(Pic: Matt Robinson on his way to 3/35)

Match Report by Ryan Nixon

A scorcher of a day on Sunday as Tintwistle hosted Broadbottom in the 2nd round of the Bissenden Cup. Skipper James Pool lost the toss and was told to bowl. Alex Brown and Staurt Chamley started the bowling off today with Brown bowling very tight lines. Brown’s persistence paid off as he claimed the wicket of Ryan Welsh (19). An up and down performance in the middle overs gifted Broadbottom a decent partnership. However when Matthew Robinson and AJ Harris were introduced into the attack their solid bowling was rewarded with the two ending with 3/35 and 2/26 respectively. Broadbottom ended their 40 overs on 162/6.

Halftime thoughts were that Tintwistle had restricted Broadbottom to a reasonable target. Tintwistle started with their 4th opening pair of the season with Matthew Robinson and Damian Weatherhead. The pair out on just 25 before the latter fell for 5 lbw off Steve Croft. It wasn’t long after that when Robinson hauled up to Welsh trying to pull Croft. Ryan Nixon and AJ Harris started with positive intent and wanted to replicate their partnership from last year before Nixon was undone by a googly from Dominic Perrin for 24. Harris continued to keep the score board ticking over and put on a vital partnership with Chamley (37) before Chamley fell to Cheetham – Roberts. The scoreboard read 136/5 with 7 overs to go. Unfortunately for Tintwistle Harris (44) was stumped after some sharp glove work down the leg side. The two new batsman were James Pool and Martin Harris and this proved to be good combination as they picked up runs at the right time with some help with over throws from Broadbottom. The two got to within the last run as Pool was the last wicket to fall with the scores level. Martin Harris finished off proceedings with a thumping 4.

A great team performance from Tintwistle who progress to the next round of the Bissenden Cup! Whilst Tintwistle prospered both teams deserve credit for delivering a fantastic game of cricket which the crowd enjoyed.

A cloudy day in Tintwistle as the 1st XI welcomed Hawk Green to Speedwell in their 2nd home game of the season. Skipper James Pool won the toss and elected to bowl on what you would argue was a very batter friendly pitch. Tintwistle opened the batting with Mark Lilley and Damian Weatherhead. Finding the first wicket was difficult for the Hawk Green bowlers however they did bowl very tight lines. Drinks came after 23 overs and the Tintwistle pair had only managed to put 39 runs on the board. The home side needed to go through the gears in the last 22 overs. The first wicket to fall was that of Lilley (9). Kieran Davies (3) came and went which brought Ryan Nixon to the crease where he saw Weatherhead (36) straight drive M Richards for six then falling the very next ball. Nixon was joined by Stuart Chamley with the score 61/3 before a mix up between the pair saw Chamley (1) run out. Gavin Cole joined Nixon in his efforts to try and push the score on however was out by kicking his leg stump down. Nixon bludgeoned his way to 25 including 3 sixes before being bowled off Henderson. The score 90/6 but another 12 runs were made with the last 4 wickets. Tintwistle finished on 102 all out.

Halftime thoughts that were Hawk Green deserved a lot of credit for their display but it was a very bad batting performance. However, things went from bad to worse for the Tintwistle team as the bowlers and the fielders didn’t help the cause of defending a low total. Hawk Green were allowed to knock off their total with a 10 wicket win. Thanks to 42 not out from J. Hampson and 37 not out from P. Needham.

Last Saturday, Tintwistle 2^nd XI hosted Mottram at the Speedwell Cricket Ground. Tintwistle won the toss and batted first on a decent looking track. The home side put 71 on the board for the loss of the first wicket. Steve Morris scored a very useful 43 before being stumped. Dee Patel fell soon after having looked the part for a superb 40. Ricky Harris strode to the crease at No 3 and once set quickly moved the gears. Ricky scored a tremendous 121 not out and secured his first century at Speedwell. Ricky had scored 9 previous centuries for TCC but not one had occurred atTintwistle’s home ground. The Speedwell curse had finally been broken! Other contributions came from Simon Barrow (5), Andy Tomlinson (14) and Ethan Tomlinson (14) pushing Tintwistle’s total to 257-4.

In response, the visitors got off to a solid start putting 34 on the board for the loss of the 1^st wicket. Dadge (22) was run out after a superb piece of ground fielding from Josh Hutton. Hutton fielded the ball superbly but it was the speed of which he managed to get the ball in the air towards the stumps that surprised the bastman. Hutton’s afternoon was not over and collected the wickets of Wood (19) and Marsden (4). Jack Morris was soon into the attack and ripped the heart out of Mottram’s middle order. Morris bowled superbly well collecting 4 vital wickets. M Fazackerley was the only significant contributor with 45. With the score 88-7 the ball was thrown to Charlie Harris who was making his senior debut for the club. Charlie’s bowling was immediately on point and he snared all three of the remaining wickets. A great day for Charlie! Mottram were bowled out for 103.

The pick of the bowlers was Jack Morris (4-28), Charlie Harris (3-8) and Josh Hutton (2-15). This team is incredibly well balanced with experience and youth. The younger players have raised the bar in terms of bowling and fielding and the experienced heads are setting competitive targets with the bat. The glue is provided by Andy Tomlinson behind the stumps. A very tidy keeper who both encourages his team mates and sets high standards. Tomlinson is a highly competent keeper. Simon Barrow is captaining this team superbly well and deserves a lot of credit.

Next week the team travel to Hawk Green.