Best and worst of S&B
Liverpool Gin Liverpool Competition: ECB Premier League: Northern (25pts), 81-0, beat Southport and Birkdale (0pts), 79, by 10 wickets
THOSE Southport and Birkdale supporters looking for encouragement from their cricket on Saturday were probably best advised to stay at Trafalgar Road and watch the second team.
That said, if they were slippy about it, the more mobile fans were able to take in the first team’s rapid defeat at Northern and then return home to watch Craig Todd’s side complete the victory that hoisted them up to fifth place in their division.
That latter game contained much to lift the spirits. Most notably, Nick Knight responded magnificently to his dropping from the first team by making 97 not out, thus steering his side past their target of 212 in 46.3 overs.
Knight was joined in his match-deciding stand by Jack Baybutt, who made an unbeaten 41. Earlier in the afternoon, Isaac Lea and Angus Gailey had both taken three wickets as Northern put together 211 for seven in 44.1 overs.
Folk will rightly point out that there is an enormous gulf between first and second team cricket. That is an even stronger argument now than it was 20 years ago.
The majority of the top sides in the Premier League are well-financed and contain at least a couple of players with ambitions towards, or experience of, first-class cricket.
There is a chasm between those half dozen teams and other sides in the same division, so the value one places on second-team success needs to be carefully weighed.
All one may conclude for now is that Knight, Gailey and Lea did more or less all they could to advance their cases and they deserve credit for doing so.
It was difficult to hand out any such compliments to Chris Firth’s team on Saturday.
The perfect cricket match rarely takes place but so does the irredeemably horrible one.
However, S&B managed to romp in the depths on Saturday when they were bowled for 79 in 31.4 overs and then saw Northern knock off the runs in 17.1 overs, Chris Laker cruising to 67 not out off 68 balls and hitting 11 fours in the process.
The match ended in midafternoon, leaving Firth’s players to dispute the adage that half a game is better than none.
It would, of course, be some consolation if S&B had been dismissed by a Northern team at the very top of their form.
But two visiting batsmen were caught behind when trying to take the bat away, before Josh Hine, having hit five fine fours, missed a straight one from Liam Grey.
The tail could not salvage the situation and S&B are now bottom of the ECB Premier League table.
The consolation is that we are not yet halfway through the league season. There are 12 games to be played and some of them represent credible match-winning opportunities. S&B are one of three team covered by a dozen points at the foot of the table.
They will be strengthened on Saturday by the return of Chris Brownlow, who should be fit to bowl. The visitors are Colwyn Bay, who last week chased down 223 against a Formby attack containing three current or former county bowlers.
And now for the bad news... McDonald lbw Jones ...................................................... 5 Baybutt c Bradley b Grey.............................................12 Yates c Cole b Jones......................................................... 0 Gleeson c Cole b Jones. ................................................. 3 Hine b Grey........................................................................31 Phillips c Grey b Sephton .............................................. 2 May c Vis b Jones. ...........................................................13 Firth b Jones........................................................................ 6 Labuschagne c Snow b Sephton .............................. 0 Cunningham not out. ..................................................... 1 Warhurst c Cole b Jones ................................................ 0 Extras. .....................................................................................6 TOTAL ...................................................................................79 FoW: 1-5 2-5 3-15 4-49 5-52 6-60 7-77 8-78 9-79 10-79 Bowling: Jones 9.4-5-21-6, Grey 12-2-31-2, Sephton 10-1-22-2