Nevertheless, the innings started on time but it was soon apparent that Platt had chosen incorrectly as opening partner Tom Jarvis found alarming movement and bounce in an opening spell of eight overs that produced an early wicket and yielded just five runs, none of which were from the bat of the struggling Newton batsmen.

Platt bowled aggressively but his pace was perhaps not suited to the conditions and he made way for Anthony Ebbrell who, despite bowling the occasional wide, justified the decision to bring him on with the wicket of Newton’s captain early in his spell. At this stage, Newton’s score read 50-2 but they were falling behind the required run rate. Platt returned to replace Jarvis with immediate effect and claimed two wickets in his second spell which included a fine one-handed caught and bowled effort.

Meanwhile, the Newton batsmen had chosen to target Ebbrell in their attempts to maintain the run chase. However, their efforts met with limited success and, despite not having bowled this season, the Hayfield medium-pacer kept his cool to pick up a five-wicket haul to lay waste to the Newton middle order. Dave Aldridge was introduced late on and picked up a couple of cheap wickets at the death as Hayfield collected 19 more points in their march to towards mid-table safety. Once again, Chris South did a great job behind the stumps and, a couple of difficult(ish) spilt chances aside, the fielding and catching was good enough to impress. Hayfield entertain Buxton next week in another important battle for survival.

On a weekend when an English player was playing in a semi-final of a prominent tennis tournament, then perhaps it was no greater surprise that Hayfield’s batsmen finally clicked into gear as the villagers recorded their most convincing win of the season.

Inserted on a slow pitch, skipper Shane Furness and Tom Hudson began slowly against a young Chapel attack that maintained a sensible line and length on a pitch offering some lateral movement. Indeed, there were few protestations from fellow team mates as the score read 19 after the first ten overs with the Hayfield contingent just relieved that the wickets column was as yet undisturbed following the previous weeks’ capitulations.

At some point, acceleration was required and Hudson took advantage of some tiring bowling to clip three sixes over the leg-side boundary as the pairing remained intact at the mid-innings drinks break with score on 75. A rain shower arrived to interrupt the innings and this seemed to disturb Hudson, who despite reaching an impressive 50, was dropped twice and then dismissed as his earlier fluency deserted him.

Hayfield’s innings gained real impetus with the arrival of Ben Higginbottom. Fresh from his man-of-the-match performance in the previous week’s cup game, he took the attack to the Chapel change bowlers to plunder a rapid 37 before he skied to cover shortly after his captain had reached another important half century. Dave Aldridge was promoted to number four and was soon joined by vice-captain Neil Woolley after Furness was bowled for 55.

After forty overs, Hayfield’s score was 158-3 but Aldridge hit five sixes in a rampaging 48 not out and Woolley timed the ball sweetly in a quick-fire 25 as 75 runs came off the final five overs to set a more than challenging total for the Chapel batsmen, a task made harder by the absence of their talisman, Gary Pheasey.

After tea, Chapel were never in the hunt as tight spells from David Platt and Josh Unsworth meant that the visitors were well behind the run rate, although Hayfield took only a solitary wicket, courtesy of Platt, before the score had reached fifty.

However, Higginbottom came on to bowl his seamers and took three wickets in six impressive overs as the young Chapel batsmen crumbled under the pressure of the chase. Aldridge bowled eleven overs and took two wickets but star of the bowling show, again, was Platt who returned for a devastating second spell in which he clean bowled the final four Chapel batsmen to record impressive figures of 5-26.

Hayfield’s fielding was excellent with Woolley pouching two fine catches and Chris South having an excellent game behind the stumps to cap a competent all round team display that will hopefully set the standard for performances in forthcoming games.

Hayfield marched into the Bissenden Cup quarter finals with an ultimately comfortable win over their Division Two opponents, Charlesworth. Hayfield’s win was in no small part due to a sparkling innings from Ben Higginbottom and a fiery opening spell of bowling from David Platt which papered over some of the cracks exposed by this spluttering Hayfield team.

Inserted on the previous day’s wicket, Hayfield opened with stand-in skipper Neil Woolley and Tom Hudson. However, both had departed before the score had reached forty and it was left to Anthony Ebbrell to play the support role for a thrilling run-a-ball 74 runs by Higginbottom which included shots all around the wicket.

However, when Ebbrell departed, Higginbottom and Aldridge soon followed and from being 140-3, Hayfield were soon in trouble at 150-6. Chris South played a cameo for twenty valuable runs but Hayfield would have been disappointed to only reach 183 with three of their forty overs unused.

The home side’s worries proved unfounded as Dave Platt clean bowled three of the Charlesworth top order before the score had reached 15. Dave Aldridge took the new ball with Platt and bowled a tight opening spell which yielded just four runs from six overs.

The visitors tried to consolidate with a stubborn fourth wicket partnership but found runs hard to come by. Jason Ward bowled tidily but Woolley’s masterstroke came in the form of Andy Cox whose left arm seamers accounted for the middle order to effectively end the Charlesworth cup dream. Ben Higginbottom bowled eight overs of seam which yielded just twenty runs and fielded quite brilliantly to complete a fine all-round performance. Woolley took the last wicket to spoil some entertaining resistance from the Charlesworth tail enders who provided a good deal of cheer for their assembled support. Platt received some late roughhouse treatment at the death but still finished with 3-38 and Andy Cox a creditable 2-28 as Hayfield progress to face Woodley in the next round.

A final mention must go to the Charlesworth following who provided support, appreciation and entertainment throughout and who will undoubtedly be welcome at all grounds should they be promoted this season.