The silly season was on us once again as Birthday Boy Craig 'Drop the Boy' Partridge was given the Captains armband as a birthday treat. Park were to bat first and opened with their version of Boycott & Gooch, that is to say Dave Fletcher and Alan Horton. The England duo would have been proud of the start these two lads made as 78 runs were put on for the first wicket, before Al was bowled for a lovely knock of 30. No further runs were added (now how often does this happen ?) when Dave decided that he'd join Al in the bar and got out himself, caught for a cracking 42, and Park off to a good start on 78 for 2. With Chris O'Mahoney and Sean Pritchard at the wicket Park were soon in the groove again, with both players looking in good nick. Just as Chris was starting to get the big shots off he was caught out for 15, to leave Park on 103 for 3. Sean too had just got going when he was bowled for 20, Park now on 117 for 4. Tim Gannon and Jim Flood were the next pair in, and once again a batsman departed after getting himself in, Gannon caught for 15. Big Jim followed the very next ball for 4, to leave Park stuttering on 136 for 6 and Dave brupacher on a hat-trick ball. Bru survived this, but his batting partner Richard LaRoche was not so fortunate, falling for a duck, caught. At 141 for 7, Park looked like they were going to waste their good start, but Bru kept the innings together and made a stand of 15 with Chairman Al Whaley. Wonk was then run out on 7 going for a second run that looked well on at the start and Park were now on 156 for 8. Captain Craig was out next for a quick dash with Bru and these two saw the Park total onto 181 for 8, with Bru not out on 25 and Craig 7 not out.
With a big total to bowl at the Captain Craig had no hesitation in opening with himself and Dave Robotham. Craig mad an immediate impact clean bowling one of the openers with the score at 7. The nest pair werent easily put off though and put on 50 for the fall of the next wicket, with a run out preciptated by great infielding from Craig once again. Carlton at 57 for 2. With not much frontline bowling to call on, Tim Gannon and Chairman Al Whaley were called on at the lofty first change position. Gannon struck early in his spell, the batmsan edging (off the back of the bat it looked like), and Bru took a neat catch behind the stumps. Carlton at 66 for 3. Again this was to prove the only breakthrough for a while and neither Whaley or Gannon could strike further. The next bowling change saw Rocky LaRoche and Christian O'Mahoney stepping up to the mark. Once again, the change precipitated an early breakthrough as Rocky clean bowled the no.5 bat to leave Carlton on 104 for 4. Rocky struck again without another run being added with a caught and bowled. The slow run rate, ground to a halt from this point as Carlton made an early decision to bat out the draw, finishing on 128 for 5 from 38 overs.
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craig Partridge | 9 | 6 | 1 | |
| Dave Robotham | 10 | 25 | 0 | |
| Alan Whaley | 6 | 22 | 0 | |
| Tim Gannon | 5 | 23 | 1 | |
| Richard LaRoche | 4 | 20 | 2 | |
| Christian O'Mahoney | 4 | 20 | 0 |
This was a bit of a difficult game for craig to Skipper with the Prospect Park side being packed with batting but very short on the bowling front. However, set a big total to win, Carlton Sports never really went for it despite the paucity of the bowling attack. Having said that, the opening spell by Dave and Craig was so mean, it left them an uphill battle in the second half of the innings.
No really stand out performances today in a good all round team display but Dave Fletcher picks up the award for the highest knock of the day with a very entertaining 42.