Allen Priest Trophy

It was a fine and bright morning at the fabulous ground of Thongsbridge. The wicket and surroundings were superb and the scene was set for an exciting day of cricket. 

Semi Final 1

Thongsbridge - 103 for 5 (Aston 25, Leo Berry 27, M Berry 3 for 29)

Ashbrow Garage - 104 for 4 (Holt 46 not out, Bottomley 29, Oldroyd 3 for 16)

Ashbrow Garage won by 6 wickets

Ashbrow won the toss and electing to field on a damp and heavy outfield was quite astute. Thompson opened the batting for Thongsbridge and was kept at bay by tight bowling from D Berry. Thompson was steady and lofted a superb shot into the air towards the boundary. Ashbrow looked on course to take the catch but a fumble ensured Thompson was to continue. Battyford entered into the fray being selective and clever with his ball placing and clever use of his eye in avoiding the excellently placed fielders. He looked comfortable and could have provided costly for Ashbrow had he not been caught off the thinest of nicks by the keeper from the bowling of Sylvester. 

Some vicious and powerful bowling by B Sylvester brought about Thompsons demise after some promising shots. Thackeray, aka Jonah, saw fit to try and stem the flow, but some superb hitting by Oldroyd despatched Jonah for 4, but Jonah not to be outdone kept his pace and excellent accurate bowling resulting in fine shots being played by Thongsbridge only to be thwarted for singles by tight and committed fielding by Ashbrow. After 7 overs Thongsridge were at 45.  Oldroyd continued to try and find a way through to the boundary and hit a beautiful but lofted shot only to be caught on the boundary by Sylvester. Leo Berry stepped up for the team hitting a 3 on his opening shot, he continued to thwart the bowlers with the clever use of his feet and great shot selection added depth to the scoresheet.  
Thongsbridge continued to try and make inroads, but the sharp and persistent tight fielding and accurate bowling made Thongsbridge work for every run - Berry was finally dismissed for 27 off a fine delivery by N Thackeray and an outstanding catch by R Bottomley.  Thongsbridge finished on 104 following a cheeky run on the final ball and the throw missing the stumps.

The opening bowlers for Thongsbridge were more sedate than Ashbrow but none the less effective Mason taking his first victim (Winterbottom) for 3 on the back of a superb catch by Wadsworth.  Bottomley was caught and bowled for 29 by Oldroyd, but whether it was the heat or fatigue the bowlers began to miss their target and the wides and no balls began to creep in which took their toll on the game.

Notwithstanding the bowlers there was some tight and committed fielding throughout, but the winning 4 was delivered by B Sylvester just after his dad was dismissed for nought trying to win the game for Ashbrow. His son, however, did the honours to win the game at 104. 

Semi Final 2

Scholes Chapelgaters - 150 for 9

Lepton 31 - 91 for ?

Scholes Chapelgaters won by 59 runs

Lepton won the toss and elected to field. Hirst opened the bowling for Lepton and whilst appeared a little nervy was very steady. Scholes Chapelgaters seemed to hit the ground running and they took the game to Lepton with Moorhouse and Sykes having a fine stand of 93 before Shipman delivered the killer blow with an outstanding catch by Niall in the deep. Not to be outdone Shipman continued to enjoy success dismissing the other opening batsman taking 3 wickets the last being LBW to Bradley.  Robshaw enjoyed success taking a further 3 wickets supported in the field by some athletic ball chasing and safe hands. Scholes Chapelgaters finally finished on 150 for their 12 overs.

Shaw and Mitchell opened the batting for Lepton with Shaw hitting Louis' opening ball for 4, but as hard as they tried their efforts to secure further boundaries seemed thwarted and tight fielding ensured they were kept at bay. The bowling of Boorman initially seemed expensive taking 1 for 17 in his opening over, but maybe he just lured them into a false sense of security as his figures proved outstanding taking a total of 4 wickets for 24 - the catalyst almost seemed to be the outstanding throw in from the boundary by Lou Sykes hitting the stumps of the opener Shaw, off the opening bowling of Boorman. From here the Chapelgaters seemed to go from strength to strength. The middle order of Mulhall along with Shipman seemed to steady the ship but Mulhall fell to a fine catch by Coleman off the bowling of Knight. The young talent of Tom Hirst with some stylish shots and thoughtful play had the crowd cheering but a mix up in the middle cost him his wicket. It was unfortunately a tall order for Lepton who nonetheless fought to the end but finished on 91, but their commitment and sharp fielding made them worthy competitors.  

