Famous five for flying Ormskirk
LEAGUE champions Ormskirk made it five on the spin last weekend after consecutive victories over Leigh and Barnoldswick respectively.
Nicky Caunce’s men visited Beech Walk on Saturday hoping to put pressure on high-flying Northern, and Leigh’s decision to bat first backfired spectacularly on skipper Toby Bulcock.
Opening bowler Scott Lees (4-47) was a man on a mission as he snared Leigh’s opening four batsman, leaving the hosts reeling on 41-4.
Skipper Caunce and Ryan Maddock soon joined in on the action, reducing their opponents to 95-8, but Bulcock remained unmoved.
He dragged his side to a respectable total of 166 with a well-crafted 89 from 104 balls, with a magnificent stand of 70 for the ninth wicket shared with Patrick Allan, in which Allan scored just ten of those runs.
In reply, Ormskirk made harder work of the chase than they’d have liked.
They reached their total for the loss of seven wickets, with Ian Robinson’s 57 from six sparing their blushes after 85-4 at one stage.
Caunce’s side learned their lesson the following day, however, as they annihilated Barnoldswick in the second round of the Lancashire Knockout.
Tom Hartley (3-19) was the pick of the bowlers for Ormskirk after they were once more instructed to field first.
The hosts skittled their opponents for just 83 runs inside 27 overs, and this time reached their target for the loss of two wickets.
Caunce, understandably, was delighted with the response of his players: “Some teams from other leagues don’t have the depth of teams from our league. That showed on the Sunday.
“It’s about depth but we did bowl really well. We knocked it off two down and chasing 80 we went quite hard early on.
“It was good to knock it off and have an early finish for the lads after playing on Saturday and Sunday the last few weeks.
“People are getting to know their roles, picking up more responsibilities in the field as well as with the bat and ball so it’s coming together nicely.”