Batsmen on form as Quorn win
WITH the threat of rain in the air and bearing in mind Quorn’s travails with the bat this season, it was perhaps surprising that, on winning the toss, Andy Kenneth chose to bat first against Newtown Linford 2nd XI on Saturday.
After six overs, when Kenneth and his opening partner Ben Ragg had been victims of Newtown Linford’s Dan Bowley (2-25) with the score just 13-2, Kenneth might have been reconsidering his decision. In recent weeks, a lack of application and ill judged shot selection had been the downfall of the Quorn batting lineup; however on Saturday each batsman played with dogged determination.
Richard Sharp (16), Tom Errington (12) and Richard Cooper (16) all reined in their natural attacking instincts in favour of careful accumulation of runs. Although batsmen appeared comfortable in defence, attempts to increase the scoring rates lead to their demise. No batsmen seemed comfortable, especially when Nick Platt’s (3-32) off spin was introduced. Quorn appeared unable to build any large partnerships, although Chris and Richard Cooper put on 42 for the fifth wicket. With the ball turning, and occasionally jumping from a length Chris Cooper batted with commendable restraint with his 27 rounds taking 52 balls to compile. After Cooper’s dismissal, caught in the gully from a leading edge, Quorn’s lower middle order continued to bat with commendable resolve. Dominic Watts (12) Bill Reynolds (10) and Jon Reynolds (12) all made valuable contributions as Quorn strived to reach 150. With two balls of the innings remaining, the returning Ben Tansley (2-31) clean bowled Jon Reynolds to leave Quorn all out 147.
With the wicket still playing quite well and the outfield fast, it was important that Quorn bowled with a disciplined line and length. Andy Stovel (3-22) and Adam Lee (1-43) produced just what was required. Backed up by their fielders, Quorn saw Newtown stumble to 19-3. Opener Steve Bailey (44) came together with Andy Oldham (24) and the pair batted freely, to put on the only 50 partnership of the match.
A sharp Andy Stovel caught and bowled finally accounted for Bailey and when Andy Kenneth brought himself into the attack, he induced a rash shot from Oldham, who was clean bowled. Once the Bailey-Oldham partnership had been broken, Andy Kenneth and Jon Reynolds left Newtown’s batsmen looking powerless to resist.
With Kenneth’s off spin spearing in at the pads and Reynolds’ myriad flighted variations teasing the batsmen, wickets fell rapidly and scoring shots were few and far between. Kenneth finally wrapped up the innings in the 40th over, giving him figures of 3-15 while Reynolds took 3-12, as Quorn won by 51 runs.
This dominant victory over Newtown, should put Quorn in good heart for next weeks game at bottom side Walton. The much-needed 30 points sees Quorn jump to a spot in mid table and hopefully the confidence gained from this improved performance can see them continue to climb up the table.