Bank House Glos CCL Division One

Cirencester 226-6

Apperley 177-6

NOT even thunder and lightning could stop Cirencester from clinching the Division One championship of the Bank House-sponsored county league for the second year in a row, writes Matt Carter.

They lifted the title in style when beating second-placed Apperley by 49 runs.

Apperley captain Luke Smith won the toss and elected to bowl with a poor weather forecast and conditions likely to favour the fielding side.

The home team’s opening batsmen Jamie Jamieson-Black (89) and Andy Reynolds (95) had other ideas and produced an impressive match-winning partnership.

During his innings Jamieson-Black went past 1,000 runs in all cricket for Cirencester in 2016 to cap a brilliant season.

The batsmen were motoring along nicely for Town, but the storm clouds eventually gathered over The Park and the umpires, seeing lightning flashes in the distance, took the players off the field for their own safety.

When the sides returned an hour and a half later, the match was reduced to 32 overs-a-side and the opening pair put their foot down.

Reynolds was especially clinical with the short ball, unleashing his trademark late cut to brilliant effect. Jamieson-Black was at his usual dynamic best especially against the spinners, with the reverse sweep proving a prolific scoring shot.

In the pursuit of quick runs in the final five overs the wickets started to fall, with Australian overseas player Corey Pollard (3-33) bowling tight lines. He was the pick of the bowlers for the away team.

Cirencester closed on an impressive 226-6 from their allotted overs.

Apperley knew they would need a good start to keep up with the required run rate of seven an over to win but opening bowlers Billy Breen (0-39) and Ross Jeffels (2-19) bowled exceptional lines early on. Breen was unlucky not to pick up at least one wicket with four balls either going through the slip cordon or being dropped.

The first wicket fell to Jeffels who had Toby Dudfield (15) superbly caught one-handed by Reynolds at mid-off, which capped a fine individual day for him.

The away side managed to maintain partnerships all the way through the innings but found it difficult to keep up with the demanding run rate.

Luke Smith (63) was the backbone of the innings proving especially strong off his legs and good on the drive.

Captain Gareth Williams (2-18) came on towards the end of the innings and picked up the last wicket to fall caught and bowled. Breen returned for the penultimate over when the rate required was more than 20 runs an over and the game was all but complete.

The victory confirmed Cirencester as champions and they will now be promoted to the West of England Premier League Gloucestershire Division next season – the third highest level of amateur cricket in the county.

The club has never played in this league before and it represents a fantastic achievement for everyone who has played for the first XI this season as well as the countless people behind the scenes.

This weekend sees Cirencester travel to Cam for the final game of the season. It is far from a dead fixture as Cam will be looking for a win to confirm their status in Division One in 2017.