Story Neil Fortino - Spinning my way to glory (Stellar Fightback v Glos.)

[Zohaib]

Mate what was your figures?

 

[Dragon Fire]

5-0-36-0

 

[Zohaib]

Lol , they really went after you , good luck with this story , good start to it.

 

[Dragon Fire]

Steelbacks to host Foxes in Pro40

After receiving a comprehensive thrashing at the hands of Derbyshire, the Northamptonshire Steelbacks will be looking to avoid a repeat of such embarrassment when they host Leicestershire tomorrow. "It was a bitter pill to swallow," said a heavily accented Freddie Klokker, "but we will do our best to take the positives out of the last game, bounce back quickly and hit the ground running."

The Steelbacks are rumoured to be making two changes to their playing XI: Wes Durston is likely to be rested to make way for Nick Compton and Steven Finn is attending an England gym session, so he is being segregated away from 'mere county pros'. In his place comes the young and lively Oliver Newby, on loan from Lancashire. "Ollie is a good young gun and a bright prospect for the future, while Nick will give us the positive start we need to carry momentum into an innings," said the captain.

Therefore, the side to play the Foxes is expected to be: William Porterfield, Nick Compton, Alexei Kervezee, Neil Dexter, James Hildreth, Freddie Klokker *+, David Wainwright, Chris Woakes, Graham Wagg, Neil Fortino, Oliver Newby.

Many pundits, were expecting Fortino to be dropped after his poor display in the last game, but as Klokker says: "He looks good in the nets and has a bright future ahead of him."

OFFSPINNER NEIL FORTINO WILL BE LOOKING TO IMPROVE ON HIS DEBUT

 

[Dragon Fire]

Spineless Batting Lacks Steel

The Teams
Northants: Porterfield, Compton, Kervezee, Dexter, Hildreth, Klokker, Wainwright, Wagg, Woakes, Fortino, Newby (L)
Leicestershire: Shone, Peters, Afzaal, Read, Dalrymple, Yardy, Coetzee, Franks, Phillips, Thorp, Lawson

When Nick Compton should have been walking out with William Porterfield to open the batting, expectant crowds were instead greeted by Alexei Kervezee. Perplexed, a sect of the visiting supporters began to barrack the Northants team for being “clueless”. They thought that Compton had either bottled his responsibility or that David Capel had no idea what he was trying to do with his team. In fact, the answer was much simpler - as Compton put it "when you've got to go, you've got to go." With that issue cleared up, the Leicestershire County Cricket Board offered a full apology on behalf of their supporters, and that was that.

Unfortunately, the openers walking out to bat was one of the higher points of the innings for Northants. Their innings started badly with both Kervezee and Compton being dismissed early on in proceedings to Paul Franks and then a crazy run out. Neil Dexter joined the Ireland captain, and they set about rebuilding the innings. Porterfield dropped anchor while the South African tried to hit out. Unfortunately they both got out successively to Franks and Phillips just as they began to look settled. Talented young James Hildreth set about batting through to the end alongside his captain, but again the partnership was thwarted just as it got going - Klokker, LBW to Lawson for 22. Callum Thorp became the fifth wicket taker in the next over, and the Steelbacks were just a wicket away from oblivion.

Hildreth and Wagg were completely tied up by some excellent death bowling and were only capable of adding thirty-four runs in the last sixty deliveries. “It was horrible to bat out there,” reported the undefeated Hildreth, “The pitch was slow and low, the bowling was naggingly accurate and it was backed up by some tight fielding. Wickets kept falling at the other end and it was all I could do to hold an end up.”

Northamptonshire Steelbacks - 155/6
James Hildreth - 44*(74)
Neil Dexter - 30 (31)
Jandre Coetzee - 1/23 (8)
Jermaine Lawson - 1/25 (8)

Can the Northants show some steel and defend their total? Find out soon.

JAMES HILDRETH STEADIED THE SHIP BUT COULDN'T ACCELERATE

 

[Aditya]

That will not be a easy total to defend. Northants bowlers will need to bowl really well to defend that score. Bowling well means, they need to get the 10 wickets of the opposition or else they have lost this match.

Nice update mate, good presentation.

 

[hedger_14]

155 will be tough to defend but Fortino can do it

This is some really good presentation, simple but good, not too much or too little writing, although maybe a bit more writing could help. I think it's good the way it is though so I'll let you decide there.

And haha with Compton having to go. Should have gone earlier

 

[Dragon Fire]

Foxes Put Steelbacks to the Sword

Northamptonshire's one day season is crashing in around their ears after enduring a comprehensive hammering from an up and coming side. Their batting crumbled leaving a mediocre target of only 155 to defend. For the second match in succession, it was always going to be an uphill battle, and for the second game in a row the Northamptonians were not up to the challenge of restricting a competitive batting lineup.

When the opening pair of Timothy Shone, a debutant and Stephen Peters up against his former county strode out to the wicket bristling with confidence, it was clear who would have the psychological edge. The debutant, fresh off back-to-back double hundreds for the Second XI, set about Oliver Newby's straggly short balls with relish. He made his way to a run a ball 37 before he was caught on the rope. He looks like a talent that England should watch out for in the future, and his wicket sparked a mini-collapse that was perhaps the only bright spot in the innings for Northants. Apart from that, they were just being gr0ound into the turf by a significantly better side. Anyway, after Chris Woakes' three wickets, the end of the powerplays came; Woakes had been bowled out and the other two seamers hit out of the attack, so it was time for spin.

