Orrell’s first-team arrested their recent run of defeats when they had the best of a draw away at Formby Cricket Club on Saturday. Winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Orrell skipper Sam Heeley saw the opening batting pair of Luke Prescott and Ben Mahoney get the innings off to a strong start as they showed sound technique and good shot selection against the home teams pace bowling in order to take advantage of the fast scoring ground. Prescott was initially scoring at a faster rate than Mahoney but this soon evened out and both batters looked to be on course for half centuries. However, the introduction ofspin by the home team at one end saw Prescott adjudged leg before wicket to Ankit Sharma for a well made 38. Mahoney soon followed when an injudicious swipe at a full ball saw him bowled for 39. Richard Everett struggled for once to get going on was the next to be out with the score on 106 when he edged behind.
Orrell’s promising start was in danger of being squandered at this point but the fourth wicket partnership of Mark Waddington and Andy Baybutt steadied the situation. Waddington looked to be extremely comfortable at the crease as he stroked the ball about whilst Baybutt had the look of someone with a point to prove after recent low scores. Waddington was out 33 when he into the slips to make the score 159-4. Baybutt found support from Heeley and then from Matthew Hayes as he moved through the gears and brought up a well-deserved century just before tea with a hook shot for six over deep fine leg off a bouncer. With only 53 overs bowled by the time tea had to be taken, and mindful of previous experiences against the home teams strong batting line up at the ground, Heeley sent his team out for two more overs after tea. Baybutt was eventually out for 118 whilst Hayes finished unbeaten on 27 as Orrell declared on 285-6 from 55 overs having added 16 more runs in the two overs after tea.
In reply, the Formby opening batters Ian Cockbain and Ollie Sutton came out with positive intent as they put the bad ball away with aplomb, flashed hard and rode their luck at times against the Orrell opening bowling pair of Heeley and Dominic Hayes. Sutton was eventually out for 22 when he was caughtbrilliantly by Alfie Clarke on the deep cover boundary off the bowling of Hayes. This wicket seemed to signal a change of approach from the home team who moved from an aggressive approach to a more defensive mindset with the clear intention of not losing the game. With a number of overs missing from the game due to the slow over rate in the first-innings, it was clear that Heeley and his team were going to find it hard to take 10 wickets in such batter friendly conditions. Cockbain was eventually caught by Baybutt at square leg off the bowling of Heeley when he glanced a ball off his pads and the Orrellcaptain then ran out Lucas Kennedy with a throw running round from mid-wicket into the hands of Richard Everett. By this point the cricket was attritional as despite ultra-attacking fields from Heeley the home team declined to take up the chase. Home captain Ryan Brown was eventually caught by Heeley off the bowling of Naveen Gunawardana and the reintroduction of Hayes saw him clean bowl Sharma. Gunawardana had Oliver Gallagher caught behind by Everett and Alfie Clarke had Nick Sutton caught by Matthew Hayes at second slip. The home team eventually finished on 114-7 from 43 overs. This meant only 98 overs had been bowled in the day’s play from an expected 110 overs. Hayes had figures of 2-46, Heeley 1-15, Gunawardana 2-25 and Clarke 1-7.
Whilst Heeley and his team will be disappointed to only get a draw from the match that they dominated for large parts they will take confidence from the batting display and the all-round performance away at such a prestigious opponent.
Also on Saturday, Steve Unsworth second team welcomed Wavertree to Winstanley Road. Winning the toss and choosing to bat first, the away team having made a strong start went from 49-0 to 110 all out in 32 overs. Terry Leaford was the star of the show with 5-18 from 9.5 overs, David Cheetham had figures of 3-33 and Arthur Moore figures of 2-11.
In reply, despite losing wickets at regular intervals, Orrell won by four wickets in only 19.4 overs as they finished on 112-6. Leaford capped his match-winning performance with a hard hitting 51 at a time when the home team were potentially in trouble chasing the target. This win maintains the team’s position at the top of the league ahead of the local derby on Saturday away at neighbours Highfield.
Leaford’s performance came on the back of a stunning midweek batting performance in the second team T20 cup away at Fleetwood Hesketh. The home team batted first and made 135-3 from 20 overs. After a strong start from Ben Mahoney and Harrison Hurst (38 runs each) Leaford then brought the game to a swift conclusion with a stunning unbeaten 45 from only 18 balls as Orrell won by 7 wickets with 27 balls left.
On Saturday, Alan Moore’s third team (under the temporary captaincy of Mark Crumpton due to the captains ongoing injury)completed a quick and comprehensive victory over Norfolk Hall at their temporary home base of Ormskirk CC. The visitors won the toss and chose to bat first and were all out for 56 in only 30.3 overs. Greg Lea took 3-8 from 11 overs, George Mushahwar 3-1 45 overs, George C Berry 1-30 from nine overs, Joe Whiteley 1-8 from 4 overs and Charlie Sarath 1-6 from 1.3 overs. The Orrell opening batting pair of Crumpton (41 not out from 23 balls) and Thomas Wilkinson (16 not out from 10 balls) made light work of the chase as Orrell sauntered to a 10 wicket victory in only 5.3 overs.
There was no game on Sunday as the combined third/fourth team Mike Leddy cup game away at Ainsdale was conceded by the hosts giving Orrell a bye into the semi finals.