Report: Unicorns v Somerset by John Ward

---

Scorecard:	Unicorns v Somerset
Event:	Yorkshire Bank 40 2013

---

DateLine: 15th June 2013

 

Unicorns v Somerset (Yorkshire Bank 40)

 

John Ward, at Truro

 

Boscawen Park in Truro is a very attractive cricket venue – a pity it is so far off the beaten track of regular county cricket. It is picturesque, lined on both sides with trees, and at the far end there is the River Fal with green hills in the distance. Surrounding the field were rows of deckchairs, where several hundred spectators were huddled, despite the weather. The ground must look stunning in the sunshine, but unfortunately there was little of that for the first match in the Truro Cricket Festival, that between the Unicorns and Somerset. It was cold, windy and cloudy, and then halfway through the match the rain came on as well, preventing any result.

 

Somerset won the toss and put the Unicorns in to bat, a decision they probably questioned within half an hour. The Unicorns are a good batting side; their problem has been more with their bowling this season. Their openers Tom Lancefield and Matt Linekar did a fine job, taking charge of the bowling right from the start, mainly through powerful driving. Lancefield in particular took the initiative with some fine strokes, and the fifty came up in the eighth over. Linekar was slower in starting, but then he made up for lost time, scoring 36 off 37 balls before he drove a return catch to Peter Trego, with the score 76 for one in the 13th over.

 

Four overs later the team hundred came up, quickly followed by Lancefield’s fifty off 54 balls. His partner Mike O’Shea (not to be confused with the more famous Rick!J) also looked good in making 19 before he was bowled by Craig Meschede; 130 for two in the 22nd over.

 

Two balls later Harry Park was caught at the wicket off the same bowler, and this could have rattled the Unicorns’ innings. Instead Scott Elstone took over with aggression, steadying the ship with Lancefield until the latter’s fine innings finally came to an end at 80 (86 balls); he went down the pitch to drive a ball from Dean Elgar and virtually yorked himself. The score was 177 for four in the 30th over and Lancefield had done a fine job, worthy of a Man of the Match award.

 

After Elstone was caught at mid-off for 38 in the 36th over, the remainder of the innings became rather frenetic as the lower order scrambled every run they could, wickets kept falling and the drizzle started to do the same. The captain Keith Parsons, scratchy at first, made 15 and the total reached 231 for eight – which on past experience for the Unicorns would probably not have been enough, fine effort though it was. Meschede was the most successful Somerset bowler, with four for 43.

 

The rain continued on and off. When, after a longer interval than usual, the players finally took the field for the Somerset innings, it began again before a ball could be bowled. Finally, when play did get under way, Somerset were set 206 to win in 32 overs. But they were barely able to make a start. Trego, sent in to open, made his intentions clear by facing five balls and hammering them for 4, 6, 4, 4 and 1 respectively, but after just two overs (21 without loss) the rain returned and finished the match.

 

It was a disappointing end, but a good experience at this new venue for everybody who attended. May those who are able to return for the second and final match at Truro, between Netherlands and Nottinghamshire, enjoy better fortune with the weather. With the steady phasing out of county outgrounds, it is rarely that top-class cricket nowadays is taken to the lesser outposts in the country, and Truro is eminently deserving of good treatment from those who schedule the fixtures – and the weather!

 

(Article: Copyright © 2013 John Ward)