The perfect ending to a perfect week for S&B
MI Dental Liverpool Competition: First Division: Southport and Birkdale (25pts), 91-3, beat Highfield, 90, by seven wickets
IF Southport and Birkdale’s cricketers needed a perfect end to what many saw as a perfect week, it was provided by the first team’s comprehensive seven-wicket defeat of Highfield.
The win took S&B up to fifth in the First Division table ahead of Saturday’s local derby against second-placed Fleetwood Hesketh at Trafalgar Road, although for some supporters the mere fact of victory and the maintenance of a five-match unbeaten run was quite suf- ficient. “It was a really great way to finish what had been a ridiculously good week for myself and the club,” said skipper Chris Firth. “Mind you, it was also the longest week of my life and by Sunday I was very tired.”
No one can have been surprised at Firth’s exhaustion. After working immensely hard with the rest of Tony Elwood’s team to lay on the county match, he had then taken five for 31 on the pitch where Lancashire and Durham had competed so well for four days.
That wicket still had plenty of juice left in it, though, rather too much, in fact, for Highfield’s batsmen, who found the flight and turn of Firth and the pace and bounce of Chris Brownlow far too demanding.
Backed up by fine fielding - Adam Phillips took a fine slip catch diving to his left and Jackson Burns an excellent one-handed snare over his head at midon - Firth and Brownlow reduced the visitors to 67 for nine before Sam Rotherham’s 14 helped put on 23 runs for the last wicket.
Not that some late resistance made any difference to the result. Guy Edwards’ shot selection, a cricketing mystery that defies analysis, and the more orthodox driving of Brownlow enabled S&B to win the game in only 22.5 overs, Edwards hitting four fours and a six in his 41 and Brownlow five fours in his unbeaten 30.
It left one to reflect that for all the songs sung by Durham’s players on a Tuesday evening the significance of which may yet extend far beyond our town, the exploits of Yogi Bear and his entourage are not yet in their repertoire.
Southport and Birkdale’s second team were not as successful as Firth’s men on Saturday. Craig Todd’s team lost their Premier Division match at Northern by 51 runs and are now tenth in their twelve-team table, although with a number of games in hand on the teams around them.
Phil Bell took three for 38 as the home side were limited to 196-9 declared but that proved more than enough for S&B, who could manage only 145 in reply, Tom Baybutt and Nat Ball both making 33 while Simon Negus found that some wickets were going for a song when he took four for 65.
However, the third team enjoyed rather more success on Sunday in a game dominated by the timeless allround talents of Ian Jones. The off-spinner took eight for 45 in 19 overs as Lytham were bowled out for 142 and then made an unbeaten 12 to clinch the two-wicket victory.