THE seventh annual cricket match in memory of Richard O'Flaherty took place last Sunday at the beautiful village setting at the meadow in Ashby St Mary, courtesy of Mr and Mrs Kemp.

THE seventh annual cricket match in memory of Richard O'Flaherty took place last Sunday at the beautiful village setting at the meadow in Ashby St Mary, courtesy of Mr and Mrs Kemp.

Special thanks to Ernie Forder for the preparation of the wicket, Eileen Bloy for a splendid tea, Andy Bloy for organising the raffle, Dan Littlechild for the posters and Marie Jones for scoring both innings. A total of �233 was raised for the Motor Neurone Association.

Friends of Richard won the toss and chose to bat first. After losing Armiger (2) to well-held catch by Till, Perry (19) and Clemence (12) dug in on a difficult pitch.

Slow bowling accounted for Clemence and Jones (4) who both 'played on' and lost their wickets.

Littlechild (20), Forder (10), Edwards (12) and Baker (16) all made good starts but could not go on to make good scores and in the end the Friends of Richard team were all out for 135.

Ashby began brightly with skipper Johnston (40) and Till (29) scoring freely and were always well ahead of the run rate. Forder bowled Till before Littlechild took two consecutive wickets in as many balls as Johnston was caught by Baker and then Aaron (26) was caught at the second attempt by Edwards.

Ranjadia (20 not out) saw the Ashby team home although a quickly-taken catch by wicket-keeper Armiger off the bowling of Howes removed Crowger for 16 before Tidswell hit the winning runs off the next delivery. Many thanks to all those who played and supported this special day.

Richard O'Flaherty Charity XI v Ashby St Mary

Richard O'Flaherty XI: J Perry c Johann b Till 19, S Armiger c Till b Johann 2, R Clemence b Aaron 12, D Littlechild b Prem 20, L Jones b Aaron 4, C Forder b Buckland 10, P Edwards c Tidswell b Paul 12, L Fairweather c Johnston b Crowger 5, A Baker lbw Micheal 16, M Howes b Crowger 0, M Fairweather not out 2, J Skilleter run out 2; extras 31. Total 135. Bowling: Tidswell 0-4, Johann 1-15, Till 1-18, Aaron 2-10, Buckland 1-19, Ramjadia 0-11, Prem 1-17, Paul 1-11, Crowger 2-10, Michael 1-5.

Ashby: J Johnston-Campbell c A Baker b D Littlechild 40, A Till b C. Forder 29, B Aaron c P. Edwards b D Littlechild 26, A Crowger c S. Armiger b M Howes 16, R Ramjadia not out 20, T Tidswell not out 1; extras 28. Total (4 wkts) 136. Bowling: Skilleter 0-27, Clemence 0-13, Forder 1-16, Fairweather 0-11, D. Littlechild 2-24, Jones 0-27, Perry 0-8, Howes 1-9.