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The 1st Xl were crushed by a massive
134-run margin, on a day when reputations perished in the warm
September sun and the heat
of a local derby.
Wisbech Town's Gary Freear bowed out in style in
what was his last Tucker League game in charge. His 6-35 opening spell of
bowling saw a ragged March dismissed for a miserly 93. The three second team players for the visitors must
have shook their heads in disbelief as they saw overseas star Steve Seymour
and county player Andrew Mills drop regulation catches in the final over of
the Wisbech innings. That just about summed up a poor performance in the
field before tea. And to compound their errors neither of the two
senior run-scorers adapted to a tactical switch of bowling by Wisbech, which
saw the old ball being used and a crowd of fielders around the bat with the
pace taken off the ball. Seymour was inexplicably stumped, Mills was
caught close in and Steve Hinson lofted a catch into the covers, as the
visitors found themselves 27-3 chasing the Wisbech total of 227-7. Matty Vail and Rob Tombs brought some
semblance of order and picked off the bad ball - although there were
precious few of those from Freear and off-spinner Chris Clark. In the end
Vail top-scored with 18 runs after a 57 minute stay at the crease. The afternoon had started much differently
for the two opposing captains. The Wisbech man thought he was harshly
treated as Chris Ringham had him caught behind for 2. The March skipper
continued his solid form of the season by taking the first three wickets, as
the new ball swung, and the home side found themselves 66-3. County all-rounder James Williams made a
huge impact with a good 72 before getting himself trapped in front to the
impressive Stuart Mills, who again rose to the challenge with three wickets
himself. That apart there was very little to cheer,
as Wisbech completed a league double and now hold the bragging rights into
the 2010 season. Action photos from the match can be found on the
top slide show under the Photos link.
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