Richards and Wilder efforts not enough as Cobblers lose charity cricket match

A good-sized crowd turned out what was, eventually, a sunny evening at the home of Bold Dragoon, which is situated at the Old Scouts rugby ground on Rushmere Road.

The Town team was made up of manager Chris Wilder, assistant boss Alan Knill, and players Marc Richards, Ricky Holmes, Sam Warburton, Ryan Cresswell, Brendan Moloney, Dave Buchanan, Nicky Adams, Jason Taylor and Joel Byrom, and in what turned out to be a tight game, they lost by seven runs.

Bold batted first and made 148 for six in their 20 overs, with the main man with the ball for the Cobblers being Buchanan, his ‘left-arm spin’ seeing him claim three for 10.

It is fair to say that a few dropped catches from various players cost the Cobblers, with Cresswell in particular receiving a bit of stick from Wilder after he spilled one off the manager’s bowling!

Wilder impressed with his right-arm medium pace, and Warburton worked up a decent head of steam with his left-arm seamers.

With the bat, Nicky Adams got the Cobblers innings off to a decent start with a few lusty blows, and there were a few decent (and some not so decent) cameos from others too, including Holmes, before Richards took up the challenge.

The skipper was the standout man with the willow, clubbing 26 while Wilder also showed that he knows how to handle a bat, scoring 25, but the Cobblers came up short as hosts Bold won the day.

The match was staged to raise funds for the Leon Barwell Foundation as well as for a new pavilion for the Northants Cricket League club, and was a great success.

Wilder’s men can now get back to the day job and resume preparations for Sunday’s opening pre-season friendly against Sileby Rangers at Fernie Fields.