Clumber Park stay perfect after thumping win

Darren Spooner bowling for Clumber Park.

In front of a sensational early summer crowd Clumber served up a feast of entertainment.

Whitwell won the toss and elected to field first. Clumber’s Josh Womble set the tone for the day by cracking his 2nd ball for 6 straight over cover! In a brutal, action-packed opening, Clumber raced to 100-1 from just 14 overs. After a 78-run partnership, Dave Beard (28) fell to leave the score on 108-2. Josh continued, hitting 13 fours and 4 sixes, before being caught off Whitwell’s Brandon Pritchard for 92 runs from just 64 balls!

Clumber lost a couple of quick wickets and then when James Davies (11) fell, it felt as if Clumber were in danger of throwing away their dominant start. That was until Tim Shelley arrived at the crease… Tim proceeded from here on in with an absolute batting masterclass – solid defence mixed with some awesome shots. He added 41 with Zak Berridge (2) and then 76 with Darren Spooner. Darren had a great innings on his own, coming in at No.8 and scoring 42 runs from 35 balls.

Tim reached his century – the first Clumber 1st XI century for two years – in the penultimate ball of the final over, before holing out on the final ball to be out for 103 from 81 balls (including 9 fours and 5 sixes).

Clumber Park finished on a huge 322 all out from their 50 over allocation.

In reply, Whitwell battled hard. Opening bowler Zak Berridge (1-13) struck first, bowling with real pace & hostility. At the other end, Darren Spooner (1-32) capped off another brilliant all-round contribution, reeling off 10 excellent overs and picking up the key wicket of Whitwell’s Andrew Shaw.

Ben Perkins (1-31) picked one up and Hayden Cox (2-31) got two well deserved breakthroughs. Clumber steadily worked their way through the Whitwell line up, eventually claiming all their wickets for 170 runs in the 46th over. Josh Womble (1-28) & Mark Dean (3-26) also chipped in with the bowling attack.

On the result, Clumber captain Mark Dean said, “three wins in three games, and still loads more improvement to come. The sights in Clumber were brilliant today – young and old enjoying the sun while watching a bit of cricket. Happy Days and thank you to everyone for their amazing support.”

Next week Clumber’s 1st XI are at home again, hosting Kiveton Park Colliery CC’s 1st XI.