It was only a draw - but it was a cracker

MI Dental Liverpool Competition: First Division: Southport and Birkdale (7pts), 172-9, drew with Ainsdale (6pts), 172-9 declared.

DEEP into Saturday evening, Southport and Birkdale’s last man, Andy Warhurst, gave himself a bit of room and tried to hit a ball from Ainsdale’s Malcolm Swift for a couple of runs.

He did not make contact but scrambled a single to the wicketkeeper with his batting partner, Tom Butler.

And so ended what was, in the view of neutrals and participants alike, one of the best games of cricket seen on Trafalgar Road since the old king died.

The match ended in a draw but with both scores and number of wickets tied and all four results possible before that final ball was bowled.

And although no player on either side would agree for a moment, maybe a draw or tie was the best outcome to a match which had fluctuated dramatically, with S&B having perhaps the best of the first and last hours of the game while Ainsdale mounted a memorable fightback before making themselves favourites to take the lion’s share of the points.

The result of the result, as it were, is that Ainsdale have a ten-point lead over Fleetwood Hesketh at the top of the MI Dental Liverpool Competition’s First Division.

S&B are a further 15 points behind but have a game in hand, which they play at Prestatyn on Bank Holiday Monday.

But maybe four other teams are still in contention for the two promotion places and there are five Saturdays left in the season.

Strap yourselves in for an eventful flight to early autumn.

The story of Saturday’s game is easily told and yet could also justify a slim booklet.

Having opted to bowl first, S&B skipper Chris Firth saw his decision vindicated as his swing and seam bowlers, Warhurst and Jackson Burns, ripped the guts out of the visitors’ early batting.

Andy Barlow’s side had only 62 runs on the board when the eighth wicket fell, with Warhurst having taken four of the wickets and Burns three.

But Ainsdale’s rise to the top of the table has been built on growing confidence among players who began the season in moderate form, and their ability to battle back from difficulties may sustain them if they do, indeed, win promotion.

They are certainly favourites to do so; it is always better to have the points in the bag at this stage of the season.

On Saturday, their recovery was achieved by the fine batting of Tom Prescott, who took advantage of the easing conditions and batted with admirable coolness to make 72 not out off 150 balls. Prescott put on 53 with Martyn Farrell, an all-rounder whose vast array of cricketing talents beggar description, and then an unbroken 57 for the last wicket with Joe Lowe.

By the time Barlow declared - a superbly well-timed decision but who would have bet on such an option being available two hours earlier? – the psychological balance of the match had shifted.

This was shown in S&B’s innings as Swift and Farrell took early wickets. But while other batsmen came and went, Chris Brownlow, S&B’s player of the year by an Irish mile, remained and gradually brought the target into view.

Helped by hitting three sixes in one over, Brownlow evened the odds in the game and only 12 were needed when he was lbw for 95 when attempting to sweep Farrell. Quite rightly, Butler and Warhurst continued the pursuit until the game reached its wonderful climax.

Remarkably, Southport and Birkdale’s second team also drew their game with scores level, albeit in rather different circumstances at Leigh’s Beech Walk ground.

After taking six for 70 in a home team total of 207 all out, which owed a great deal to Liam Jackson’s 104, S&B skipper, Craig Todd, saw his openers, Dave Aston and Tom Baybutt, put on 156 for the first wicket made excellent progress towards their target.

Baybutt hit nine fours and a six in his 116-ball 79 while Aston also hit nine fours and, so it is rumoured, a six in his 85.

However, both batsmen were out with their side some 30 runs short of their goal and S&B finished on 207-2.

On Sunday, S&B’s third team enjoyed a seven-wicket win over Sefton Park. John Bennett took 3-18 as the visitors were bowled out for 96 and Harry May’s unbeaten 30 combined with Simon Pearce’s 32 saw them home.