Ticknall Cricket Club

FROM the moment Luke Harvey won the toss and invited Lullington Park to bat first, Park were up against it in the battle between South Derbyshire's two leading clubs.

Ticknall outplayed their opponents, who have now lost on all of their four visits to The Grange in the Beechwood Derbyshire Premier League.

The Lullington innings could hardly have begun more disastrously, with James Doherty losing his off stump to Shahid Khan from the third ball of the match.

Fellow opening bowler Graham Chamberlain then struck with wickets in his third and fourth overs.

Park skipper Jonny Shales, who is experimenting with himself as an opener this season, was adjudged leg before for three and Sam Eaton, fresh back from a winter in Australia, lasted only six balls before being bowled without scoring.

At 7-3 from eight overs, Lullington were in a mess.

Andrew Goodwin and Tom Oliver dug in against a seam attack making the most of unusually bowler-friendly conditions at this ground but found scoring agonisingly difficult, with extras outpacing runs from the bat.

Goodwin scored only a single from his first 28 balls and the first two from the bat came in the 11th over, the first boundary following on the next over when Goodwin edged through the slips off Chamberlain.

Oliver gritted it out for 45 minutes before becoming Chamberlain's third victim, nicking a moving ball to keeper Ricky Kniveton for seven and the 29-run partnership was to prove the highest of the innings.

Jake Sharpe would have wished for easier circumstances to make his Premier League debut, after a good 73 for the seconds last week but he found the step up from Division 4S too great on this occasion, being palpably leg before to his third ball, playing across a quick delivery from Ryan Cowley, who had replaced Khan in the attack.

Cowley was relishing the conditions, unusually maintaining his full run for a spell of 13 continuous overs as Lullington reached drinks at 45-5.

That was soon 45-6 Alan Gough, although well forward, departed leg before to Cowley.

Goodwin, who had twice driven Cowley through the covers for four in the 19th over, was showing the kind of application needed.

But his 84-ball, two-hour innings ended for 26 when Zain Abbas found his outside edge to give Kniveton his second catch.

Ameer Ahmed shuffled across his crease and played back to be leg before to a full-length Cowley delivery for one and George Hodson-Walker was the fourth Park batsman to fail to score when he played down the wrong line to lose his middle stump to Cowley.

Park's jovial number 11, Graham Dent, rarely got chances with the bat when things were going well but is now more frequently seen at the crease and he batted without alarms for 20 minutes, contributing five singles, before the innings ended with Gagan Singh lofting Cowley to Abbas at extra cover for 18 in the 39th over, Cowley finishing with 5-33.

Lullington's scant consolation was to have passed their lowest-ever Premier League total, 79 last season against Quarndon.

Ticknall would have approached their task with confidence but skipper Luke Harvey lasted only two balls before being leg before to Singh without scoring.

Abbas joined newcomer Rhodri Evans and the two batted sensibly while riding their luck as Singh, in particular, proved difficult to manage, his first five overs costing only six runs.

At 10 overs, Ticknall were 22-1 but Abbas greeted Ameer Ahmed's sixth over with a magnificent four through the covers and Ticknall took eight from the over as they began to close in on the small target.

When Evans lifted Gough back over his head for four, Ticknall needed only 13 more.

It might have been closer, as Evans had been put down at slip by Eaton off Singh but it was not Lullington's day.

Shales introduced spin for the first time in the match but Eaton's one over went for 10 runs to bring the scores level and Abbas turned Dent to mid on for a single to hit the winning run.

It is difficult to read much into early season form, particularly as the wet weather has played havoc with both practice and matches, but Lullington's batsmen need to find some form if they are not to struggle and the jury remains out on Ticknall, who were not tested enough to make any real prediction about their chances.