An opening batsman faced 137 balls without scoring a single run to secure a bizarre draw in a Derbyshire Cricket League match.

Darley Abbey Cricket Club 4th XI opener Ian Bestwick batted 45 overs without scoring a point, his extraordinary display of defiance ensuring his team escaped with a valuable draw in a bottom-of-the-table clash in Division 9 South of the Derbyshire Cricket League.

Bestwick’s innings was far longer than the record for a Test match cricket innings without scoring a single run. In New Zealand’s Test match against South Africa in Auckland in 1999, keeper Geoff Allott was finally dismissed after 77 balls without losing a point, but survived 101 minutes, the longest clean sheet in Test cricket history.

To defeat Mickleover 3rd XI, who had scored 271 for four in a time match, Darley Abbey needed 272. However, the team showed no desire to go for points and finished the game with 21 for four.

But opener Bestwick was lucky to last as long as he did. He was bowled by Mickleover’s Dan Heaton, which of course resulted in a scoreless run, but he was not ruled out because the umpire called a no-ball. Instead, Bestwick kept hitting and hitting.

The time-limited nature of club cricket matches in many leagues encourages teams to push for a draw when they feel victory is out of reach. Unlike a normal limited overs game – where both teams bat 50 overs each, for example – the structure of limited-overs matches allows for a draw, with the team batting second not under pressure to chase runs.

Mickleover will probably regret that they could have given up earlier. Their opener Max Thomson smashed 186 from 128 balls with 17 fours and 14 sixes – an innings that was the polar opposite of Bestwick’s and showed the range of playing styles that cricket has to offer.