Not every cricket weekend can be perfect and while my Saturday team got their first win for many weeks, Sunday brought a damaging defeat for Accrington in a spitefully-fought game which ended in rancour and recrimination.
These things happen on and off the field when high-stakes matches play out but Sunday morning began on another deeply sad note for me and the local cricket world which I`ll get to after running through the action.
Just as Accrington had turned the heat up at Rishton a week earlier, third-placed visitors and promotion rivals Nelson did a job on the hosts at Thorneyholme Road and thoroughly deserved a win which leaves them a solitary point behind the now second-placed outfit they efficiently vanquished.
With three to play - including a potentially tumultuous Nelson v Crompton clash on the final Sunday (good luck to whoever umpires that) - the two/promotion spots remain tantalisingly available to all three leading sides.
Nelson gave notice of their focus and intensity early on as Hassan Fazal, once of Enfield, bowled opener Johnny Dack neck and crop second ball of the opening over after visiting pro/captain Tyler McGladdery won the toss and put Accrington in.
A six clipped square by home captain Jacob Clarke from the final ball of that over served to assert that Accy fancied it too but the wind was rather sucked out of that riposte when Graeme Sneddon holed out halfway through over two, brilliantly caught by ex-Church man Sam Holt at cover of Sam Kelly to make it two little ducks for the openers.
A rather frantic flurry of boundaries followed that but in the fourth over with 31 on the board Jacob was adjudged leg before to Fazal.
South African pro Snyman, making his final appearance of the season having been summoned home by state side Easterns for pre—season, was as prepared as ever to put the loose ball away and found an able partner in Emile Haratbar to regain a foothold.
The run rate dropped a little from the manic opening stages but the pair added 67 in around 17 overs before crafty and experienced operator Neil Thompson began to apply the brakes then played a trump card by introducing another wily old stager, Khurum Nazir.
Nazir bowled Haratbar for 43 - the fact that Snyman was much the lesser contributor to that stand tells you he was playing with some necessary restraint - but then did the real damage by removing Simon Hanson and Sam Molloy in his next two overs to leave Accrington a perilous 106 for 6 just after halfway.
Wickets falling in clusters has been a little weakness in Accy`s armoury this season and I have seen enough of Jurie to recognise his rhythms, impulses and imposition of self-restraint when batting, playing the situation as well as the opposition attack.
Despite a good effort from Kian Farnworth (20, superbly caught and bowled by Thompson) in a stand of 73 which saw Snyman play a very much more prominent role, there was never to be that healthy look to the total which allows him to unleash and bring out the big guns, those overs we see so often where he takes, 18, 20, 24 off and cuts loose.
That the situation never allowed that was a credit to the fielding, bowling and captaincy Nelson brought to the table.
Thompson and Nazir were too skilled to allow any liberties and kept the reply in third gear at best.
When Thompson bowled Farnworth it became a matter of batting the remaining overs out and giving Jurie as much of the strike as possible, both endeavours ultimately unsuccessful.
Dot balls and singles proliferated with boundaries at a premium - Asad Khan`s four off Thompson late on the only boundary in the last six and half overs - Jurie`s last boundary came in the 38th over and he was stranded on 99 when the final wickets fell.
I always reckon 220 is minimum par on a nice day at Thorneyholme and we ended 13 short of that.
An indisciplined start by the home bowling along with some fine driving got Nelson off to a flyer. Fourteen leg byes and two wides in the first four overs from the `pace` end helped Holt and Fazal to 46 before Kian gave his team a sniff with two caught behinds to get rid of the Nelson openers before 50 were on the board.
Farnworth broke through again at 89 trapping McGladdery but Matt Pettinger and that man Thompson again dug in and broke the back of the chase in a partnership of 73 before Thompson was run out.
Asad Khan, so impressive at Rishton last week was unable to bowl and went off with what appeared to be lockjaw. There were heated discussions about whether Nelson would provide a sub fielder which they declined to do before Damian Clarke had to be pressed into service.
