Birkenhead Park gatecrash the wedding
THEY had to share the spotlight with a wedding reception and their dressing room with a rugby team – but Birkenhead Park got to keep all the points to themselves at Liverpool on Saturday.
The hosts put on a warm welcome in more ways than one, subsiding for 92 as the guests arrived, then failing to crash the party as the visitors cantered to victory by nine wickets, serenaded by a wedding singer reeling off the classics.
“We rolled over,” as Liverpool’s stand-in skipper Dan Kelly put it – not much of a speech, but no-one present would have had any reason to object.
More than one figure dressed in white was the centre of attention.
Alex Baker kicked things off for the visitors with a fiery, threatening opening spell that saw off both openers and probably deserved more.
Then Satyajeet Bachhav settled into a groove from the Pavilion End, finding turn, bounce and the outside edges of Alex Harper, Jared Clein and Liam Naylor.
The clatter of wickets slowed after drinks but scoring didn’t get any easier. Bachhav sneaked one through Kelly’s defences then persuaded Adam Dunsmore into an ill-advised foray out of his crease to earn his ninth five-wicket haul of the season – he finished with 5/37.
No-one stuck around longer than Matt Douglas, or scored more than his 15 runs – he fell to a lightning leg-side stumping by the impressive Ste Hird off the brisk medium pace of David Nevin, who yorked Dan Clubbe three balls later to wrap the innings up.
Like Bachhav, Hird claimed five victims – his keeping was handy and his chatter relentless throughout.
“Once we got on top, I think we just managed to stifle them,” said Park skipper Tom Foster. “We were really good – from ball one, we were on it.
“Alex bowled really well, and Satyajeet was just like he’s been all season.
“Ste’s had some bad injuries. This is the first year he’s kept since 2018 and he’s top class – his leg-side stumping, two great catches off Satyajeet, his energy… he’s just everything you want.”
If Park’s bowlers had made the wicket look tricky to bat on, their batters made it look easy.
One cover drive drew a raucous cheer from the wedding guests – embarrassingly for the bride and groom, it overshadowed their grand entrance, which happened at exactly the same time.
Alex Harris scored 27 of the last 29 runs to wrap up a convincing win and leave his side in a strong position in the Division One promotion race.