From the Lynn Wilson End, David Wainwright started poorly, conceding five runs from a loose over. Unfortunately, this was compounded by an over from Fortino that was straight out of the last game, conceding eight runs. Suddenly, Read and Dalrymple had made their way to a quick thirty each and were all over the Steelbacks. At this point, Fortino produced the perfect off break which turned through the gate of Dalrymple and cleaned him up. Wainwright jumped onto the bandwagon, and got Michael Yardy caught behind. For the first time in the game it could definitely be sad that Northants had a prolonged spell of being the better team, but while Fortino's nagging off-breaks remained accurate, Wainwrght regularly strayed from his line and length, conceding five runs per over throughout his spell.

Finally, the end came with the reintroduction of the two appauling seamers. They continued to bowl horribly, and the game finished quickly. This second straight defeat leaves David Capel in a very awkward position, and his tenure at Wantage Road looks to be pretty much up.

Leicestershire Foxes - 156/5
Chris Read - 51* (74)
Timothy Shone - 37 (37)
Chris Woakes - 3/28 (8)
Neil Fortino - 1/24 (8)

DEBUTANT TIMOTHY SHONE GIVES A NEWBY LONG HOP THE TREATMENT

 

[Dragon Fire]

^
Write up completed. Sorry to leave it half way through, but Waking the Dead was on and I didn't want to miss that.

 

[hedger_14]

A nice bowling effort there from you despite the loss.

You should have probably just saved it in a Word doc and posted it later when you completed it IMO though. But no harm done.

 

[Chewie]

I have to say, I'm really enjoying this story. Normally I don't read people's updates, just skim through them, but yours have been great!

kutgw!

 

[Aditya]

As other members mentioned, the writing is great. The presentation currently completely goes well with the story. Keep it up, good going.

 

[6ry4nj]

You've got plenty of decent part-timers in that lineup. I wouldn't've brought Wagg and Newby back at all (and especially at the death) when they were clearly having such an off day.

Good bowling from you though - number one spinner that game anyway. And pacers going so badly also goes some way to cementing your place in the team (pardon my cynicism...)

 

[Dragon Fire]

"Shoddy Batting The Least of Northants' Concerns" - Penberthy

While wickets tumbled behind me for the third game in succession, I sat interviewing a man who was around last time the county was promoted: Northants stalwart Tony Penberthy. He tells of the woes of the county in a completely frank way, but with the viewpoint of an insider. "It (Northants) is in a hell of a lot worse state than it looks from the outside. When the ECB declared that there would be a large-scale player auction ahead of this season, Northants looked upon it with relish because they had a frail squad that they could make a fresh start on.

"They found themselves some large-scale sponsorship and bought in the heavy artillery. Porterfield, Kervezee, Klokker, Dawson, Hildreth, Finn, Woakes and Shahzad have all represented their country at some level or another, and it looked like this year could be the year for the Steelbacks. What they didn't count upon were the mutiny of the fans who saw their beloved county turn the back on its stalwart players, and that of the players themselves. With so many ego-conscious characters in the dressing room, how can you possibly hope to gel as a team?

"With no supporters and no silverware, the sponsors are fleeing and the county is running on fumes. The alienated fans have formed The Northants Cricket Supporters Trust, similar to that of the local football club, with a view to toppling the regime." When I ask Tony one final question, whether he can see the club folding at the end of the season, he answers briefly, "If not sooner," he says.

---

As a sideshow to the backroom struggles at Wantage Road, there is a county championship match involving the county away at Gloucester. For the first time this season, Northants have reached full strength. This leaves no place for local boy Neil Fortino, who returned to the county of his birth after his poor treatment at the hands of Derbyshire.

The Teams
Gloucestershire: Robert Key, Mark Pettini, Tim Ambrose, Ian Blackwell, Chrs Nash, Tony McGrath, Tim Bresnan, Frank Bramble, James Anderson, Muttiah Muralitharan, Imran Arif
Northants: William Porterfield, Nick Compton, Alexei Kervezee, James Hildreth, Neil Dexter, Freddie Klokker, David Wainwright, Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Ajmal Shahzad, Steven Finn

The fabled Northamptonian batting lineup again suffered its customary collapse at the hands of Tim Bresnan and James Anderson, tumling to 48 for 4 before Neil Dexter and Freddie Klokker righted the ship somewhat with the latter blocking and prodding his way to 42. Several Northants batsmen made starts, with eight men reaching double figures but only Klokker passing Neil Dexter's mediocre 26. After sixty-four overs, Northants finally flopped their way to 192 all out, short even of registering a single bonus point.

In reply, the all-England seam attack showed its brutal class when in the eighth over Ajmal Shahzad bowled a back of a length ball that jumped straight into Mark Pettini's ribs. He went down as if he had been shot, and play was held up for ten minutes as he was stretchered off the field. In a truly wonderful gesture, supporters of both teams left their seats and gave Pettini a standing ovation as he was slowly carried from the field. If the X-Ray confirms a broken rib, he could miss the rest of the season.

After that, Shahzad struggled to regain his rhythm; he was still shaken after causing such a horrible injury. Liam Dawson was brought into the attack unusually early, and he claimed the wicket of Robert Key with a beautifully flighted ball. From there, the day just coasted to its conclusion, pausing briefly when Tim Ambrose notched up a fifty with a quick single.

Northamptonshire CCC - 192 ao
Freddie Klokker - 42 (102)
Neil Dexter - 26 (66)
James Anderson - 3/42 (17)
Imran Arif - 3/78 (17)

Gloucestershire CCC - 127/1
Tim Ambrose - 55* (82)
Robert Key - 34 (52)
Liam Dawson - 1/37 (9)

MURALI LOOKED HIS AGE AND HAD TO WAIT NINETEEN OVERS FOR A SCALP

 

[JD10]

Excellent writing here buddy. Keep up the hard work