The much anticipated 2022 Liverpool Competition cricket season got underway on Saturday. Orrell’s first team began with a tough away game at a Formby team bolstered by the availability of the Ireland international captain William Porterfield as well as Gloucestershire County Cricketer and star of the Adelaide Strikers Big Bash T20 season this winter Ian Cockbain.
The size of the challenge for Orrell was further increased by the unavailability of Captain Sam Heeley as well as Richard Everett. Stand-in Captain Andy Baybutt won the toss and chose to bat first on what looked to be a good batting wicket and a very fast scoring outfield. Openers Ammer Mirza and Matthew Hayes got the Orrell innings off to a steady start to take the score past 20 until both were out in quick succession to leave Orrell 32-2.
Baybutt and Matthew Wareing then showed great enterprise and judicious shot selection in the third wicket partnership. Wareing batted with great maturity combining his usual strength hitting down the ground with a more rounded attacking game both side of the wickets. Unfortunately, on the brink of his maiden first team league half century, he was caught behind for 47 to leave the score 114-3.
The scene was then set for the returning prodigal son Mark Waddington to enter the crease on his return after a near 10 year hiatus from cricket to pursue a professional football career. What followed was a pleasure for everybody on the ground to witness as Baybutt showed why he is one of the very best batters in club cricket and Waddington effortlessly slotted back into showing the elegance and all-round batting game that made many judges consider him to be a certainty for first class cricket honours prior to his football career.
Baybutt combined hard-hitting with nudging and nurdling to great effect. Waddington meanwhile was all panache as he caressed the ball around the outfield. Baybutt brought up a scintillating century to rich applause from around the ground whilst Waddington brought up a half century on his return.
As Tea was called by the umpires, a 168 run fourth wicket partnership had taken Orrell to 282-3 from 51 overs with Baybutt unbeaten on 137 from 125 balls and Waddington 51 not out. Whilst this score seemed on paper to be a phenomenal effort, there was also a debate to be had within the team as to whether it was enough to declare at that stage or to continue until 55 overs given the fast scoring ground and wicket conditions alongside the super strength of the Formby batting line up and the depleted nature of the Orrell bowling lineup.
Braveness triumphed over pragmatism as Orrell declared over the tea break and only time would tell as to whether the correct decision had been made.
Porterfield strolled out alongside Ollie Sutton (someone who was recently as last season played county second team cricket) to open the batting for the hosts. Despite the best efforts of the Orrell opening bowlers- 15 year old Dominic Hayes and Sri Lankan debutant Dileepa Jayalath- the home batters gave a masterclass in how to pace such a large run chase as Orrell fought bravely in the field.
Young offspinner Alfie Clarke eventually made the breakthrough to dismiss Sutton with the score on 149-1. This brought Cockbain to the crease and the Formby batters continued to show their first class credentials to a large and enthralled audience. The Orrell bowlers also continued to work hard in such batter friendly conditions but, whilst the overall fielding performance was very good, a few cracks did start to appear with a few misfields on such a fast outfield that at a conservative estimatecost Orrell close to 15 runs during the innings. Jayalath toiled away without any success but showed that on another day he would be a real challenge for batters.
Clarke meanwhile bowled with great maturity and bravery for such a relatively inexperienced offspinner bowling at first class cricketers. Hayes came back on for a second spell and bowled with pace and skill and he got his reward as Cockbain was dismissed for 60 with the score on 252-2. Try as they might, Hayes and Jayalath could not make any more breakthroughs and Formby won by eight wickets with just over two overs of the days play to spare. Porterfield bringing up his century towards the end of the innings and remaining unbeaten on 111.
This was a stunning game of cricket to begin the season and both teams can take real credit from their performances and the spectacle for all there to see it. It was a pleasure to witness how high quality cricketers such as Porterfield and Cockbain went about the run chase- their timing of straight shots down the ground was effortless- but equally the batting performances of Baybutt, Wareing and Waddington as well as the bravery shown by Clarke will be remembered.
For the returning Heeley, there are plenty of positives to take from this performance. However, it also confirms that having gone into the winter with a view of what the bowling attack would look like for this season, plans have had to be revisited late in pre-season due to very late changes in circumstances which have depleted the Orrell bowling options. A difficult situation for Heeley and his vice-captain Baybutt to deal with but one they have the full support of the club in addressing.