Seale Unstoppable as Bollington Gain Revenge!

Marple 46 all out (20 overs) 4 points lost to Bollington (31.5 overs) 25 points by 88 runs

A spectacular return of 8 for 22 from just ten overs by Bollington’s former Barbados youth quick bowler Dario Seale demolished Marple at Bowden Lane last Saturday.

Paul Wood won a second successive toss for Marple against their nearby promotion rivals, and elected to field first in the knowledge that chasing a total on the newly laid square at Marple has become a tricky task. His bowlers were in generous mood early on, as Bollington skipper, the elegant Rick Hough was fed a surfeit of loose deliveries. The score rattled along to 48 for none in just 10 overs, with Hough playing some well timed strokes through the off side. Fortunately for Wood, the Bollington batting then fell apart. A series of injudicious strokes saw all ten wickets fall for the addition of just 86 more runs. At no stage did the Marple bowlers, Greasley excepted, exert control on the Bollington team. It was more a case of just waiting for the wickets to fall, the one aspect of Marple’s game that was up to scratch being the catching.  Seven good chances were pouched, Morahan taking three, and none were spilled. Having said this, there were some encouraging signs from Mudassar Phanchbaya, who started his first eleven career at Marple with a wicket maiden, and Jack Grundy, who mixed some loose stuff with some good deliveries. Grundy also produced an excellent throw from the deep to run out Cross. In Bollington’s under par score of 134 all out in just 31.5 overs,  Hough top scored with 35, but after that, extras was next with 22. Marple, unusually, were guilty of serving up plenty of wides and no balls. Morahan had 3 for 43, Greasley 2 for 14, Mudassar 2 for 35 and Grundy 2 for 16.

What followed after an early tea was nothing short of a nightmare for Marple. Paceman Dario Seale, given good support from Jack Ward, was simply irresistible as Marple were blown away, having no answers. Seale bowled with the old virtue of a good length, arrowing in from the off stump. He hit the stumps six times, as the Marple innings was done and dusted in just 20 overs. He did not try and bowl any short stuff in this game, realising that the surface had no extravagant bounce. Indeed, the pitch could not really be blamed for the loss of so many wickets in the game in such a short space of time. It was an object lesson in quick straight bowling. Paul Wood top scored with 22, and then Mark Bennett had 10. After this, the next highest individual score was just three. This was sweet revenge for Bollington, who had been comfortably beaten by Marple in the earlier fixture back in May.

Bollington were also the victors in the noise stakes on the field. Marple are, in common with most teams, not averse to giving the batsmen an occasional friendly word of advice between deliveries, and reminding them of the score if they are struggling a little. This is usually done with an element of humour, and is also meant to encourage the bowlers to try a little harder. Marple’s senior coach and former player, the ex Leicestershire, Surrey and England pace bowler, James Ormond was caught up in one of the more memorable pieces of “banter” on his test debut against Australia in 2001 at the Oval. On coming out to bat to join Mark Ramprakash , Ormond was greeted by Mark Waugh with the words, “ Hey, look who this is. You aren’t good enough to play for England”. His reply has become the stuff of legend. “Maybe not Mark, but at least I’m the best player in my family!” Bollington’s attempts at Mark’s brother Steve Waugh’s so called “mental disintegration” had no such humour. There was just a Pavlovian response of inane drivel, delivered fortissimo after each of the 120 deliveries of Marple’s brief innings. It mattered not whether the ball hit the bat, went into the wicket keeper’s gloves or was retrieved by a fieldsman, the ensuing result was identical and had spectators reaching for the ear plugs long before Marple’s final demise. The fully merited applause that greeted Seale as he led the players off at the end felt rather muted in comparison.

Marple are now fourth in the league, but results in the past couple of weeks have changed the complexion of things somewhat. Oulton Park are now well clear at the top, and Marple find themselves in with a group of possibly up to six other sides chasing the second spot. There will be no easy games to come, and Marple face lowly Sale at Dane Road next Saturday in a game that will see the home side battling for their division one survival.

Marple seconds fought out a losing draw against Hyde seconds at Werneth Low on Saturday. A brilliant century of 107 not out by Mike Schofield held the Hyde innings together as Marple produced a gutsy display in the field. Andy Massey had 5 for 40 and Connor Bergin 3 for 45 as a good total of 194 all out was posted. Mark Nicholson (28) and Tim Radford (34) both got good starts for Marple, but could not go on. It was left once more to Jamie Massey (49 not out) to shepherd the lower order through to a draw, Marple closing on 151 for 8. James Chew had 4 for 14 for Hyde on a day when the spinners held sway.

A weakened Marple third eleven put up an encouraging display in a four wicket defeat at Grappenhall. After being put into bat, Marple posted 139 all out, Jonny Arrowsmith 37, Connor Bergin 24 and Lewis Braddock 33. Grappenhall were made to fight hard and ended on 143 for 6. Jacob Combey 2 for 42, Greg Marsland 2 for 28 and James Reeve 2 for 21. This game was played in an excellent spirit.