Hit by 3rds ' injury crisis

One of the worst injury crises during a game in living memory affected Sidmouth last Saturday at Cornwood. The end result was that three batsmen had to bat with runners at the end of the Sidmouth innings! The first injury occurred when Jon Powell overstretched himself in the field and the result was a pulled hamstring. The same fate befell Terry Russell, another guest player, when he chased a ball in the outfield. Bruce Robson, having bowled nine overs, then collapsed with a strained calf! Onto the cricket. Sidmouth Captain Mike Dibble elected to field on winning the toss. Opening bowlers Robson and Paris Pinney bowled well and it was Pinney who made the breakthrough when Jones skied a catch which was taken by wicketkeeper Martyn Dean. The other opener, Tall, had just been dropped and this proved costly as he top scored with 59 in a total of 146 all out. This was an outstanding effort by the Sidmouth bowlers. Pinney took 4 for 36 and Charlie Miles 4 for 26 as the young guns showed the way. However, the performance of bus pass user Bob Macey was also outstanding, as he took 2 for 25 in 12 overs. The problem was the bowling brought about an attack of tennis elbow that was to severely restrict him when it came to batting!The less said about the Sidmouth batting probably the better. When Eddie Extras is your top scorer with 17 there is obviously not much to shout about! However, at 23 for 0, things were looking fine. Dibble was bowled behind his legs for 13, Tom Overthrow was LBW and it became hard work. Macey and Nathan Ritchie blocked a few overs but run scoring was difficult on a drying track. Wickets continued to fall at a regular rate and, eventually, Sidmouth were all out for 61. This included the sight of Pinney acting as runner for three successive batsmen!Thanks are due to umpire Colin Whitehall and scorer Clive Dwerryhouse for officiating. This Saturday the 3rd XI are at home to Axminster at Bicton College.