1ST XI MATCH REPORT- VERSUS WOLVERHAMPTON GRAMMAR
On a hot and muggy Saturday, Nottingham entertained Wolverhampton Grammar at Valley Road. The gleaming wicket looked an absolute belter, and Brown was relieved to win his second consecutive toss, and leapt at the chance to have a bat. He and Sidhu began cautiously, with the outfield suprisingly slow, and runs initially proved hard to come by. The opening bowlers maintained decent lines and lengths, despite an obvious lack of pace, and the pair were content to accumulate runs steadily. A sumptuous straight-drive from Sidhu was the highlight of an otherwise uneventful first 10. A leg-spinner was brought on from the far end, and immediately Brown went onto the attack, spreading the field in the process. Sidhu too used his feet effectively, and the scoring rate neared four runs per over. With both approaching half-centuries, Sidhu was unlucky to locate mid-on with an uppish drive, and was caught for an attractive 45. Winton strode out to the middle with his usual bristling aggression, his state of mind ("i'm just gonna go mate, this heat makes me tired") clear. He immediately went onto the attack, striking the ball to all parts of the ground and looking in command. Brown from the other end was content simply to rotate the strike, allowing Winton to tear into the lagging medium-pacers. Several massive blows cleared the long-on boundary by a considerable distance, as he raced into the thirties in the space of 5 overs. Brown brought up his 50, and continued to bat in a controlled manner, proving the perfect anchor-man within the partnership. Winton's 50 followed soon afterwards, and as the pair rattled along, the scorebord past 200 with 8 overs still remaining. All-out attack became the order of the day, and with Winton striking the ball cleanly, 300 looked within our sights. The pair neared their centuries, and the Wolverhampton fielders were tiring in the midday sun. Disaster was narrowly averted- Winton presented a straightforward chance to mid-on on 99, but he fortunately put the catch down. Following a stern lecture from Brown, winton clipped the ball through mid-wicket to bring up a magnificent century, off only 51 balls. It had been a truly mesmerising knock, and had taken the game completely away from Wolverhampton. Brown completed his century in the 48th over, and finished unbeaten on 107. Winton had one swing too many and was caught off the top-edge, and Storey faced a solitary ball, yet still managed to get himself into his usual crab-like position to flick it away. A final score of 288-2 represented a fantastic batting effort by Nottingham, and particular mention must go to Winton, who overcame a poor start to the season to bat with great flair and power.
Following a huge lunch, complete with the long-awaited chocolate cake of Hilary, Nottingham emerged from the pavilion full of confidence. Godrich however was struggling to prevent himself from rolling over- his 3 portions of lunch were taking their toll already. Tosar and Robinson took the new ball, and both put the ball in the right areas, the former in particular finding considerable swing. The openers were very cautious- we assumed (wrongly) that they sought to create a platform from which to launch in the last 20 overs. It became increasingly apparent, however, that they had no such intention. Victory seemed impossible for them, so they chose simply to play their openers into form. With things dragging along at 2 runs per over, Nottingham became increasingly exasperated. Changes were introduced; Terry, Cobbett, Brown and Macdonald all bowled accurately but were met with dead bats on an increasingly dead pitch. Resorting to star-jumps between balls to aleviate boredom, Nottingham became frustrated with the seeming inability of the batsmen to hit the ball off the square. At the drinks break the score was 60-0 off 25, and Mr Boswell ordered us to find a way to take 6 wickets before the end, as the game was already won. Odd fields were set, yorkers and slower balls attempted, and eventually we reaped the rewards. Brown picked up a couple of wickets, and Sidhu three cheap ones in a fabulous display of "rabitting", and despite the increasd boredom of the fielders, the game was duly won easily- Wolverhampton failed to make 300. It was in truth a good effort from the bowlers, in the face of an opposition who killed the game with their intent (or lack of it). Thoughts turned to the MCC and Tony Pope, as Nottingham left Valley Road relaxed after a very satisfactory performance.
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