Wolf stops traffic!

In the absence of the World Cup-tied Matt Parker, Old Glossop built on their excellent victory over Hayfield with a comprehensive win away to mid-table Newton. The match saw a terrific return to form for Martyn “Airwolf” Parker, who certainly appeared to have eaten his spinach with a classy knock of 64, whilst veteran bowlers Ivan Twist and Keith Mitchell polished off the Newton batting line-up in stifling heat and on a hard track.

Returning Captain Jamie Cannon delivered an early tonic for the Old Glossop boys by winning the toss and electing to bat. The batters immediately relished the prospect of batting on a hard, even track, which, combined with the fast out-field, offered plenty of opportunity for high scores. Openers Jon Wright and Steve Allcock continued their impressive recent form by putting on 40 for the first wicket, before Allcock fell for a well-made 24. Wright followed shortly afterwards, having smashed his way to 25. This left two of Old Glossop’s legendary Parkers, Mikey and Martyn, at the crease.

Martyn, having been recalled following his bathroom antics of the week before, began in determined fashion – he certainly seemed willing to repay the Captain’s faith in him. Old Glossop were scoring freely, and Newton were forced to replace their opening young seamers with slower, steadier bowlers. The Parkers were moving smoothly along before Mikey was bowled for 8. This brought Anthony, the last remaining Parker, out to bat, and he provided evidence of what he can do in a cameo innings of 10, which included one mighty six.

With Martyn Parker looking increasingly confident and the score on 110, Jamie Cannon strode out to join him, and they soon began to rip the heart out of Newton’s bowling attack with a series of punishing strokes. In amazing scenes not witnessed since his formative years in the juniors, “Airwolf” Parker heaved some incredible sixes out of the Newton ground – some observers were adamant that he may even have reached the nearby motorway with one massive blow. The infamous Wolf had indeed stopped traffic – and this time it wasn’t even because of his awkwardly positioned skip (sorry Rob)!

Parker finally fell for 64, in a glorious innings which had, at many points, caused the watching Old Glossop team to break into a chorus of howls. Indeed, the fallen batter himself was heard to describe his innings as being “near flawless” – this was another demonstration of the modesty for which he is renowned.

Cannon continued the torment for the Newton bowlers, blasting his way to 48. And it wasn’t to end there, because when the skipper was caught in the deep with 5 overs remaining, young Will Reddington had picked up the baton, and was clattering some tired bowling to all corners of the ground. With the tail failing to wag this week, Reddington had moved the score on to 246 by the close of the innings, with walking wicket Twist this week becoming the Red Inker, ensuring that Old Glossop were not bowled out with some excellent, but possibly unintended, late leaves. In summary, this had been a tremendous display of batting power – something which this Old Glossop line-up has promised, but often failed to deliver, for some time.

As the Old Glossop lads settled down to watch England begin their World Cup quarter final against Portugal, it was felt by all players that they had surely reached a score from which they could not be beaten. However, they perhaps failed to recognise the threat posed by the hot conditions, and they certainly found both bowling and fielding to be difficult tasks on this particular day.

Following their excellent displays against Hayfield, Ivan Twist and James Wright were again given the task of sharing the new ball. On a difficult wicket which failed to provide any real incentive, both found it tough-going early on. The Newton batters instantly got after Wright in particular, who proved to be expensive due to a combination of half-volleys and bad luck. The left armer’s only breakthrough came straight after he had been drilled for a straight six – his next ball was prodded straight back at him by the Newton opener for what was an easy catch. Following this opening wicket, Twist had begun to settle into one of his typical tight spells, and even Wright managed to contain the Newton batters for a limited period, which saw two catches dropped at gully and left him an increasingly frustrated figure. He was eventually replaced by Mitchell, having bowled seven expensive overs for only one wicket.

Twist soon accounted for two more Newton wickets, and it appeared that Old Glossop had managed to recover from what had been a fairly wayward start. However, Newton, with little choice given what they were chasing, continued to hit out, and some unconventional strokes from their middle order saw them begin to score freely once more. Seeking something slightly different, Cannon replaced Twist with Mikey Parker, who had this week left wicket-keeping duties to Alistair Gerrard, who performed well in this role. Parker bowled well at pace, and perhaps deserved more than his return of one wicket following a particularly rash incident which saw him and Gerrard collide and consequently drop what should have been a simple catch.

At this point, Newton were well over the 100 mark, and it was beginning to look as though Old Glossop’s excellent total was under serious threat. In a move which proved to be a master-stroke, old hands Twist and Mitchell were brought on in the hope that Newton’s increasingly confident middle-order could be contained. To the relief of each of the Old Glossop players, they were more than contained, as Twist and Mitchell picked up a series of quick wickets which soon brought the Newton tail out to bat.

Twist gathered another impressive 5 wicket haul, and Mitchell wrapped up proceedings with three late dismissals. The experience of these two bowlers had again proved to be the decisive factor in what was another abject performance in the field from Old Glossop. Although the conditions surely did not prove helpful, OG must ensure that this irritating trait is removed from their game, because next time they may not have the comfort of such a large total to fall back on.

However, it must not be forgotten that this had ultimately been another good win against an established Division 3 outfit. Old Glossop are now comfortably anchored in mid-table at the half-way stage of the season. Whilst the fielding is surely in need of some improvement, and the bowling has often been better, more good batting performances such as this one will surely only cement Old Glossop’s position in what is a tough league.