Uttoxeter Online Magazine

The Uttoxeter 1st team got back their season back on track with a big winning draw against Castle Donnington.

On a hot and humid day the Uttoxeter captain lost the toss and was very surprisingly asked to have a bat first.

Rob Birch and Sean Coates got the side off to a good start before Coates was bowled. Pete Atwell filling in at number 3 for the absent Tony Hayes looked impressive on his way to 14 before he edged to the keeper.

Rob Birch was back to his old self after his failure last week, notching up a steady 29 before lobbing a catch back to the bowler. The 73 run start the top 3 had given the away team provided a great platform for the middle order to build a dominant total.

Bailey was also back to his old self, crafting a very good 101 with the usual combination of big hits and clever placement and running. Bailey was ably supported by Tom Wheeldon who scored a very good 39 and farmed most the strike to Bailey. The middle order pair but on a 140 for the 4th wicket before both fell in quick succession.
The lower order finished the innings in style with Marcus Mellor leading the side to 288-8 off the 46, he and Alan Bennett batted exceptionally, Mellor running hard and Bennett finding the boundary.

The bowlers were always going to have a thankless task on a very flat batting wicket. However Dave Hunt and Skelham got the side off to a great start both picking up early wickets.

After that however it was steady going as Wiggings and Mattock set in, both played good knocks and at one stage could have possible tried to get the home side within touching distance of Uttoxeters’ mammoth score.  But some tight bowling from Bennett dragged the game out of reach of the home side and the pressure soon got to the batsman as a crazy run was attempted ,the cool headed Pete Attwell gently through the ball back to Taylor, who after a moment of panic soon whipped the stump out of the ground.

Taylor then removed Spencer to a fantastic 1 handed diving catch from Skelham. The only other success was for Bennett who bowled one of his best spells in a Uttoxeter shirt, he bowled Mattock for a well played 99.

Wheeldon is worthy of a mention as his tight 4 over spell made sure the game was put well out of even the most ambitious sides grasp.

Castle Donnington finished on 193 a long way short of the target, Uttoxeter walked away with 17 points and with a match against struggling Barton on Saturday hopefully Uttoxeter can start to build some positive results again.