Final

Ashbrow Garage - 164 for 4 (Holt 71, Winterbottom 30, Bottomley 23, Knight 2 for 38)

Schles Chapelgaters - 150 for 5 (Moorhouse 55, Parr 28 not out, Knight 21, D Berry 2 for 23, B Sylvester 2 for 44)

Ashbrow Garage won by 14 runs

The final was an all Section 1 affair between the teams that finished first and third during the season.

Ashbrow batted first and got off to a great start with an opening stand of 81 between Dale Winterbottom & Ian Holt. Winterbottom was bowled by Ricahrd Knight for 30 but Holt went on to a fine 71 before being stumped off the bowling of Coleman. A further contribution of 23 from Bottomley, plus a few lusty blows from B Sylvester at the very end, got Ashbrow up to a good score of 164 for 4. The pick of the bowlers for Scholes was Knight who returned figures of 2 for 38.

In their reply Scholes lost Sykes early with the score on 7. A 50 partnership between Moorhouse and Coleman steadied the ship but Scholes lost two wickets on 61 & 62. A further two wickets were lost at 100 & 106, with Knight falling for 21. An unbroken stand of 44 between Parr (28 not out) and Boorman (16 not out) threatened to get Scholes over the line but, in the end, they just fell short by 14 runs. D Berry posted excellent figures of 2 for 23 with support from B Sylvester (2 for 44).

2022 Allen Priest Trophy winners - Ashbrow Garage (pictured below)

On a gloomy afternoon it was a delayed 12.30pm start due to Rastrick Gentlemen Spoofers withdrawing from the competition, thus giving Hounds CC a bye into the final. As a result there was only one semi final.

Semi Final

Scholes Chapelgaters - 131 for 2 (Lewis Sykes 50, Richard Knight 49)

Thongsbridge - 132 for 7 (Sam Thompson 35, Leo Berry 32)

Thongsbridge won by 3 wickets

The semi-final commenced between Thongsbridge and Scholes Chapelgaters in a 12 over match, with the Chapelgaters batting first and scoring an impressive 131 runs for the loss of 2 wckets with Lewis Sykes scoring 50 runs and Richard Knight 49 runs. A few dropped catches in the field making Thongbridge‘s task an uphill one.

They started off soundly with Sam Thompson 35 runs and Leo Berry 32 runs, but wickets started to fall and it got to the final over with Thongsbridge needing 10 runs to win. A caught and bowled by Richard Knight followed by a run out and the scores were level with one ball left. At this point the Chapelgaters would have won due to having fewer wickets down but a scrambled single by Thongsbridge gave them the victory, finishing on 132 runs for 7 wickets.

A dramatic finish to a very entertaining game - but more was to come.

Final

Hounds CC - 95 for 7 (Josh Dickinson 30, Lewis Berry 29, Brad Wright 3 for 17)

Thongsbridge - 98 for 9 (Ben Oldroyd 23 not out, Harry Ashton 21, Jamie Arundel 4 for 22)

Thongsbridge won by 1 wicket

The final was reduced to 12 overs a side due to the threat of rain expected late afternoon.

Hounds batted first and got off to a very slow start with some tight bowling by Brad Wright (3 wickets for 17 runs) and some good catching in the field. But with Josh Dickinson scoring 30 runs and Lewis Berry scoring 29 runs Hounds finished on 95 runs for 7 wickets down. This left Thongsbridge with a task of scoring a run a ball to win the game.

They started off by losing wickets and some good bowling by Jamie Arundel for Hounds, taking 4 wickets for 22 runs, left Thongsbridge falling behind the required run rate. Harry Ashton 21 runs and Ben Oldroyd 23 not out got them to requiring 10 to win off the last 2 overs and 3 to win off the last over. But wickets were also tumbling and with a run out and a further wicket falling, this left them 9 wickets down. They now required 2 runs off the last 3 balls. With all the Hounds fielders in around the wicket they hit a four to win the game.

Well done to Thongsbridge for winning the Allen Priest Trophy in their first season and all teams and umpires for producing some excellent cricket entertainment to a very large crowd and for Thongsbridge Cricket Club providing food and music at their excellent facilities.

2021 Allen Priest Trophy winners - Thongsbridge (pictured below)