Twitchen itching to reach magic thousand with bat
HE admits to being in the "form of his life" crashing hundreds for fun, and now run-hungry Wetherby all-rounder Ian Twitchen is ready to face Great Preston tomorrow as his side look to pull further up the table.
The former Grange Park captain cracked a sublime 190 off 107 balls on Saturday against bottom club East Keswick.
Now the free-scoring batter is looking forward to tomorrow’s test in West Yorkshire before their mouth-watering local derby against Kirk Deighton in eight days’ time.
According to his stat-hungry skipper Neil Thomas, Twitchen has already made over 700 runs. However despite the coveted 1,000 run barrier being within his grasps he admits he’s not looking that far ahead.
“I’m feeling good at the moment. I’m probably in the form of my life,” said Twitchen.
“It was fun on Saturday. I enjoyed it. It’s been good the last couple of weeks and I’ve just got to keep it going now. I’ve never really counted my runs- I don’t know how many I’ve got.
“But Neil is a stat man and has been keeping tabs on it. He thinks I’m over 700 which is good. I’m thinking of a thousand runs I’m just looking to get as many as I can.
“The last couple of years my strength has been in my bowling but this year it is completely different. If I can put the two together I’ll be a good cricketer!”
Meanwhile his captain is full of praise for the way the former Garforth Town footballer is playing this campaign.
He hopes his purple patch with the willow continues especially with a few tricky games around the corner.
“He’s obviously in a rich vein of form,” he said.
“Ian is batting really well this season. He’s got more than 700 runs already and that’s more than he got all last season so it’s good.
“We’re just hoping he keeps it going. We’ve got a big game against Great Preston on Saturday who are just around us in the table. Then it’s the big one against Kirk Deighton in two weeks time. Everyone is looking forward to that one.”
Elsewhere in the division tomorrow BARWICK IN ELMET welcome St Chad’s; EAST KESWICK are at home to WALTON; KIRK DEIGHTON host SCARCROFT and SPOFFORTH travel to Olds Mods.
SHADWELL meanwhile are at Leeds Police. They’ll be looking to build on Sunday’s Fred Fleetwood Cup semi-final victory over Garforth PC. After bowling out their opponents for 141, Alex Blakeborough (85no) and Joe Eddison (51no) saw Shad’ home for a cool ten-wicket win.
In the other semi, Old Mods (291-5) beat Scarcroft (173ao, Richard Stephens 51). The final will be held on Sunday August 15 at Wetherby CC.
Meanwhile in Division Two CHURCH FENTON are riding the crest of a wave at the moment and captain Richard Grogan wants his men to continue it until the end of the season.
After last season’s heartbreaking relegation from the top flight, Fenton are well on course to bounce back at the first time of asking.
Grogan’s side is handily placed in second just behind Garforth PC, and would have been going into tomorrow’s trip to Thorner on top had it not have been for Saturday’s defeat against Parish Church.
“It’s going to be a good test on Saturday to see if we can bounce back after Saturday’s defeat,” he said.
“We’ve got one or two players coming back in after holiday. That will strengthen us.
“We’ve played every team in the league now and we know what we have to do.
“We’ve just got to stay up there and then we’ll be in with a chance at the end of the season. It’s been good this year, last season was difficult but we’ve regrouped and made one or two signings.
“One of the lads has a contact in the Batley area. He’s managed to get a couple of lads from there who weren’t doing much in the side. They’ve been a big help.”
It’s not just domestic honours Fenton are hunting for. There’s also the Senior Evening League Cup semi-final where Grogan’s men will pit their wits against top flight big boys Old Mods on August 1.
Finals day will also see St Chad’s Broomfield battle against either Spofforth or Kippax Welfare for a place in the final.
“It’s going to be a good test for us to see how far we’ve come,” added an excited Grogan.
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Weather for Wetherby
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -9 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to -1 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South
