So near…..That first Meller Braggins Cheshire League win proved elusive again at picturesque Bunbury on Saturday. We needed just one more wicket for victory at our third attempt, but finished our latest Division 3 outing frustrated because we could not separate Caine and Williams who defied all our efforts to separate them. We were given our big chance mainly because of a terrific all round performance by Ned Kelly.

Young Ned has had a rough time with the bat so far, but here he batted with assurance and judgment to top score with 60, not far off half of our moderate 131. And the paceman followed up by taking four wickets, three of them in eight balls. At that point, his figures were three for one off three overs….. Only Andy Bashford gave him the batting support he needed. When Ned joined him, the top order had been blown away on a track on which the ball occasionally stopped, testing timing.  We were 32-4—Rick Holt(15) the only one to reach double figures—with nearly 19 overs gone and threatened with humiliation. But the old hand and the young buck gradually pulled us towards respectability, almost doubling the score before Bash(26) was deceived and bowled by Williams. He was one of five victims for the left-handed medium pacer, who hit the seam and mixed his pace well. Eddie Nickson(11) gave us hope he would stay with the increasingly commanding Kelly before mistiming Hurley to long on. By that time, Kelly had taken a great liking to the slow left armer, driving him majestically for three sixes in an over and making the local cows wonder if cud-chewing was all they should be thinking about. Kelly was last out, for once mistiming his favourite lofted drive. His half century was decorated by five fours and three sixes. Local knowledge didn’t prove much help to Bunbury who struggled as much as we did on that track. They began knowing they were one batter down. Camber, barely recovered from a broken hand, had injured the same hand in a brave, vain try to catch Alex Barber’s big drive in the deep. They were impotent against the seamers of Nick Fithon. The medium pacer regularly passed the bat and eight overs and one ball had gone before he conceded his first run. He somehow finished wicketless but his steadiness was reflected by his final figures, 11-8-11-0. When Kelly made his second big entrance of the day, Bunbury were 19-3 and staggering. Alex Barber then returned after a wicketless first spell to bowl opener Swinbank and then catch superbly Taylor off his own bowling to leave the hosts effectively seven down for 77. The skipper followed with a tumbling catch to reward Billy Flattley and bowled Hurley leaving us with nearly eight overs to part the last pair. But, despite aggressive field placings and tight bowling, they hung on for the draw.
Scores: Romiley 131(43.4 overs; Kelly 60, Bashford 26; Williams 5-32). Bunbury 111-8(46 overs; Lamb 29; Kelly 4-23, Barber 3-39, Flattley 1-9)

This Saturday(May 15) we try again to break our duck in a home match with Sandbach(1.30). That’s followed with Sunday’s first round tie in the National Club Cup at Premier League Hyde.