19/08/2026
Match Report
15th August 2026
Barton CC Vs Witton le Wear CC
āThe Herosā of Witton hit the road today and travelled to North Yorkshire to face Barton CC in a crucial fixture in the relegation battle to avoid the drop from Darlington & District Division A. Witton had already amassed a top flight high of six league wins this season prior to todayās fixture, and had āHigh Hopesā of hunting down their magnificent (Shed) seventh win of the season. Thankfully there had been a break in the current heatwave, still a nice day for cricket, some might say thereās not been many āBetter Daysā for cricket all summer.
On to the toss, at which George is āGetting Better All The Timeā, he once again called successfully and elected to bat first on a used pitch. Opening partnership of the two Adams were back together but it was Nelson who said āLetās Goā when for the second game in succession he hit the first ball of the innings for four runs. The fast outfield certainly helped the batters, both of whom were āGoing For Goldā and aiming to score big, the run rate was decent with boundaries coming at regular intervals, but in the 8th over left arm round the wicket merchant Smart struck from nowhere to remove Nelson as he tried to force a ball square on the leg side that he should have been playing a bit straighter, and he was dismissed bowled for 21. Man of Kent was batting at number three, and he and Adam doubled down in trying to make a decent āStand Togetherā. Andy was off the mark first ball but he looked to progress things with a bit more care than Nelson did with his āBully Boyā tactics, but the run rate was still āFeeling Kind of Highā. First change bowler Imerson slowed that down a bit when he removed Andy, who was dismissed edging through to the keeper who took an amazing catch, one handed diving to his right, he did well to āHang Onā. That left the Wās 76 for 2 in the 18th over, a good start, but what would be a good total for the side batting first to get too?
Vice Skipper Tim made a return to the side after missing last weeks defeat against Houghton, and he didnāt want to be āMissing Outā today. The next six overs only went for 14 runs, with Tim really digging in trying to get accustomed to the bowling and the wicket. It took him 20 balls to get off the āMarkā, once heād managed that though he went through the gears quickly, in his next 10 balls he progressed his score to 22 including 3 fours and a hook shot when he went āDisco Downā town to hit the games only sixer!! In full flow now Tim targeted the legside, dropped down to one knee aiming big again, but the ball stayed low and clattered into his stumps. Nevertheless, a good stand between Tim and Adam of 58, with Adam focused like a train steaming along āParallel Linesā and looking āInvincibleā at the other end having just brought up his own half century. Next man in was Steve Miller, who had been reliving his āMisspent Youthā before the game by warming up with a pint in the Vic!! Once he got out to the middle he discovered āItās Not Easyā hitting fours as despite his best efforts the now deep set field foiled his efforts, he did score at a good rate though he wasnāt just āKilling Timeā and his procession of singles allowed Spud to get his share of the strike as well.
Spud was now closing in on a century and decide āLets Go Dancingā coming down the pitch to meet the bowlers, he also got the reverse sweep out with some success. He was looking really good but then first ball of the 38th over he went āChasing Rainbowsā looking for that elusive Witton hundred, having been dismissed in the 70ās 3 time already this season, Spud did record his highest Wās score but fell short of his century when he was caught by McAdam off the bowling of Smart at cover. The ball was there to be hit but he was a bit early for a cross batted shot and was on his way for magnificent 85, made off 116 balls which included 11 fours. 181 for 4 with Miller set on 20, the Skipper had been āOn Standbyā ready to come in to see what havoc he could wreak with 17 balls remaining. Some frenetic running between the wickets by the āStar Struck Loversā Miller and Hall, left Miller breathing out of his backside, in fact at one stage Iām positive I heard him shout to George you have the āDevil In Your Shoesā*!! A tiered Steve finally fell when he became Smarts 3rd victim of the innings bowled for 22. This left Mr Humberstone 3 balls to make an impact with the bat, after one swish and a miss, a mid-pitch discussion ensued with the skipper, the content of which became eminently clear when a second swing and a miss was followed by a cheeky bye to the keeper! It didnāt work the second time though after a further swing and a miss from George, Mr H fell on the sacrificial alter of the God of the extra single in a further attempted bye, this time the keeper did not miss his target and John was run out for a duck, still every cloud has silver lining at least that meant one duck and a run out fine in the pot.
It had been a good day with the bat for Witton, but due to my ruling that any scores that do not exceed the total of extras given away by the fielding team can only be classed as cameos, only Spudās 85 got out of that category!! Ignoring Johnās valiant duck though, everyone else made excellent cameo contributions, with Georgeās swashbuckling knock of 17 not out at the end getting us to 201 for 6. The skip did inform me heād āSaid Iām Sorryā to Mr H for the run out and would pay Johnās half of the fine.
