Settle Cricket Club v PCA England Legends (Friendly Match)
After being crowned the Ribblesdale Senior Cricket League Champions and Ramsbottom Cup winners, Settle Cricket Club welcomed the PCA England Legends team to Marshfield which included a number of former England stars such as Monty Panesar, James Taylor, Steve Harmison, Phil Mustard, Dean Headley, Mal Loye and Captain Alex Tudor.
PCA England Legends won the toss and elected to bat with Phil Mustard & Karl Brown opening the innings for the visitors. Phil Mustard was the first legend to lose his wicket as he looked to get the ball to the boundary and was caught by John Davidson off the bowling of Harry Snowden for five runs.
Former Lancashire wicketkeeper Gareth Cross was next into bat for the visitors joining Karl Brown as the pair looked to build partnership for the legends side. But shortly after coming to the crease Cross was caught by Will Davidson off the bowling of Eddy Read for fourteen runs leaving the visitors 44-2.
The legends then sent Paul Horton into the middle to join Karl Brown who just three runs short of his half century took on the spin of Dante Niles, however on this occasion the young Jamaican bowler got the better of the former England International who missed the ball before being stumped by Robbie Davidson for forty-seven runs. Karl Brown can be pleased with his innings as he finished the top scorer for the PCA England Legends team.
Mal Loye then joined Paul Horton at the crease but the partnership didn’t last long and Horton was bowled by Will Davidson for just eight runs as the visitors reached 86-4. The Legends then sent in former Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire batsman James Taylor who had to retire from the game in 2016 due to a heart condition. Unfortunately, the former England selector only managed one run before being dismissed by Dante Niles.
The PCA England Legends Captain Alex Tudor was next into bat for the visitors and alongside the in form Mal Loye the pair started to build a partnership. However as the duo looked to increase the run rate Alex Tudor went for a big boundary shot and he was caught by Dante Niles off the bowling of Joseph Pickles for nineteen runs.
Steve Harmison was next into bat for the visitors, but he was dismissed for a duck in the very next over by Joseph Pickles, The first ball of the over was smashed back toward the Settle bowler by the former England fast bowler Harmison, but Pickles managed to hold onto a one handed catch which brought a smile from Harmison as he left the crease.
Gary Yates came in at number eight for the legends joining Mal Loye in the middle as the visitors came towards the end of their twenty overs. At the end of the innings Gary Yates finished seven not out, whilst Mal Loye was forty not out as the PCA England Legends finished their innings on 154-8.
During the interval the PCA England Legends Captain Alex Tudor got his bowlers together for a discussion about the tactics and how they could defend their total of 154. The teams also gave the supporters the opportunity to take some individual images before the home side came out to start their innings.
Settle Cricket Club came out to start the innings know that they would need 155 runs to win the match against the PCA England Legends. It was the normal opening partnership for the home side with Archie Phillipson & John Davidson facing Dean Headley & Karl Brown. It was Phillipson that was first to lose his wicket, when he was clean bowled by Dean Headley for four runs.
Robbie Davidson then joined brother John Davidson at the crease but he wasn’t there long as he was dismissed LBW by Dean Headley for one run. However, its fair to say that it was a controversial decision by the umpire, as the ball looked to be going down the offside and not in line with the stumps. Robbie Davidson was clearly not convinced about the decision and spoke with John Davidson at the other end to see if he felt it was LBW before walking back to the dressing room.
Ashen Silva (Club Professional) who missed the fixture due to being away in London at the test match so Tom Davidson was next into bat for the home side, but he failed to build a partnership with John Davidson and he was clean bowled by Dean Headley for just four runs, leaving the home side 39-3.
James Snowden was next into bat joining John Davidson and the duo looked to added some runs to the scoreboard, the next wicket to fall was that of Snowden who was caught going for the boundary for twenty-three runs which brought Ben Hulse to the crease.
John Davidson was next to be dismissed for the home side when he was caught for thirty-five runs off the bowling of Gary Yates. This brought Will Davidson (Captain) to the crease to join Ben Hulse, but after making one run Will Davidson was run-out as the home side looked to increase the run rate, which brought Dante Niles to the crease.
Ben Hulse was then bowled by England legend Monty Panesar for two runs, which brought Harry Snowden to the crease alongside Dante Niles. The young overseas player then took control of the match and started to find the boundary, hitting a number of sixes and fours to bringing an exciting finish to the match. Niles was dismissed after making a quick-fire forty bring Eddy Read to the crease.
Eddy Read continued were Dante Niles left off taking the game to the bowlers hitting three consecutive boundary’s the first of which was an outstanding paddle sweep for four runs. The visitors then turned to England legend Monty Panesar to slow down the run rate, but Eddy Read smashed the ball back over Panesar’s head for six runs. Settle Cricket Club needed four runs from the final ball of the innings which Read again sent back straight passed the bowler for a boundary to win the match by two wickets.
Match Details
Settle Cricket Club – Phillipson, J.Davidson, R.Davidson, T.Davidson, Hulse, Pickles, W.Davidson, J.Snowden, Niles, H.Snowden, Read
PCA England XI – Mustard, Brown, Cross, Horton, Loye, Taylor, Tudor, Harmison, Yates, Panesar, Headley
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