Formby flying at the top as Hameed routs Rainford
THE cry of “early wickets” from fielding sides across Merseyside would have been audible from space at 1pm on Saturday, as the sun shone on the Liverpool Gin Liverpool Competition’s fifth round of fixtures.
Any game, in any conditions, can be won or lost with a few early scalps. So spare a thought for Rainhill’s Ryan Williams, who answered his captain’s prayers on a baking hot day by claiming that of Test cricket’s newest captain, Ireland’s William Porterfield, a few minutes into his Formby debut.
The only problem was that at the other end, there stood another Test-capped player.
It never pours.
Haseeb Hameed – released by Lancashire in the hope that he finds the form that should one day see him established at the top of England’s order – was still there when at the declaration, with 121 to his name and 238/5 to his team. He and Tim Smithies, who scored 57, had added 148 for the second wicket as the visitors wilted.
Rainhill’s only hope was to bat time – spinner Sabbir Patel made sure that was rains, but it well out of reach, taking 6/18 as Formby sealed a 153-run win to stay top of the ECB Premier Division.
It was a day for big individual performances, with both bat and ball.
Northern, second-placed in a pack of three at the top, had their own hero in leftarm tweaker Tom Sephton, who took a career-best 9/60 to dismiss Leigh for 114, in reply to the hosts’ 169/9. On another day, Toby Bulcock’s 7/48 for the visitors would have taken the headlines.
Not to be outdone, Bootle’s Chris Liptrot whipped out 9/18 – again, a career best – as Wallasey crumbled for 40 after Michael Farrell’s 67 had set up a declaration on 165/9.
Ormskirk stayed in touch with the leading trio with a 147-run win over New Brighton – set up by John Armstrong’s 114 and a second wicket stand of 141 with Josh Bohannon, who hit 67 – and finished off by Tom Hartley, who took 6/14 to leave the hosts 101 all out, and rooted to the foot of the table.
Lytham’s Ben Saunders took 5/39 at Colwyn Bay, before Taylor Cornall’s unbeaten 55 made short work of the visitors’ pursuit of 97, reaching the target three wickets down. And Highfield’s Michael Gaskell top scored with 89 in their 200/9 against Rainford, for whom Andrew Davies took 6/63; the visitors never got going and Robert Halliwell’s 5/57 wrapped up a 58-run win.