Northern’s Chris Laker insists the side are “100% ready” for their National T20 Cup final showdown against Oundle Town on Sunday.
The Crosby side travel to Derby’s County Ground knowing the trophy is their last chance of silverware at the end of a season of high-quality cricket.
Had they not run into a Brentwood side on top of their game last Sunday in the National Club Championship final, and had they not been going toe-to-toe with an outstanding Ormskirk side in the league, they may well already have something to show for it.
But director of cricket Laker and the rest of the players know they will have to be on top of their game to avoid a winter of what-ifs.
He said: “It’s not often you get two bites at the cherry. We have to acknowledge that it all comes down to Sunday but we have to keep focusing on the process that’s got us to this point.
“We’ve got to do the basics well and adapt to the conditions. Everyone was disappointed with how last Sunday went.
“We’ve had a couple of days to sort of stew on it, and everyone has had the chance to process that.
“We’ll have a training session on Thursday, and everyone will get some time in the middle on Saturday, and then head into Sunday 100% ready to go.”
Laker and Liam Grey each fell to star seamer Ben Allison at Worcestershire’s New Road ground last Sunday, top-edging pulls as they tried to put down a marker in the power play.
Northern emerged from the first eight overs at 18/2 – Tyler McGladdery’s unbeaten 93 made a game of it, but in hindsight the die was cast early on.
An even shorter format makes a fast start even more important, but Laker thinks there is a lesson to learn from the more patient approach of Brentwood’s Aaron West and Will Buttleman, whose unbeaten stand of 150 secured a nine-wicket win.
He said: “The opening bowler bowled really well, he was quick and zipped off the pitch and put us on the back foot straight away with a couple of wickets.
“And their batters took the game away from us – they put us under pressure once they’d got in.
“One thing we’ve learned is that we can assess the conditions – yes, we’ve got to show some intent, but we’ve got to turn up and really assess the day.”
Part of that will involve getting the measure of the opposition, from Northamptonshire. They proudly boast of being their county’s oldest club but have not found the time to set up a Frogbox camera, meaning they remain something of an unknown quantity.
“Some people like to go in fresh and play it as you see it, others like to get as much intel as they can,” said Laker.
“But Oundle play in a completely different league, there’s not much footage available, so we’ll really have to try to assess the conditions on the day.
“We’ve got a good side, we’ve won a lot of T20 cricket, and we can hopefully come out on top.”
With Ormskirk having wrapped up the league the day before the defeat to Brentwood – making Saturday’s league clash between the two a dead rubber – Northern’s excellent season would have been in danger of petering out.
But Laker and his teammates are not ready to pack their gear away for the winter just yet.
He said: “We’ve earned a position where having lost one, we do get a chance to bounce back the week after, which is good.
“It was a tough day on Sunday, but we’ve got another opportunity to take something home with us. “We’ve worked very hard this season and we feel like we’ve earned something to show for it.”
Thanks to Tom Evans @Merseyside Cricket Online
