Twitchen back in time as Wetherby face Spofforth
WETHERBY skipper Neil Thomas is priming his side for tomorrow's derby with Spofforth, eager for the Grange Park men to claim local bragging rights over the School Laners.
Wetherby came within reach of defeating high-flyers St Chad’s Broomfield on Saturday, and are hoping the return of a newly-wed all-rounder can prove the key in overturning tomorrow’s visitors.
“We’re looking forward to it, it’s always nice to play Spofforth,” said Thomas.
“They’ve obviously had one or two problems this year but are still a strong side and above us in the league so we’re probably looking at a 12-pointer.
“Their Aussie, Jarrod Martignago, seems a tough one and James Roberts got 100 the other week so they’ll be the ones to watch.
“Simon Taylor’s always key with the ball and I’m sure Ian Giddings wil pipe up with a few wickets too.
“I’m confident of a result, we had an understrength team out against St Chad’s last week and were only 14 runs short so that was really encouraging.
“Warren Else got his first ton for us and we’ve definitely got two or three who can do well against Spofforth.
“We’ll also have Ian Twitchen back from his honeymoon so we should have runs to play with and he also does well with the ball so we’re looking good.”
On Saturday, overseas Else crashed 103 for Wetherby against Chad’s as Wetherby crafted a promising total of 224 in response to Chad’s 238-7.
“We probably let Chad’s off a bit with the ball,” said Thomas.
“But considering we were rather understrength last week, in terms of batting we stuck at it and myself and the overseas had a 130-run partnership, so we only fell 14 short.
“We should be aiming for 200-plus at Wetherby this weekend, and putting some pressure on Spofforth.”
SPOFFORTH will be captained by James Roberts tomorrow and for the rest of this season.
Commitments outside cricket have meant Simon Taylor has decided to hand over the reins to his vice-skipper.
The School Lane outfit enter the game on the back of Saturday’s 114-run successs over SCARCROFT, whose recent demise is something their skipper is continuing to scratch his head over.
Damian Aston’s troops got off to a blistering start this term, but have fallen away in recent weeks with little evidence as to why.
“Saturday was awful, we were playing on a good pitch but then were all out for 59,” said Aston.
“We need to bounce back and have a good result.
“I’ve no idea where we’re going wrong but I think we’re probably lacking confidence.
“We lost our previous two games and we definitely batted like a team with no confidence on Saturday.”
Runs were easier to come by against Walton in the Fred Fleetwood Cup on Sunday, although the weather’s intervention meant the tie was abandoned.
Aston is hoping his side can build on their progress when they face Walton tomorrow in the league, ahead of Sunday’s cup replay.
“We did better on Sunday in the cup, managed to get to 180, so hopefully we can take the confidence from that into this weekend,” he said.
“We obviously got a good look at Walton on Sunday, they’ve got some good players.
“I’m expecting us to be at full strength, we might be missing the odd one or two but I’m not too concerned about the squad, we’ve got plenty of strength in depth.”
Elsewhere in the division, Kirk Deighton host East Keswick, Shadwell entertain St Chad’s and Barwick visit Leeds Police.
In Division Two, Church Fenton are at home to Crossgates and Sicklinghall travel to Old Leos.
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Weather for Wetherby
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light sleet
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: -8 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South east
