Dale make short work of Shaw...

ROCHDALE made smooth, rapid and unhindered progress into the second round of the JW Lees Bitter Wood Cup with an eight wicket victory at Shaw on Saturday.

Thanks to MO Bux and Ollie Makin, who shared 9 wickets (the other was a run out), they bowled out the home team for 90 and then, with darkening skies giving warning of rain, sped home in only the twelfth over.

However, and despite the shortness of the game, there were enough incidents sufficiently rare to fill a full programme of games.

The main talking point was the enforced removal from Shaw’s attack of their professional Sajid Mahmood for the persistent bowling of beamers in only his third over. There was no accusation of any malevolence on the part of the former Lancashire and England bowler. He is obviously struggling to find any rhythm and on Saturday he seemed to have lost the knack of knowing when to let the ball go. His first ball whistled past Jack Avery’s ears and after another two deliveries of decapitating potential, the umpires had seen enough.

Mind you, he can’t have been helped by what became another post-match issue – that the wicket had been incorrectly marked out and was a couple of yards short of the proscribe 22 yards.

Which would explain away Michael Harling’s difficulty in avoiding bowling half volleys at the start of the game.

Jon Partington, Shaw’s skipper, who evoked memories of the old England batsman Colin Milburn, and Callum Jones, both of whom showed a disdain for defensive shots, capitalised, and they put on thirty in only 6 overs before Partington lofted Mo Bux to Henry Cooper at mid off.

Tom Brimelow, whose repertoire did include the forward defensive prod, helped Jones put on a further 21, but when Brimelow became Bux’s second victim, trapped in front, a collapse ensued and before you knew it, Shaw were 53 for 7.

It was during this spell of 6 wickets for 2 runs that the third, but this time amusing incident occurred when, at the fall of the sixth wicket both Richard Doherty and Jay Vipura strode out to bat seemingly unaware of each other.

Vipura returned to the pavilion, but when he did eventually take to the crease he and Ethan Chiappe prevented a total rout, until Ollie Makin extracting excessive lift which was too much for batsman and wicket keeper alike finished the tail off to return the impressive figures of 5 for 14.

Dale’s openers Avery and Ben Chapman are happiest when putting bat to ball as well. They put on 46 in no time until Avery dobbed up a short one and wicketkeeper Partington took the catch.

Chapman fell soon after, but his departure had no effect on the run rate or outcome as Cooper and Andy Dawson breezed home.