Frustration as game rained off
Published 8 Aug 2011 12:00
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IT was yet another frustrating afternoon for Greenock on Saturday when their Premiership match against Forfarshire at Dundee was abandoned due to heavy and persistent rain.
The match ended only 11 overs into the home side's innings after Greenock had compiled their second highest total of the season.
Not even the Duckworth Lewis system could be utilised to help get a result, as a minimum of 20 overs is needed to be completed in the Forfarshire innings for that to be possible.
It was particularly bad luck for Greenock who were in a very good position when the match was brought to a premature end. Having posted 240 for 8 in their own innings, the Glenpark men had made two important early breakthroughs and had Forfarshire very much on the rack when the rain arrived.
It was very possible that the team would have gone on to secure a highly important win.
In the event, the 'no result' bizarrely saw Greenock drop to the bottom of the Premiership table while Forfarshire rose to second top spot.
The Greenock innings was dominated by Aussie professional Luke Butterworth, who scored a superb century
Batting at number four, Butterworth arrived at the crease with Greenock two wickets down for 25, openers Willie Rowan and Chris Bellwood both out for low scores.
The Aussie, just back from a tour in Zimbabwe with the Australian A side, joined Richie Berrington in the middle and these two put together a useful partnership which looked set to develop into a major score until Forfarshire had Berrington bowled for 37 with the score on 75.
Andy Hislop (7) briefly partnered Butterworth before being caught by Wallace. Alex Baum then joined the Aussie pro and runs once again continued to flow with the young Greenock player looking to be in very good shape.
Their partnership, which yielded 79 runs, was broken in the 38th over when a loose shot by Baum brought about his dismissal for 32 with the score on 167.
With the top order batsmen all gone, Butterworth took control and maintained a good rate of run scoring. His century came up in the 48th over and as he continued to force the pace as the innings neared its close, he was caught for a very fine 109.
Dougie Wylie (12 not out) batting at number nine assisted Butterworth in the closing seven overs as they gave their team a positive finish and punished the Forfarshire bowlers to take Greenock to 240 at the end of the 50 overs.
Heavy rain moving up the east coast of Britain was the forecast for the afternoon but Greenock had hoped that it might be delayed in arriving at least until the Forfarshire innings had reached 20 overs at which point the Duckworth Lewis system would have allowed a result to stand. But in keeping with Greenock's luck for this season, that hope was a forlorn one.
Light rain was in the air as Forfarshire began their innings after the tea interval. Brian Ford and Graeme Garden made a useful start, scoring 28 runs from the first seven overs before Luke Butterworth made the breakthrough with the last ball of his fourth over when Alex Baum took a good catch to dismiss Ford. Then with the first ball of the very next over, Richie Berrington clean bowled Garden for 24.
Ryan Watson and Craig Wallace added another 13 runs before the umpires took the teams off with the rain falling more heavily. There was no further play possible as the rain continued in relentless fashion leaving Forfarshire on 41 for 2 after 11 overs and Greenock again frustrated by the weather.
This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 08 Aug 11
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