Cumbria County Cricket Club have won all four of their group stage matches in the NCCA NV Play Trophy Group 1, securing a home quarter final, writes Roxine A Beaumont-Sempill.
Cumbria last played at Keswick Cricket Club in June 2025. That day the first T20 match, scheduled for 11am, was cancelled owing to rain.
The second match went ahead at 2.30pm. On that occasion Northumberland beat Cumbria by an agonising 3 runs. That had been Cumbria’s first loss in Keswick since 2005.
As players and spectators arrived for this year’s Fitz Park fixture, again scheduled for 11am, the covers and tarps were on, under almost unrelenting drizzle.
An early lunch was taken. A 35-over match would commence at 2.30pm. Gulp! Moreover, as happened last season, Cumbria won the toss and elected to field. There was an increasing sense of déjà vu…
Sam Sharp (Penrith CC) struck 3rd ball, when Newton was caught behind by keeper Drew Postlethwaite (Barrow CC). Bowling from the River Greta end, Louis Backhouse (Kendal CC) conceded only 2 runs in the next over.
Last ball of the 3rd over Luke Young steered the ball round to square leg and hared off, ball watching. In normal circumstances there was a single on.
However, they were unaware of the explosive pace of Nathan Waterston (Millom CC). Alex Money, at the non-striker’s end, had his bat raised to indicate no run. He was joined by Young just as the keeper whipped the bails off.
Having scored 225 runs across the previous 3 Trophy matches, Money (16 runs off 20 balls, 2 X 4) seemed settled, but an attempted cut of a Backhouse delivery top-edged into the keeper’s gloves. 24/3 off 5.5 overs.
Playing his second match for Cumbria after two years, Stan McAlindon (Tynemouth CC, ex Durham CCC) was hampered by back issues and bowling within himself.
Nevertheless, he bagged the wicket of Henry Murray with his third delivery, which looped up to be caught at mid-off by Ben Walkden (Newton-le-Willows CC).
3rd ball,13th over Will Valentine launched a Walky delivery high towards long on which was caught one-handed by Paul Hindmarch.
Sadly, non-playing coach Hindmarch was standing next to the clubhouse, three metres beyond the rope, at the time. But he still earned a ripple of applause.
Two dot balls later Walkden got his revenge by bowling Valentine (25 from 27, 3 X 4s). 65/5 off 13 overs.
Having forged a partnership of 24 off 22 balls with Valentine, captain Harry Dearden then settled into the highest partnership of the match (34 off 52 balls) with Henry Dobson.
Twenty minutes after his right hand was injured by a Walkden delivery, Dearden was caught in the 22nd over at point by Walkden off spinner Freddie Fallows (Kendal CC). Dearden was the match’s top scorer (35 runs off 42 balls, 4 X 2s).
Four overs later Fallows bagged another two wickets, getting Carroll lbw and Jackson caught behind. 107/8 off 25.4 overs.
A rain break further reduced the match to 32 overs. First ball of 30th over a delivery by Nico Watt (Carlisle CC) was skied towards long on.
Ubiquitous fielder Walkden, suddenly realising that the ball was going to drop several strides short of him, hurled himself forward and caught it on his knees.
Only 5 more runs were added, to bring the visitor’s total to 122/9 (32).
Fallows had the best bowling figures (7 overs, 1 maiden, 19 for 3, Econ 2.71). Watt undercut his economy, at 2.40.
Whilst Walkden was on fire in the field, the usually spot-on fielder Sharp was “having a mare”. He was gathering the ball efficiently but was incapable of then throwing it to the appropriate teammate.
The innings was punctuated with his calling “sorry mate! bad throw” or similar, much to the amusement of teammates and spectators.
Under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method (a mathematical formula used in limited-overs cricket to calculate a fair target score for the team batting second when a match is interrupted by weather or other delays) the target was initially set at 118 off 32 overs.
Although both Cheshire and Cumbria had won all 3 of their previous groups fixtures, Cheshire topped the table on superior Net Run Rate.
Therefore, for Cumbria, only a win would secure that home quarter final. They sent in big hitter Fallows, alongside conventional opener Tom Fraine (Clifton Alliance CC).
The openers were on track with the run rate when Fraine (7 from 8 balls, 1 X 4) was caught behind off Jackson.
It wasn’t easy to score against the Cheshire quicks. Fallows (10 from 23, 2 X 4s) was caught when he spanked one to straight to Money at midwicket, bowled Young. Fresh to the crease, Walkden scored dot, 4, 1 to bring the total to an on-track 37/2 from 9.
With only a single coming from the next 14 balls the pressure mounted: Waterston was caught behind off Jackson.
Fortunately, Walkden and Calum Rowe (a former Cheshire CCC player for 9 years, now resident in Cumbria and playing for Carlisle CC) put on the home side’s highest partnership of 28 from 50 balls before the latter was caught behind off Murray.
When skipper Matthew Sempill (Cockermouth CC) joined Walkden the team were on 66/4 off 19.6.
Meanwhile, more rain had revised the target to 114 off 30 overs. The Sausages had hovered around the run rate required by DLS: sometimes a run or 2 ahead, sometimes behind. They were behind.
Young bowled to Walkden – a quick 2 runs. Next ball sailed over the long on boundary to nudge us above the DLS rate.
The heavens opened, covers back on. Ironically the sun was shining more brightly that at any other time in the match, but rain was lashing down. It stopped; a rainbow appeared. Surprisingly, so did the umpires, signalling that the covers should be removed.
The revised target was 91 from 24.0 overs. Walkden and Sempill eked out 7 singles and a 2.
Opening bowler Valentine came back to bowl. Sempill: straight 4, dot, straight 6 (actually, a 4, but the umpire’s decision is final!).
The Cockermouth contingent of fans were particularly vociferous cheering their club captain. The Sausages won by 6 wickets with 9 balls to spare.
Umpires Steve Beswick and Jordan Montgomery-Else deserve every credit for managing a really difficult match, with each rain delay needing a recalculation of targets, and agreement from both coaches.
Huge credit also to grounds people at Keswick CC for getting the game on, very much against the odds.
Commiserations to Cheshire – but at least they will have much less far to travel to their quarter final in Norfolk than Cumbria would have had.
Next for Cumbria is the start of the National Counties T20 Cup, start times 11am and 2.30pm:
- Sunday May 31 v Northumberland at Allendale CC
- Sunday June 14 v Shropshire at Cockermouth CC
In between those, the One-Day quarter final will be against Staffordshire CCC, on Sunday June 7 at 11am, home venue tba.
