Bolton-by-Bowland v Sabden
Home, 10th June 2007

Bolton-by-Bowland CC dedicated Sunday's match to the memory of Annmarie Carlton, who had tragically died earlier in the week.

Mark and his daughters, Amy Jo, Lizzie, Lucy and Hannah, together with Annmarie's mum, Andrea, and various other friends and family, showed astonishing courage in joining us at the ground on a wonderfully sunny day.

Annmarie's dad, Peter, wasn't there, but only because he felt he could best pay tribute to her by spending time quietly in her local church at Tosside.

The man with the floppy hat - blue this time, because he wasn't playing! - led his family onto the ground shortly before the match began.

Players and WAGS from both B-by-B and Sabden formed a circle and then held hands during a minute's silence interrupted only by the birdsong we suspect Annmarie would rather have liked.

B-by-B batted first, and for once managed to forget the usual script of a flash here, a flash there and the frequent clatter of leather on stump. Instead, successive batsmen set about the Sabden attack like men (and boys) possessed.

For once, too, the star man wasn't the resident pro (sorry Boothy!) but one of the `youth academy`, Declan Fitzhenry, who chose the occasion to claim his maiden century. The home innings closed on a massive 235.

Realising how important it was for B-by-B to win, Sabden graciously rolled over in time for an early adjournment to the newly-reopened Coach and Horses.

The home side were the village equivalent of awesome in the field. Boothy stayed awake, for starters, and then bent his back to take take three wickets, the last of them nearly snapping middle stump.

Not only that, but Peter finally got his pants dirty (by being dragged across the wicket on his backside), and Phil eventually swapped his stopping gloves for the ones that actually catch!

The youth policy also came good with young Mark Glover claiming a three-for in his first Sunday start.

Keith (Let it Go!) White struck for the oldies, taking a further trio of wickets and having a dozen indisputable LBWs cruelly turned down by the umpire. He was last seen cradling the bottle of fine red wine (thanks, Mark) awarded for his stupendous caught-and-bowled.

We all still miss Trigger, aka the Patron Saint of Leg Spinners, so it was lovely to see Mark embrace Kate when she arrived, as ever, to help with the teas.

And on such a hot day it was great, too, to see him and the girls handing over cans of lager to fielders and batsmen alike - the latter, we hasten to add, as they were heading back to the pavilion.

Mark had one more surprise - a bottle of champagne for Dec in honour of his imperious ton.

Mark later described the match as "the best game of cricket I've ever seen", and although Hilly might disagree with such lofty and clearly misguided praise we won't - at least not on this occasion!

It was a fabulous day all round, both on and off the pitch, and to have played the game in Annmarie's honour was a privilege and a joy we will never forget.

Nigel Bunyan

Bolton By Bowland Innings
J	Bunyan	c	P Mckenna	b	Hargreaves	10
N	Bunyan	c	S Parker	b	I Davies	39
D	Fitzhenry	c	Hargreaves	b	P Mckenna	104
S	Booth	c	K Shipstone	b	P Mckenna	14
P	Iveson	c	Dickinson	b	I Davies	0
A	Hartley	c	Dickinson	b	Hargreaves	7
M	Glover			b	Hargreaves	0
P	Smalley	lbw		b	Livesay	29
K	White			b	Hargreaves	0
S	Reynolds	not out				7
S	Ashton	c	K Shipstone	b	S Parker	0
					Extras	24
Total				Wkts		234
				Overs		36.4
Sabden batting:		63 all out Hargreaves 20
Bolton By Bowland Bowling
		Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts
S	Booth	4	1	8	3
J	Bunyan	4	0	22	1
K	White	4	1	12	3
M	Glover	3.3	0	17	3