It was a busy few days of cup competition for Orrell’s first-team.
On Thursday, they visited Southport and Birkdale Cricket Club in the first round of the ECB T20 competition. Batting first, the Orrell innings saw Mark Waddington set off at a rate of knots as he unleashed a barrage of boundaries against the home attack. Waddington, who had looked in good form all season without getting a big score so far, continued the onslaught as he brought up his first century of the season (and the first since returning to cricket after his professional football career) as he made 112 from only 64 balls. Orrell eventually made 188-5 from their 20 overs.
The home teams reply got off to an equally flying start via JJ Fielding and Aryan Juyal with Orrell’s fielding in the powerplay letting the bowlers down. When both batters were dismissed in the 40s, Sam Heeley’s bowlers started to exert control on proceedings that they never relinquished. Orrell eventually winning by 31 runs as a home team finished 157-7 from their 20 overs. Heeley took 3-40, Naveen Gunawardana 1-25, Matthew Parkinson 1-33 and Alfie Clarke 2-20. They now play Leigh at home in the next round- date tbc.
On Saturday, the usual league fixtures were replaced by a round of cup fixtures. In the first round of the Ray Digman Trophy, Sam Heeley took his team to Formby. Winning the toss and electing to bowl first, Heeley’s saw his bowling attack go unrewarded against impressive batting by the home team’s opening batters Ollie Sutton and Ian Cockbain. Cockbain in particular showed his class that saw him have a long county cricket career with Gloucestershire and a starring role with Adelaide strikers in the Big Bash in the winter before last. Mixing effective running between the wickets with judicious shot selection, the century opening stand was brought up. Alfie Clarke eventually broke the partnership with a ball that spunsharply and hit the top of Sutton’s off stump. Cockbain found support then from Sam Oldham as Formby piled on the runs despite the best efforts of the Orrell bowling attack. When Cockbain brought up his chanceless century, he then shifted through the gears and unleashed a series of huge sixes that threatened to see Orrell chasing a mammoth total. When he was eventually dismissed for 133- caught by Waddington at deep mid-wicket off the bowling of Gunawardana- Oldham was joined by Formby’s ex IPL player Ankit Sharma. Dominic Hayes eventually was rewarded for a determined bowling effort when he bowled Oldham. The Formby innings eventually coming to a close on 308-3 in 45 overs.
In reply, the Orrell batters knew that although this was a big total to chase, the fast outfield meant that they would get full value for their shots. Mark Waddington looked to be in rich vein of form again after his T20 heroics on the previous Thursday. When Luke Prescott was out early on- caught at point- Waddington was joined by Richard Everett. Disaster struck for Orrell when Waddington (on 23 at the time) was acrobatically caught at deep fine leg on the boundary having glanced the ball off his pads. The Orrell momentum continued and right up until the 35th over their scoring rate was comparable to the home teams at all stages. The major difference was the amount of wickets lost as a number of Orrell batters got starts but were then dismissed- Richard Everett caught behind when on 31, Matthew Wareing (41) who looked to be in fine form was caught at long on when attempting one big shot too many in an over. Orrell also lost Heeley when he was adjudged leg before wicket. The cameos for Orrell continued down the order with Matthew Hayes making 23 and Dominic Hayes 29. The Orrell innings eventually came to a close on 211 all out in 44.5 overs. Whilst acknowledging the brilliance of the innings by Cockbain, Heeley and his team will be left with a sense of what if and wondering what would have happened if a couple of batters who got starts could have gone on to convert these starts into big scores.
Also on Saturday, Orrell’s second team made the trip to Rainford in the Chester Cup under the guidance of stand-in skipper Stuart Craig. The home team batted first and made the imposing total of 254-9 from 45 overs- the Orrell bowling effort let down somewhat by a substandard fielding performance. Arthur Moore took 3-59, Harrison Hurst 1-41, Logan Pallet 2-36, Thomas Wilkinson 1-40 and David Cheetham 2-32.
In reply, it was a similar story to the first team as a number ofbatters got starts but did not go on to make big scores. Orrell finishing on 205 all out in 44.3 overs. Pallet top scored with 41and there were also contributions from Jonathan Cooper (24) Arthur Moore (21) Oliver Mahoney (23) and Thomas Wilkinson 18 not out. A useful test for this young team against the Premier League outfit and one which will stand them in good stead as a return to league action looms on Saturday with a tough test away at Wigan.
Also on Saturday, Alan Moore’s third team enjoyed the rare privilege of playing their home game at Winstanley Road as they welcomed Alder. Batting first Orrell made 175-6 declared in 36 overs. Mark Crumpton top scoring with 71 and Ben Connor made 41. In reply, Alder were bowled out for 81 in only 20 overs- with three wickets for Tom Capstick, two wickets with George Berry and two wickets for the captain himself.
It was a Sunday of success for Orrell’s Sunday teams as both teams got over the line in thrillers.
Mark Crumpton’s Sunday Premier League team welcomed South Liverpool to Winstanley Road. Batting first, the home team made the large total of 254-6 declared in 44.4 overs. This was on the back of a maiden senior century for 15-year-old Harrison Hurst (103 not out) 50 not out from Luke Prescott and a maiden senior half-century for Thomas Wilkinson- congratulations to both Harrison and Thomas on their landmark innings.
It looked for most of the second innings as if the visitors would take the spoils on the back of a large century from the number five batter Surender Ailury. In what had become a very tense situation, Arthur Moore secured the crucial breakthrough as Ailury was out for 130. This triggered a collapse from the visitors and they were eventually bowled out three runs short of the first-innings total for 251. Moore took 4-42, George Berry 3-43, James Such 1-38 and Oliver Mahoney 1-15. This was an important win for Crumpton’s young team as they held their nerve when it looked like the game had slipped away.
Also on Sunday, Emily James took her Sunday development team to visit Ainsdale. The more experienced home team looked to score quickly with hard-hitting centuries from the number three and four batters. This aggressive approach also meant that they lost wickets at regular intervals and they were all out for 178 in only 31.3 overs. The experienced Ainsdale bowling attack made early inroads into the Orrell batting line up and must have fancied an early finish to proceedings with only Charlie Sarath showing much resistance. However, Dominic Hayes came in at number six and steadied the ship significantly as he mixed boundary hitting with effective running between the wickets to keep the scoreboard ticking over. When he retired not out on 50 as per league rules, Matthew Hayes kept the run rate ticking over as wickets continued to fall at the other end. With Orrell nine wickets down and still requiring more than 70 for victory Dominic returned to the crease to join his brother Matthew.
They both showed their class as they shut the door firmly on an Ainsdale victory helped by some unusual field settings from the hosts. Matthew was savage on anything dropped short by the spinners whilst Dominic unleashed a number of all along the floor fours off the pace bowlers. They eventually brought up one wicket victory for Orrell with around 10 overs of the day’s play left- the home team strategy of scoring quickly but losing wickets in the process leaving plenty of time for Orrell to achieve the victory target.