Quorn slip to alarming third defeat in succession

SATURDAY saw local rivals Barrow town visit Quorn and on a wicket which had taken plenty of rain over the previous three days, Quorn captain, Andy Kenneth, saw sufficient potential for runs and on winning the toss, batted.

The first ball of the innings was horribly reminiscent of the beamer controversy of the previous week. However, on this occasion a no ball was called, the bowler was warned and batsmen, Ben Ragg pulled the ball for four. Runs seemed to come quite comfortably against Barrow’s opening seamers, so captain Sam Shipman (4-42) turned to his own left-arm spin with immediate effect, as he had Kenneth caught at slip.

Seeing that taking the pace off the ball made life difficult for the batsmen, Shipman introduced the leg spin of Nikesh Patel (3-34) who soon removed Richard Cooper, also caught at slip. Ben Ragg, having played some fluent shots, was caught and bowled by Patel for a well-made 31.

All the Quorn batsmen found scoring difficult against the slow bowlers and wickets fell steadily, with Quorn tumbling to 90-7 after 34 overs.

Tom Errington (20) came together with Bill Reynolds (24 not out) and playing some aggressive shots, the pair looked set to stretch Quorn’s total towards the 150 mark.

However, some poor calling and lack of game awareness saw Errington run out and another run out, also involving Reynolds, saw the innings fold for just 120 runs.

Barrow’s reply started steadily, until seamers Tom Errington (1-32) and Jamie Richardson (2-24) struck to leave the score 41-3. Gavin Noon, who had opened, was joined by Ronnie Kotecha and the pair put on a lively partnership of 41 which appeared to be taking the game away from Quorn.

Suddenly however, the game turned and Andy Kenneth, whose first eight overs had been wicketless, had Kotecha caught and bowled for 18.

Kenneth then took three wickets in his next two overs, without conceding a run, as the visitors crumbled to 87-6. Barrow’s lower order found it very tough to score runs and although Noon continued to anchor the innings, Quorn were back in the game.

Unfortunately for him, Tom Errington bowled an over he would like to forget, which included two boundaries and 11 wides and Quorn’s opportunity had evaporated. Gavin Noon guided his team to victory with six and a half overs to spare, finishing with a fine unbeaten 48

Quorn have now lost three games in a row and unless some of their batsmen can find form soon, they may continue to slide down the table. Next week they visit lowly placed Leicester Banks and a much improved performance will be required if they are to gain an important win.