1st XI Match Report

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Season Review 2003

Atherstone first team ended a roller-coaster season in 7th place in Warwickshire League Division One, a two place improvement over 2002 and their highest ever finish since being promoted as 2nd division champions in 2000.

The bare facts however do not tell the whole story of a remarkable recovery from a dreadful start to the season. The late arrival of player/coach Noel Gibbons from Bermuda due to family reasons and a spate of dropped catches in the early matches saw ‘The Adders’ lose 3 of their first six matches to end the month of May 21 points adrift at the bottom of the league.

One consistent feature was the run production of opener Dave Blower and a classy 76 from him and a crucial undefeated 51 by skipper Steve Sperry saw the team to it’s first win at Hampton-In-Arden on 7th June. A second hundred in 3 games by Blower and 62 from the newly-arrived Gibbons laid the foundation for a second win against local rivals Griff at the end of June where veteran bowler Vic Clements took advantage of a drying pitch with figures of 5-4 as Griff were skittled for 76.

Atherstone continued their improvement with a number of battling draws at the start of the second half of the fixture programme. Blower scored 156 not out against Bournville whilst Gibbons and Manny Alcock also scored fifties. Clements, Sperry and Gibbons regularly picked up wickets while the return of Simon Grayson behind the stumps heralded an improvement in the field.

Despite this general revival by the team, victories were still in short supply and 2 more opportunities went begging during the hot weather of early August. Atherstone and Berskwell fought out an incredible 249-apiece tie on 9th August, arguably the hottest day for cricket in living memory while the following week saw a narrow defeat at the hands of promotion-chasing Olton.

As Atherstone headed into a crucial Bank Holiday weekend with a home double header against promotion contenders Hampton and Kenilworth, relegation remained a threat but at long last, their fortunes changed over the course of a dramatic weekend. After Sperry had played a memorable captain’s innings of 89 to rescue Atherstone from 23-3 to a final total of 190, six wickets from Gibbons, including the last one with 2 balls left, saw the Adders to a thrilling 4-run victory.

2 days later, another 5 wicket haul from Gibbons and tidy bowling from Clements restricted Kenliworth to 186. After Gibbons with 77 and captain Sperry has apparently taken the team to the brink of victory with only 35 needed and 7 wickets standing, a late collapse meant another nail-biting finish but Adi Williams kept his nerve to slam 3 fours in succession and clinch a 2-wicket victory with 2 overs left.

A third successive win, this one in the last over at Fillongley, saw 5 wickets from Clements and a maiden first team 50 from Alan Miller, who guided the team to a 3-wicket win in another tense finish and confirmed their survival.

After the disappointment of an abandoned game against local rivals Griff, Atherstone finished the season on a high with a convincing 6-wicket win over Aston Manor, their fourth win in the last 5 games, a run which left them wondering what might have been had the season had another month to run !

Despite a late drought, Dave Blower was the leading batsman with 945 runs while Noel Gibbons and Steve Sperry both made over 400 and Manny Alcock fought his way back into the opening position over the second half of the season.

Vic Clements and Sperry were the leading wicket takers with 37 apiece while Gibbons claimed 20 victims in a late burst. Pace bowler Ryan Steede had more catches dropped than most in the early part of the season but was still able to take 26 wickets.

The Atherstone pitch was voted, by some distance, the best in Division One by visiting teams and umpires while an incredible 8 out of 21 completed games went to the last over.

Final Warwickshire League Division 1 Table

Batting Averages (Qualification: 6 completed innings)

Bowling Averages (Qualification: 15 wickets)