Caunce praises players

ORMSKIRK captain Nicky Caunce praised his players for a “great” weekend after bouncing back admirably from their ECHO Knockout Cup defeat to Rainhill on Friday.

Rainhill posted 147-9 from their 20 overs, but Ormskirk’s usually reliable batting line-up failed to produce as they faltered to 110 all out inside 19 overs.

Caunce’s side responded with victories over Wallasey on Saturday - leaving them just 14 points behind first-placed Northern in the L&DCC Premier - and Furness in the National Cup on Sunday.

“We got beat in the ECHO Knockout on Friday night but we bounced back well from there so overall we had a great weekend,” the skipper said.

“We were missing three or four batsmen in the T20.

“Obviously we can’t use that as an excuse because we should have done better than we did and the performance wasn’t good enough.

“That gave us the kick up the backside we needed though. Before that we were on a run of 14 wins from 15, so a defeat wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

“It shows the players they can’t just turn up and win. They have to work for it and put the effort it.

“It gave everyone that kick and showed we have to earn our wins, which we did on Saturday and Sunday.”

With Wallasey winning the toss and choosing to bat first in their league encounter last weekend, Caunce was pleased with the impact of both bowler Scott Lees and batsmen Alex Rankin.

Lees finished with figures of 4-44 from less than 15 overs across two spells while Rankin laid the foundations for victory as Ormskirk chased 164 with a fantastic knock of 73.

“Scott bowled really well,” Caunce said. “He came back on and absolutely blew the tail away after picking up an early wicket”.

Ormskirk travel to Rainhill in L&DCC action before welcoming Roe Green in the Lancashire Knockout Cup.