Cromer BBQs Play of the Day - Michael Ford and Michael Counsell December 15 2012
In the final game before the Christmas break the BBQs were keen to bounce back from a last-start defeat and to also avoid a repeat of their loss to the same opponents in the corresponding fixture last season. The joy associated with winning the toss was short-lived, as being 2/1 after the first over had not been a feature of Cromer’s game plan. Plan B, in the guise of a rear-guard action, was also proving unsuccessful, as a total of 3 golden ducks saw two wickets fall with the score on 22 and a further 2 on 29. It probably does not bear mentioning that the next state of play at the fall of the next BBQs wicket, 7/45, was not a considerable improvement upon 6/29.
With 19 overs remaining in the BBQs’ innings, it was left to Michael Ford and Michael Counsell to do all they could to add a grain of respectability to the team’s total. And what a job they did! After taking to the total to 50, their team mates speculated about the possibility of reaching 75 to give them something to defend. 5 overs later, the two Michaels had raced past that mark, with 100 in their sights. They brought the hundred up in the 25 over, and really opened their shoulders to add another 50 in the next six.
The only thing that constrained them in any way was the dodgy spines that they both possess, but running between wickets was kept to a minimum as they went tit-for-tat in peppering the Nolan’s 4 boundaries. By the time they’d seen out the allotted 35 overs, they’d taken the team’s total to 193, adding a remarkable 148 undefeated runs for the 8th wicket. Michael Ford finished on 77 not out with five 4s and two 6s, while Michael Counsell scored his first fifty, notching 69 not out with seven 4s and one 6.
Despite some solid batting by the Breakers’ top order, the BBQs remained in control of the match from there on in. An honourable mention goes to Simon Waygood who picked up 4 of the 6 wickets to fall as Cromer restricted the Breakers to 176 off their 35 overs.
