Army Put Firemen To The Sword As Services Collide In Build-Up To Lord's

The Army's cricketers have continued their preparations for this year's Inter-Services T20 Championship at Lord's with a thumping win over the fire service.

The forces side beat their opponents by 91 runs in Aldershot after enjoying a bright start while batting first.

Opener Jordan Relph looked comfortable at the crease; the Lancashire lad giving his opponents plenty to think about as he put their bowling attack to the sword.

It wasn't long before team-mate Graham Wiseman joined him wielding the willow and the score began to motor along.

Just as it was looking a little too trouble-free, however, Relph dollied one into the clutches of Ross Allen from Steve Kirkham's bowling. The Army was 49-1.

Enter the fray the big-hitting Tade Carmichael, who wasted little time before blitzing the ball to the boundary.

The Grenada-born powerhouse plays high-risk cricket and he almost cut short his innings, only to see Michael Ponter fail to bag an easy catch.

Midway through their 20 overs, Wiseman's impressive knock came to an end just shy of his half-century, leaving the Army at 90-2.

However, it was Carmichael who stole the show as he continued to punish the firemen's bowlers.

By the time he was out he'd made 62 from just 34 balls and helped the Army put 180 on the scoreboard.

Boynton and Ross plundered further runs towards the end as the Army marched towards a target of 200.

Ross was to fall final ball of the innings but the military men had set their opponents a target of 197 to win - a score that would prove well beyond their reach.

The reply stuttered from the start as Ben Golds saw off Jack Williams thanks to Spicer Narayan's smart catch, with just six runs on the board.

Connor Bowden then claimed Adam Cook's wicket as the fire service slumped to 19-2.

The one thumbs-down, or rather finger at a jaunty angle, on an otherwise solid display, was the injury to bowler Tommy Jones.

In an attempt to stop a shot he dislocated a digit. Thankfully, however, the Army physio was on hand to pop his little finger back into place.

As for the match, that petered out with the visitors falling well short of the required target.

There will be more testing opponents to come, however, with Lord's looming large on the horizon.

The Army's skipper, Corporal Jonathan Boynton, told Forces Network:

"We've got Gloucester to come and Hampshire's second XI, which is going to be really, really good.

"[We'll] play as well as we can... and then see what we've got against the big boys."

The Inter-Services T20 title will be decided at the home of cricket on June 14.

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