Skuse century leads the way

AT the start of his innings Peter Skuse, the Saddleworth captain and professional, wears two jumpers and a cap.

As he warms to the task, the sweaters come off, so too the headgear.

When he walked off with 107 unbeaten runs to his name against Uppermill on Saturday, he was down to a plain while shirt. Leading from the front as always, Skuse had set Saddleworth on their way to a 72-run win.

But the job was only half done. Refreshed by a sit down and a sumptuous tea, Skuse ripped the heart out of the visitors’ reply to finish with figures of five for 33.

He was at his imperious best in this Armstrongs Office Furniture Saddleworth and District Cricket League clash at Well-i-Hole.

With Ben Willis, Craig Lawrence and Brian Lord offering good support, Skuse pulled his side up by the shoelaces after Uppermill had taken command.

After meandering to 148 for five with five overs to go, any score in the region of 200 would have been some achievement.

The fact Saddleworth reached 213 with seven wickets down said much about Skuse’s ability to hit top gear at the opportune moment and the no-nonsense strokeplay of Lawrence and Lord.

Lawrence smashed 21 off 13 balls while number eight Lord lifted James Baron for a four and six on his way to a sprightly 15.

Skuse had arrived at the crease with the score on 27, and he had one intention — to see Saddleworth through to 45 overs.

Partners came and went — Willis stuck around long enough to make 22 — but when it was time to push the accelerator button, Skuse was your man and there wasn’t a jumper or cap in sight.

He brought up his 100 in some style, hoisting Andy McVeigh back over his head for two successive sixes. McVeigh, whose four overs cost 27 runs and included the wicket of Steven Howard, had reasonable figures up until that point.

Skuse the batsman, now became Skuse the spin bowler.

Jason Fish made the initial breakthrough when he trapped Gary Crossley leg before wicket for 14.

Overseas amateur Zeeshan Khan and McVeigh dug in to take the total to 73. Progress was slow but Uppermill had wickets in hand. That would change in an instant.

Skuse started the ball rolling by prising out McVeigh, also lbw. Howard then got in on act, removing Baron, while at the other end Skuse bowled Alex Griffiths.

Back to Howard, who claimed the key wicket of Khan for 50. Suddenly Uppermill, who had been bowled out for 141 the previous week, were 85 for five with overs running out.

The writing was on the wall for Matt Taylor’s men. Taylor himself was snared lbw attempting to reverse sweep Skuse, while Michael Brookes and David Wood offered limited resistance with 13 apiece.

Howard had claimed his fourth wicket (for 49 runs) by the time Skuse ended Uppermill’s misery by having Andrew Heap excellently caught by Lord in the deep.

Scores are —

Saturday, division one: Bamford Fieldhouse 157-7 (S Marshall 62 not out, L Garnett 42 not out), Austerlands 103-4 — draw; Droylsden v Moorside — no play, unfit ground; Heyside 192-9 (B Holt 59), Friarmere 119-8 (A Qayyam 56) — draw; Hollinwood 147-9 (M Butt 80 not out), Shaw 139-6 (N van den Bergh 64); Saddleworth 213-7 (P Skuse 107 not out), Uppermill 141 (Z Khan 50, P Skuse 5-33); Stayley 121 (I Aslam 8-43), Glodwick 124-3.

Division two: Bamford Fieldhouse 159-9 (A Bartley 70), Austerlands 160-7; Stayley 141 (R Connolly 5-29), Glodwick 92 (S Mellor 5-25); Friarmere 233-7, Heyside 99; Droylsden 84 (J Khan 5-12), Moorside 88-6; Hollinwood 181-7 (S Meredith 69), Shaw 182-9 (M Ingham 58 not out); Uppermill 180 (M Berry 94, G Pemberton 6-52), Saddleworth 115.

Sunday, division one: Friarmere 172 (S Mohammed 5-67), Austerlands 174-9 (S Mohammed 96); Bamford Fieldhouse 127 (S Holmes 7-47), Saddleworth 87 (D Shadford 4-30, S Marshall 3-7); Heyside 221 (M Barnes 53), Hollinwood 179; Moorside 239 (F Sutherland 99, R Baines 90, J Ainley 6-24), Greenfield 140-7 (P Gill 40 not out); Droylsden 72 (W Fynn 4-19, R Harrington 5-5), Shaw 76-0 (W Fynn 61 not out); Uppermill 219-8 (M Taylor 42 not out), Stayley 154 (W Dornan 5-39).

Division two: Shaw 165-9, Droylsden 67; Friarmere 107 (J Greenwood 5-13), Austerlands 110-6; Moorside 95 (S Chamley 5-15), Greenfield 96-1; Heyside 179, Hollinwood 176; Bamford Fieldhouse 196-8 (G Deboeck 97), Saddleworth 175-7 (D Bestwick 53); Uppermill 233 (M Berry 123, N Boote 51), Stayley 126 (H Williams 5-46).