Liverpool claim title despite more Hayden heroics
AFTER a season in which they have dominated the third tier of the Liverpool Competition, winning 15 of their 21 games and losing just one, Liverpool were finally crowned Second Division champions on Saturday evening when they completed their sevenwicket defeat of Southport Trinity at The Rookery.
But Matt Jackson’s team still became the latest side to suffer the attentions of the Trinity opener Hayden McCrae, whose 101 was his sixth century of the league season and took his aggregate to 1,261 runs in 21 innings.
McCrae put on 142 for the first wicket with Tony Campbell but the wheels fell off Trinity’s innings very quickly after that stand had been broken.
Geoff Thornton’s team lost all their wickets for a further 26 runs and were dismissed for 168, left-arm spinner Peter Kelly returning figures of 6-56.
Henry Charlton then made 81 and Sam Holliday added 65 as Liverpool encountered few problems reaching their target for the loss of three wickets.
In the other match to reach a conclusion on Saturday, Prescot & Odyssey tied a remarkable encounter with St Helens Recs.
But that result confirmed the relegation of the Burrows Lane team after just one season in the Liverpool Gin Liverpool & District Cricket Competition.
Dean Fairclough took 4-41 and Rob Magee snapped up 3-29 to dismiss the home side for 118 but St Helens’s Liam Gaskell hit back with 5-45 as P&O struggled towards their goal, finally finishing just one run short of victory with Phil Kirk on 28 not out.
Three games, including the promotion clash between Wavertree and Spring View, were abandoned without a ball bowled on Saturday. The other matches which saw no action at all were Northop Hall’s home game against Parkfield Liscard and Alder’s visit to Old Xaverians.
PREMIER Division champions Ormskirk’s hopes of winning the Lancashire Cup outright were dashed last Saturday morning when it was decided that Blackpool’s ground was already so waterlogged that it was unfit to host Sunday’s rearranged final.
The initial attempt to play the game at Emirates Old Trafford had also been scuppered by rain and Lancashire Cricket Board officials have decided that the trophy will now be shared between Ormskirk and the other finalists, Lowerhouse Cricket Club from Burnley.
Rain also put paid to Ormskirk’s scheduled clash with New Brighton last Saturday without a ball being bowled.
The Brook Lane side now have one game left in their season but that is arguably the biggest match in the club’s entire history.
This Sunday they take on London outfit Wanstead & Snaresbrook Cricket Club in the Royal London National Club Championship Final at The Cloudfm County Ground in Chelmsford, Essex. The big game starts at 11am.
Meantime, while many cricketers spent a damp Saturday afternoon reacquainting themselves with domestic responsibilities, players on two grounds in Southport were serving up the high drama which takes the ECB Premier League relegation battle into the final matches of the campaign.
Perhaps the most astonishing finish took place at Trafalgar Road where Southport & Birkdale were dead and down on 109-9 when chasing 163 to beat Northern.
However, Angus Gailey hit three fours and two sixes in a 29-ball innings of 43 not out and put on 54 for the last wicket with Andy Warhurst, who finished unbeaten on 11.
S&B’s one-wicket victory leaves them 13 points behind 10th-placed Formby, something which appeared most unlikely after the visitors had made 160-4 declared in 43 overs and Tom Sephton had taken six wickets to leave Chris Firth’s men on the brink of relegation. However, the tension and delight were no less great at Liverpool Road after a Joe Lowe hat-trick had helped seal Ainsdale’s 14-run victory over Wallasey, a result which keeps Andy Barlow’s team in with a chance of avoiding the drop.
Unlike their neighbours across town, Ainsdale had dominated long periods of their game. Faiz Fazal’s 135 not out, which included seven fours and eight sixes, took him past 1,000 league runs for the season and was the centrepiece of his team’s 223-3 declared in 41.4 overs, although Mark Lucas made 54 and added 109 for the second wicket with the opener. Andrew Ward made 76 to ensure that Wallasey’s pursuit remained on course until Lowe’s 5-26 settled matters.
However, neither of those results would have mattered had Formby defeated Colwyn Bay at Cricket Path but the batting troubles continued for Ian Cockbain’s team when they were bowled out for 117 in 42.3 overs, Ollie Sutton making 21 and Adam Campion taking 3-33. Colwyn Bay then lost both openers with only three runs on the board but George Johansen’s 56 not out and Sion Morris’s 45 ensured there would be no further alarms for the Welsh side.
Despite their defeat, Formby’s fate remains in their own hands. If they win at second-placed Rainhill on Saturday they will be safe. However, should they not do so and either Southport & Birkdale or Ainsdale win their matches, one of the Southport sides may survive.
In the only other Premier League game to survive the weather, Luke Procter’s 41 not out helped Bootle defeat Lytham by six wickets at Church Road.
In the first innings of the game, Danny Edwards’s team had made 149-9 declared in 49.2 overs, Ryan Maddock making 48 and Will Purser taking 4-56.
Maddock then took 3-56 but Procter’s innings and Neil Williams’s 40 settled the outcome.
The game between Leigh and Rainhill was called off without a ball being bowled.