Improvement clear on all fronts at S&B
LOVE LANE LIVERPOOL COMPETITION: Ray Digman Trophy: First Round: Southport and Birkdale 257 for three, beat Wigan, 253 for seven, by seven wickets
PLAYED nine, won five, lost four. Southport and Birkdale’s record in competitive matches over the first month or so of the season might be considered little more than satisfactory by some skippers but Chris Cunningham is in no mood to belittle the achievement of his developing team.
The fifth of these victories was secured last Sunday, when an outstanding Aryan Juyal century steered S&B past Wigan in the first round of the Ray Digman Trophy.
However, that victory was achieved after Cunningham’s team had been knocked out of two national competitions in five days and it came in the middle of a tough run of fixtures for the Trafalgar Road side, factors not lost on the captain.
“I’m pleased, not only that we’ve won games, but also with the cricket we’ve played in order to gain those victories,” said Cunningham.
“We’ve bowled three teams out in the league this season and a lot of our troubles last year were stemming from the fact that we weren’t doing that and then we had to chase big totals.
“Our all-round game is improving even if it hasn’t achieved its potential as yet.”
Things get no easier for S&B in the short term.
League matches at Ormskirk and Northern await them over the next two Saturdays, when it is hoped that at least some of the side’s fitness concerns will have been removed.
Injuries of one sort or another kept David Snellgrove, Chris Firth and Jack Stanley out of the match at Bull Hey and Firth’s off-spin was particularly missed as Wigan rattled up 253 for seven in their 45 overs.
S&B’s pursuit was in poor shape at 20 for two but long partnerships between Juyal and Jack Carney and Basil Sultan for the third and fourth wickets enabled S&B to stroll home with a deceptive ten balls to spare.
The victory was comfier than that.
Moreover, it afforded Cunningham particular pleasure that Juyal had been assisted by two of the top order in precisely the manner he had requested after the grim capitulation against Formby.
“It was pleasing to see that both Jack Carney and Basil
Sultan found a way to support Aryan,” he said.
“Jack went in after we’d lost two early wickets and he helped Aryan take us to 114 for three, by which time we’d used up almost all of the overs from Vinay Choudhary, their overseas slow left-armer.
“Then Basil collected a really solid first-team fifty and that’s the type of innings I’ve been asking him to play for some time.
“It was a perfect half-century but he also knows it can’t be his one knock for the season.”
And Cunningham will not be happy if S&B’s progress is not maintained over the next four months, nor if it is confined to one format of the game.
Losing to Orrell in the National T20 was disappointing because we have to go for it in those competitions,” he said.
“If we want to be considered a good team then we have to show it in the cup competitions as well as in the league.”
However, there is to be no knockout glory for S&B’s second team this season after they lost to Liverpool by four wickets in Sunday’s Chester Cup tie. Batting first, S&B managed only 118 all out with the biggest contribution coming from Kyle Martin, who made 22.
In reply, the Aigburth side scored the required runs in 26.2 overs, although Justin Labuschagne, Craig Todd and Peter Crew all took two wickets.
Ian Sutcliffe’s third team had an even shorter game but with a much happier result on Sunday when they defeated Alder by five wickets.
Louis Colaco was was the star of the show, taking six for 26 in Alder’s 66 all out, although Mia Smith backed him up in fine style by taking three wickets for just one run.
Peter Crew’s 16 and Sutcliffe’s 12 not out did most of the light lifting needed to see their team home to a win that keeps their side in third place in the Sunday Premier League.
WIGAN
Howley c Crew b Eccles ................................................. 10 Leyland c Juyal b Cunningham .................................. 24 Richardson c Sultan b Fielding ................................... 64 Redmond c Sultan b Cunningham .......................... 12 Fairhurst c Juyal b Fielding .............................................. 4 Miakhel c Fielding b Crew ............................................ 63 BurrowsbWincer ................................................................. 7 Hampson not out ............................................................. 33 Yates not out ....................................................................... 29 Extras ......................................................................................... 7 TOTAL (for seven wickets) ........................................... 253
FoW 1-12 2-49 3-81 4-91 5-168 6-187 7-193 Crew 9-0-76-1 Eccles 9-0-40-1 Cunningham 9-054-2 Wincer 9-0-31-1 Fielding 9-0-49-2
S&B
Fielding lbw Richardson ................................................ 11 Shukla c Yates b Hampson .............................................. 9 Juyal not out ..................................................................... 130 Carney b Miakhel .............................................................. 33 Sultan not out .................................................................... 55 Extras ...................................................................................... 15 TOTAL (for three wickets) ............................................ 257 FoW: 1-18 2-20 3-114
Richardson 8-1-36-1 Hampson 8-0-39-1 Choudhary 9-2-42-2 Yates 3.3-0-30-0 Kasser 7.2-0-61-0 Miakhel 7.3-44-0