This is it – the height of the cricket season. Watching cricket on TV, it’s easy to overlook just how cold 10°C feels after 5 hours in the wind, no matter how many sweaters you’ve managed to get on.
There should be 13 matches to report on since the last Village Voice, but a number of them were scrapped, one way or another. So let’s start with the home League match v Hollinsend Methodists 3rd XI. These may sound like kind and righteous people who are too humble to aspire to their own 2nd XI, but that’s not the reality. I’m not saying they’re the worst of sinners even in Sheffield terms; it’s just that they have always trounced Tideswell and on the day of this game they were top of the 5th Division.
On a soft pitch after much rain, Tideswell batted first and made a decidedly modest 90. Dan Shirt hit his first ball for 6, then played steadily to top score with 28; meanwhile Stuart Scoffins grafted for 24.
When Hollinsend batted, the 2 openers were out for a duck, although Jack Ward at no. 3 proceeded to 34 and Tideswell could only try to keep it tight. And they did. Mike Spencer, fielding at short leg picked up 3 catches, youngster Rohan Patel bowled really well and captain Greg Taylor took 4-19 – after a tense finish the visitors were all out in the 41st over for only 85.
The following week Tideswell were away to Sheffield Collegiate 2nds, who were restricted to 173 but restricted Tideswell to 100 less (or is it fewer?) than that. This is the club where the likes of Joe Root grew up, so no surprises there. We also lost to Hathersage 2nds during this period, which means we don’t have to worry about the League Cup any more in 2015.
What Chesterfield 3rds think of Tideswell we don’t know. On 2 May they played here in continual rain, and 20 June was much the same, the difference being that this time the sun eventually came out and the game was finished. Despite Greg Taylor’s 5 wickets, the game was like a mirror image of the Hollinsend win, both sides failing to make 100 but TCC ending just 3 runs short. So probably they like us well enough, all bar the Mums (they’re mostly a youth team) who end up laundering the whites.
Most of the scheduled friendly games had to be cancelled because of the weather, although one of the 2 matches v Dore Moor survived, Tideswell scoring 101-7 off the 20 overs (George Brown 20), but Dore Moor making it with 4 balls left.
Bob Walkden