Written by Gary Hayes
Orrell Beaten at the Champions
Orrell’s first team ended their league season with a trip to champions Northern CC. With preparations upset by the late withdrawal of Duvindu Tillakaratne due to illness as well as an injury to Cameron Sharp during the warmup, Sam Heeley’s team received a timely boost when they won the toss and elected to bat first. The Orrell opening batting pair of Ammer Mirza and Chris Riley got off to a flying start with a number of boundaries. Mirza in particular carried on his fine form of the previous week being particularly dismissive of anything bowled on his legs.
Mirza unfortunately could not convert his rapid start into fifty and was out for 33 when he was caught at backward point to leave the Orrell score 52-1. The momentum of the Orrell innings was then stalled significantly when incoming batter Richard Everett was unluckily bowled for 4 when the ball rolled back onto the stumps from a routine forward defensive shot. Riley looked to be untroubled however and when he was joined by Tom Jones it looked like the Orrell innings was restoring its initial momentum. Unfortunately, Jones was out with the score on 85-3 and things got much worse for Orrell when, after a considerable amount of hesitation from the umpire, Heeley was adjudged leg before wicket to make the score 95-4 which soon became 95-5. Riley was then joined by Andy Baybutt and with it came Orrell’s last hope of a significant first-innings score. Riley brought up a well-deserved half-century but was then soon out for 54 when a lapse in concentration saw him hole out at deep mid-wicket. Baybutt did manage to bring some respectability to the Orrell score with a number of boundaries but he was eventually out for 49 to leave Orrell 174 all out (with Sharp unable to bat) off only 35.1 overs. Whilst the scoring rate was impressive, the fact that Orrell only batted for such a short period of time left plenty of time in the days play for Northern to reach the victory total.
The Orrell bowling attack (bereft of both left-arm spin options on a wicket that was turning markedly) initially made things difficult for the home batting line up. Dominic Hayes in particular bowled with real pace and purpose and was rewarded with an early wicket when he clean bowled one of the Northern opening batters to leave the score 13-1. When Tom Jones struck to make the score 43-2, it looked like this might be a slight chink of light for Orrell to find a way back into the match. However, although the effort could not be faulted, a couple of dropped chances undermined the Orrell bowling effort against some top class batting. The home team showed their undoubted class as they eventually cruised to a six wicket victory in only 29.2 overs. Alfie Clarke finished with figures of 2-44 from eight overs, Jones 1-43 to from seven overs but Hayes was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 1-17 from six overs.
The first team therefore finish the season in mid-table of the Liverpool Competition Premier League- an ECB Premier League. On the face of it, a notable achievement given the playing and financial resources of most of the clubs in the league. There are indeed many positives to take from the season but Heeley will also know that with a little bit more luck at times (with the weather) and a little more application at times in certain games that a higher league placing was possible- even potentially qualification for the Lancashire Knockout Competition. This is a solid position for the club to build on for next season and a sign of how far the club has progressed.
Meanwhile, back at Winstanley Road, Dave Whiteley’s second team saw their season peter out in tame fashion with another defeat at home to Northern. The visitors won the toss and batted first- a decision that looked to be costly when they found themselves in deep trouble at 30-5. However they recovered impressively to post 196 all out in 40.4 overs. Gareth Houghton was the standout bowler with figures of 5-50 whilst Phil Taberner took 2-43, Ben Mahoney 1-21 and Logan Pallett took his maiden second team wickets with figures of 2-34 from seven overs. Despite losing an early wicket, Orrell looked to be in control of the chase when Matthew Wareing and Mahoney were at the crease as they put on a large second wicket patnership. Unfortunately, with the exception of Steve Unsworth, the rest of the Orrell batting line up did not capitalise on this positive start and they were agonisingly bowled out for 191 in 45.3 overs- six runs short of the victory target. Unsworth capped a fine comeback season top scoring with 60, Mahoney scored 37 whilst there were also contributions from Wareing (20) Stuart Craig (21) and Houghton (19).
This defeat capped a miserable run in for the second team with a number of defeats threatening to overshadow the outstanding form they had shown until late July when they were very much contenders for the league title. Proof if ever it was needed that you cannot turn form on and off like a tap. Once the momentum had been lost due to poor availability of key players then the team struggled to reverse this decline. With Whiteley stepping down (having done a great job in difficult circumstances) the new captain when appointed will no doubt look to ensure more consistent team selection in the 2022 season on all days when matches may take place.
Alan Moore’s third team capped a Saturday of misery for the club when they lost their must win game against Sefton Park meaning that they are relegated from the Saturday Third Team Premier Division back down to Division One- where the team started in 2019. Requiring the maximum 25 points from the game to give themselves a chance of survival, Moore won the toss and elected to bat. They managed to secure maximum batting points by accruing 179-8 declared from 45 overs. This total was built on the back of 67 from dual registrant Paul Burrows (making a welcome return to the club where he had devoted many hours of his time over a number of years) 37 from Will Alker and an unbeaten 26 from Ian Davies. When the visitors final batting pair were at the crease with the score on 154-8 (they only had 10 players) it looked like survival was a real possibility with second bottom Formby not guaranteed victory in their match. However, a dogged last wicket partnership saw Sefton get over the line for a one wicket victory and banish Orrell to Division One. Oliver Mahoney took 2-14 from six overs, Arthur Moore 2-31 from five overs, James Leyland 1-35 from five overs whilst the skipper had figures of 3-66 from 14.5 overs.
A disappointing end to a difficult season for Moore’s team. A vastly different team had swashbuckled through division one in their inaugural 2019 season as they cruised to the title. Retirements, sabbaticals and general unavailability across the Saturday teams, meant that Moore’s team was always too callow for the level of cricket that they were playing despite Moore’s best efforts to ensure more experience was available with regular appeals to the wider club membership. Whilst the younger players will be better for the experience, they will still require greater support from senior players in the 2022 season as they seek to bounce back to the Premier Division.
The final game of the 2021 Season took place on Sunday when Matthew Hayes’s fourth team entertained Fleetwood Hesketh at Winstanley Road. The visitors won the toss and elected to bat first. A decision that proved vindicated when, despite a one hour rain break, they made 177-8 declared from 40 overs. James Edgington was amongst the wickets with 2-20 from six overs, Tom Such 1-35 from five overs, David Haslam 1-11 from five overs, Alfie Clarke 2-10 from 4 overs and Emily James 2-31 from 5 overs. In reply, the young fourth team (with all players being 19 years old or younger including seven under the age of 15) were unable to mount a significant challenge to this total as they were all out for 82 and 29.3 overs- the last five wickets falling in alarmingly quick time. Tom Wilkinson ended the season on a high note top scoring with 32 while the skipper made 27. A disappointing end to the season for an albeit young team. Much invaluable development has taken place for the players involved. Going into the 2022 season a number of these players must begin to show more application when batting in order to help their team be competitive in games. Too often this season, the top order have been back in the pavilion before 15 overs have been bowled leaving the middle and lower order to post an adequate total.
The season finished on a high for three of our juniors who were selected for their best of Inter League Age Group squad for their games against the Lancashire County Age Group Squads:
- Logan Pallett (Under 14)
- James Leyland (Under 15)
- Arthur Moore (Under 15)
With County Age Group squad members Harrison Hurst (Under 13) and Dominic Hayes (Under 15) also involved in these matches this meant that Orrell had five players involved in these end of season trial matches. Hayes also finished his County season on a high when he represented his County in a couple of two day Emerging Player Programme (EPP) games against Yorkshire and Warwickshire. Well done to all concerned.
We would like to take the opportunity to thank Gary Hayes for providing all our match reports this season.