So, at the halfway stage the Wās were in good shape, but couldnāt quite decide if we were āIn Commandā, as event though 202 to win was a challenging total to chase, there hadnāt been many demons in the pitch, and the outfield gave the opportunity for quick scoring so it was game on indeed.
On to Bartonās batting effort and it was time for the Wās bowlers to āStand Up And Be Countedā! The new ball pairing of Mr H, John Humberstone and Miss H, Holly Higginson had the Barton openers in their sights, and they didnāt hold back, John exceptionally hostile and a cause of constant worry for the batters with his hight, and Holly once again finding excessive inswing to the righthanders. Holly struck in her second over when her swing and length bamboozled Archibold who was clean bowled for just 9. At the other end Mr Humberstone was proving to be a real handful he had beaten the bat with the majority of his deliveries, the 3rd ball of his 3rd over going over the top of McAdams middle stump, the 4th ball of the over also beat the defensive prod, but this time smashed in to the top of the off stump. Despite Johnās fantastic start, it soon became apparent that a recent mountain biking accident was making it impossible for him to sustain the attack, and he had to be replaced by Adam N after only four over (1 wicket for 3 runs). This did not provide much respite for the Barton batsmen.
George continued to āRing The Changesā introducing himself at Hollyās end. Georgeās bowling did not carry the same threat as his colleagues, in fact it stank like a week old āOcean Pieā! His spell lasted just 3 overs and came at the cost of 29 runs, and he couldnāt āLet it Rideā any longer. Adam however was getting more life out of the pitch than all the other bowlers that had tried their luck today. He was finding lift from just back of a length and when the āSensitiveā home umpire decided LBW wouldnāt be a mode of dismissal at his end today Ad exploited that extra bounce, banging one in at A Mee that was a bit to straight for him, he backed away and almost tried to deflect the ball over the slips but only succeeded in finding his glove, with Tim taking a comfortable catch, the batter giving himself out and walking. The Meeās had been together for 10 overs and added 45 for the 3rd wicket taking the score to 60 for 3. I Mee who was lucky not to have āStars In Your Eyesā after a short ball from add removed his specks via the shoulder of his bat, he took it in his stride though and āLet It Rideā and was still playing pretty fluently striking boundaries at regular intervals, but disaster struck when Imerson played the ball to midwicket and set off for a tight run, a run to which I Mee didnāt respond, until it was too late. George did the rest picking up and throwing to Tim at the strikers end who removed the bails with Mee well short of his ground. Ad continued pounding away to Imerson and eventually the batters luck ran out when Ad sent him on his way another one clean bowled. Spud had come on to replace the skipper at the scoreboard end but another swift change saw Holly back in the attack, the ball was a little older but it was still swinging for her, and she and Ad went to work on the Barton lower order. Adam was rampant by now following Imerson back to the pavilion was Burkin who also had his furniture rearranged. Holly made short sharp work of Barton opening bowler Ryan, he attempted a wild slog towards cow corner, Mid off had a little ground to make to his right but Nicky covered the ground well and he was āWaiting For The Catchā when the ball arrived. The game was moving quickly towards its conclusion now and incredibly āAll Roads Lead To Youā Nicky, as he was presented with another catch this one giving Nelson his 4th wicket of the innings. Barton had slipped from 60 for 2 to 101 for 8. Holly completed her days wicket taking when she put an end to any fleeting chance Barton had of getting the remaining runs required when she removed second top scored Burkin-Watson, sneaking the ball under his swipe to leg to peg back middle and leg stumps, her 3rd wicket of the day and her best return so far the Wās she was certainly the āTalk Of The Townā. Nelson had bowled out now, so Spud swapped ends, he had to switch to round the wicket pretty sharpish though as Nelson had dug āA-Holeā with his follow through on the crease for the right arm over bowler. That change of angle brought about the dismissal of Kennedy who was the final clean bowled of the day, and left Barton 120 all out. A resounding win for the Wās. We still sit in 8th place in the A Division after todays win, but only 11 points behind 7th place Eryholme.
An exceptional performance this week, potentially our best batting performance of the summer, excellent bowling (in the main) and sharp catches taken (only one drop!!).
George said there was āRoom In My (Public) House**, so we hit the āMagic Streetsā back to Witton to finish what Steve had started about six hours previously!!!
Thanks for reading. We are back in action Saturday the 22nd August at home against Middleton St George. Hope to see a few of you there.
* Slight crowbar to get this one in
** Massive crowbar used for this one