In view of the fact that it was Ex-Players Day and the bad feeling festered, someone like Stuart Crabtree might have relished it more. Lowe and Dack snapped up catches to get rid of Sabir and Russ Bradley and the patient and disciplined Pettinger fell to Hanson for a fine 46 but Tom Bradshaw and Ben Dinning took Nelson to their deserved win without further alarms and with 21 balls to spare.
There had been a bit of arguing among spectators as the game headed towards a conclusion and at the end there seemed to be more shouting, arguing and pointing than warm handshakes among the players.
I couldn’t help but overhear the captains discuss various incidents I hadn`t really picked upon when they were back in the pavilion.
McGladdery further opined that the umpires hadn`t controlled the festering on-pitch situation adequately which sounded to me a little like the leader of a Mods or Rockers gang blaming the deckchair attendants for a Bank Holiday brawl on Brighton Beach.
His explanation for refusing a sub involving having been subjected to a bit of name-calling will amuse those who heard his parting shot on leaving the field after completing an innings against Church a week or two ago.
It all leaves Accrington with it all to do with a sub pro (probably Sri Lankan Tilaksha Malshan from Roe Green) in the last 3 games, starting at Alexandra Meadows against East Lancs on Sunday. Malshan subbed in the first game against the Blackburn men this season and did wel.
It will be poignant for me as I`ll be able to visit dad until just before the start in his care home just across Corporation Park on Sunday morning. I mentioned to him last week that Accy’s pro had to go home and through his sometimes foggy haze, he whispered `Snyman?` so a little bit of that Wilkinson retentive cricket memory still remains!
After I left dad and arrived at Accrington I got the extremely sad news that another old friend and Church CC legend, Steve Metcalf had passed away.
There isn`t enough space left to describe Steves larger-than-life cricketing personality, what a convivial confreres was of the field or the deep respect I had for him as a friend and for many years, my landlord. He was extremely kind to me in years which weren’t always my easiest.
His younger brother Gerard, the same age as me, is a closer friend and I know how much he and the rest of the family Steve doted on will be devastated by his loss. I`m glad I got to see Steve for the final time earlier this summer when Gerard took him to Brinscall to watch Immanuel.
I`ve told the tale before of how he once had a word with me at nets and told me I needed to just work on my fielding to be considered for First XI duty, and even picked me for a friendly I had to miss, but though it never happened the very fact that such a seasoned league cricketer believed a little bit in me continues to mean a great deal. A wonderful man.
Mentioning Brinscall I was delighted to hear from Bryan Huddart their scorer by text on Saturday afternoon that Barbadian overseas Lamar `Bruiser` Springer finally got the 100 he missed out on by a run at Cherry Tree a couple of weeks ago.
Bruiser wasn`t on the winning side, a ton by another lad I`ve mentioned in despatches, Earby`s US male Utivarsh Srivastava saw to that.
I’ll see Uti on Saturday (and Bruiser the week after) as Cherry Tree host Earby then Brinscall in successive fixtures after ending a losing streak with a great team win at Eagley last Saturday.
The lower order wagged to take them from 78 for six to 147 for nine then pro Min Bhada captured six for 22 as Eagley collapsed to 81 all out. Former chairman Dan Logan hit a vital 18 not out for Cherry but couldn`t field as he hurt his side badly hitting a boundary! I hope he’s ok.
I had a bonus gig on Monday scoring at Northern CC in Crosby where they had a Lancashire Foundation Girls T20 tournament.
With the season and my summer break in their final weeks while the sun continues to shine, I’ll take any cricket I can find!
Quiz- last week`s answer - Jimmy Hayhurst the Accy debutant, Jimmy Anderson his first wicket.
This week, with no Lancs League website available fo a short time, I’ll set an Alexandra Meadows themed question from memory. I`m sure Steve Metcalf was playing in a game I saw in 1973 when a famed bowler with a celebrated connection to the man he stood in for subbed for East Lancs v Church - can you name him and the man he deputised for?
