Brickers breaks league wicket record with match-winning spell

James Brickley (4-12) became the 3rd XI Premier Division's leading wicket taker in the Play-Cricket era (235 poles @ 15.40) with an epic spell on Saturday that led the Llamas to an unlikely victory away at champions Spencer.

Having set what appeared an under-par 154 for victory, the Llamas put in one of their best bowling and fielding efforts of the season to strangle the life out of the home side and win comfortably.

Earlier in the day, Spencer had inserted the Llamas on what promised to be one of the harder decks of the year. They knew it was no batting paradise, with the openers finding extravagant bounce and seam movement that immediately put the visitors to the test.

Srikanth Vuppala (17) got us off to a flier, hitting an enormous six over cow (to the lanky bowler's bafflement) and then a beautifully cultured square cut, and after four overs we were 22-0. In the context of the game, this was carnage as scoring proved very difficult.

He quickly fell, and Ant Ireland (17) and Will Dahl (9) dug in (wearing a few in the process), and had almost seen the shine off the ball when they fell in quick succession with the score at 44.

In stepped Simon 'Will's driver' Brewis (21) and Ben 'Ant's mate' Grandy (23) - both on 3s debut - who hung around and eventually began to get the better of Spencer's decent attack, putting on 43 to bring the Llamas into a decent position.

Grandy, who hadn't played for over 5 years, could not get bat on ball unless it was gun barrel straight, but after a painful half an hour unleashed a flurry of boundaries before tamely lobbing one up to cover. Brewis looked good until he was given out LBW and breached several disciplinary regulations on his way back to the pavillion.

Not for the first time this season, the Llamas found themselves struggling having slipped from 87-3 to 104-7, and not for the first time, Steve Cross (27) proved his all-round credentials to lift us towards a respectable total. Scoring was tough, but Cross dug in and his innings was sprinkled with some glorious cover drives.

Brickers (10), 13-year-old Will Brewis (7) and Shamanna Devaraju (3*) all applied themselves and helped us crawl to 153, Brewis deserving a special mention for his composure in the face of a controversial bouncer and subsequent diplomatic fallout between umpire and fielding side. He swayed out the way as if it was nothing and batted very well before falling to wily Aqib Sinhu (3-21 from 12).

The Llamas knew defending 153 would be a stiff task, but Crossy came out of the blocks hard, blowing away Spencer's top order with a superb spell of 3-28 from 10, which at one point saw the home side squirming at 14-3 after Grandy - hidden in slip due to two snapped legs - delivered the catch of the season diving to his left, putting the rest of us to shame for some abysmal slip catching to date.

Nick Gavigan (0-19 from 8) - run out without facing a ball earlier - continued his unlucky day, bowling well without a taking a wicket. He did, however, keep the pressure on.

In stepped Brickers (4-12 from 14) to begin one of his finest spells in a Priory shirt. He tied up one end with 14 metronomic overs on the bounce, including 10 maidens, nine of which came in a row against the Spencer skipper who simply couldn't get him away. Brickers took wickets at regular intervals - including another eye-catching diving catch, this time from Gavigan, who claims it was the best grab he's ever taken. No-one said it was the best they'd ever seen.

Spencer were slowly dying, but it was young Brewis (1-17 from 5), who recovered from a tentative first over to remove the skipper at 90-6 and trigger the home side's final collapse. Brewis again showed he is one for the future, locating a fine line and length and mixing his pace up with confidence.

Brickers and Vuppala (2-19 from 7) did what they do best and mopped up the tail, as Spencer subsided to 104 all out from a painstaking 44.5 overs. It was an exemplary display, and with two should-win games up next we now harbour ambitions to finish in the top three.