Four out of four for brilliant bowler Ben
BATSMEN made hay as the sun shone on the Liverpol Gin Liverpool Competition’s latest round of fixtures – but it was a bowler who achieved the day’s greatest feat.
Of the six first innings, five were worth between 223 and 245 on a sundrenched Saturday afternoon.
But the headlines belong to 19-yearold Ben Aitchison, who took four wickets in four balls as Formby kept up the pressure on leaders Northern with a 118-run win over New Brighton.
Aitchison’s feat ripped the heart out of the Wirral side’s line-up – numbers four to seven, two of them clean bowled.
For skipper James Seward, it was gratifying to see one of Formby’s talented youngsters doing the business in a team known for its established professionals.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.
“Ben’s bowled really well this year and hasn’t quite got his reward, so to get four in four is really special. He’s a lot more mature as a bowler than he was last year, so it’s good to see him get the rewards like that on Saturday.
“He’s put a yard of pace on, and he was just putting it in the right areas – as a batsman, you don’t want it full and straight early on.”
Seward credits Formby’s senior pros with the added maturity of his bright young things – Jackson Darkes-Sutcliffe, aged just 16, also chipped in with four wickets to wrap up the win on Saturday.
“You want the blend of the players coming through and the professionals to keep you competitive at the top of the Premier League,” the skipper explained.
“We’ve invested over the years in some of the professionals and it’s starting to pay off. The way they are around the youngsters – they teach them how to train, and how to prepare for games.”
Seward also hailed Lukman Vahaluwala as one of Formby’s unsung heroes – the all-rounder hit 83 off 71 balls to set up the declaration at 245-5.
“‘Lucky’ has been awesome all year with the bat and the ball,” said Seward.
“He counter-attacked really well – we were in a situation where it could have gone either way.”
Northern’s win over Colwyn Bay was set up by an unbeaten 110 from opener Hayden McCrae, as the Crosby side declared on 239-6. They had to hurry through the overs – Tom Sephton twirled away for 23 of them, taking 4-97 – but the Welshmen’s resistance was eventually broken, 22 runs short of the target and three overs from salvation.
Bootle’s Will Hale hit 72 and Michael Farrell made 50 to set up their 89-run win over Highfield – the visitors’ 223-8 was always going to be too much, despite Sam Rotherham’s 5-92, and Bootle skipper Craig Prince made sure with a return of 5-22.
Ormskirk completed a clean sweep for the top four, chasing down 164 to beat Wallasey. They did not have it all their own way – Alex Eagles resisited with 60, and it took a measured 73 from Alex Rankin to anchor the chase, completed with four wickets to spare.
Lytham edged a high-scoring encounter at Rainford, getting over the line with eight wickets down.
Leigh’s ninth-wicket pair of Matthew Hibbert and Alex Seddon put on 67 as they held on for a draw against Rainhill. The hosts closed on 170-8 in reply to the visitors’ 228-8.