With thanks to Tom Evans @ Merseyside Cricket Online (merseysidecricket.com can be supported @ https://buymeacoffee.com/tomevanscricket). This week, we present the Liverpool & District results & round up along with a review of Liverpool District Cricket events.
Reports, reaction & round-up: 23rd/24th August
Game of the day: Wallasey drop anchor to deny Birkenhead Park as relegation reality becomes clear
Birkenhead Park needed fire and fury. They needed some of the belief that carried them to their great escape last year, and the righteous anger which they channelled after their devastating relegation in 2022.
But most of all they needed a win at Wallasey, and without it they now probably need something not far short of a miracle.
If – as captain Alex Harris accepts is now likely – this turns out to be the last Wirral derby in the top flight for a while, it will not have been because of Park’s efforts on Saturday.
Having won the toss and batted, they made all the running, and shrugged off a few blows to post a competitive total.
But in the absence of Pakistani spinner Safi Abdullah, who has returned home, they did not have the firepower to remove batters who were not in the mood for chasing 241.
Their victory song, Parklife, has only been heard once in the league all season; Harris’s face at 7pm on Saturday suggested This Is A Low might be a more appropriate soundtrack, if not Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now.
“It’s going to be pretty tough now to stay in the league,” he admitted.
“We’ve lost games chasing low scores this year so the plan was to win the toss and bat first and get a score, putting no pressure on ourselves.
“The lads did well, especially the lower order, which is good and positive, I can’t really fault anyone.
“It’s the way cricket goes at times, and they don’t have to give us a game. It’s down to us to create chances.
“It’s going to be tough for us to bowl teams out in the second innings without our overseas pro but we know that.
“All we can do is try our best and see what happens.”
Wallasey could at least lay claim to the one outstanding moment of the match, a running, sprawling, tumbling boundary catch by Seb Botes to remove the dangerous Mark Rowland after he had bludgeoned his way to 40.
With Ejaaz Alavi controlling his flight nicely and Matty Keogh finding some awkward bounce and seam movement, Park slipped from 65/0 to 106/5 and could have folded.
Jack Dixon and Jon Crofton made sure they didn’t with a stand of 51, and Dixon moved on to 45 before becoming Keogh’s fourth victim.
Chris Stenhouse and David Nevin then helped the last two wickets add 44 runs as the home bowlers began to tire. Their 240 was Park’s third highest total of the year and the only time they have passed 200 away from home.
Stenhouse then briefly raised their hopes even further by finding home skipper Greg Beaver’s leading edge in the first over of their reply.
But Connor Windell and Evan Withe had no intentions of giving them a sniff, compiling a painstaking stand of 75 from more than 28 overs.
With no Safi, Harris was hampered – once he and Stenhouse had finished their opening spells, there was little to get excited about, and not much to encourage the captain to bring the close fielders in.
By the time Windell edged Louis Evans for 27 off 83 balls, the last hour had begun and forcing a result seemed beyond either side.
Evans also claimed Withe just after he reached 50. Andrew Clarke, who at one point swapped his off-breaks for slow left-armers mid-over, removed Botes and Rowland claimed both Alavi and Chris Davies in the penultimate over.
But the late clatter made the game look closer than it was.
“It’s pretty disappointing,” said Harris.
“Teams can play how they want to play but we won the toss, put a score on and didn’t even bat 55 overs, and they didn’t show much intent to go for it.
“It was a bit of a damp squib in the end.”
With four games left – including the visits of the top two, Ormskirk and Northern – Park are 24 points adrift of an improving Colwyn Bay, and a further 18 short of safety.
Harris added: “You can pinpoint the games we haven’t won against teams that are around us in the league – Colwyn Bay, two draws, Wigan at home, we had them nine down. “Newton-le-Willows beat us at their place when we were chasing 150 – we did the hard work with the ball but let ourselves down with the bat.
“We’ve struggled with the bat for the last couple of years so we shouldn’t be surprised where we are in the league.
“I back the lads because I know what we’ve got in the changing room, but it’s about doing it on the pitch.
“It’s been a tough season and only winning one league game suggests Division One cricket is where we should be. The table doesn’t lie.
“But it’s disappointing because we’re getting close in games, playing half-games – it’s been the story of our season.”
ECB Premier Division: Ormskirk lose for the first time… but Northern can’t take full advantage
Finally, the template for getting the better of Ormskirk in the league has been uncovered – all you have to do is rack up 302/5 thanks to a batter having the season of his life, then knock them over for a mere 278 with an over to spare thanks to a five-for from the same man.
It’s so simple, it’s amazing nobody has tried it before Leigh pulled it off on Saturday.
There were supporting actors – Luke Prescott and Adam Shallcross made half-centuries, and Patrick Allan took the crucial last wicket for the hosts.
For the visitors, Calum Turner and George Lavelle made 50s in what was a wholehearted attempt to get the runs.
But Saturday belonged to Mattie McKiernan, whose 147 took his tally for the league season past 1,100 runs with four games still to go. He followed it up with 5/59, chipping away after the defending champions’ top order made a strong start.
At 246/5, Ormskirk needed 57 from just over seven overs when Allan removed Gary Knight (caught by McKiernan, naturally) – from then on, the lower order had a puncher’s chance but no more, and McKiernan claimed three more before Allan found Sam Marsh’s edge.
Ormskirk’s defeat was Northern’s chance to blow the title race wide open, but they fell two wickets short of victory at Formby and made up just two points on their rivals – the gap is now 32, with 100 to play for.
Tyler McGladdery made 67 and Louis Bhabra 50 in Northern’s 242/8, while Larry Edward claimed 6/107; in reply, Jack Carney made 75 and George Evans an unbeaten 65 as Formby closed on 217/8.
Colwyn Bay gave themselves a chance of avoiding relegation with a 63-run win over Wigan, set up by Sagar Trivedi’s 103 from 79 balls – the next highest score in the innings of 184 was 17. Dulanjana Mendis then took 5/46 to seal the win; Aveen Dalugoda had taken 5/29 for the visitors.
Newton-le-Willows are the most likely to be caught at the bottom – they fell 29 runs short of Firwood Bootle’s 214 despite skipper Ben Walkden’s 57. Luke Yates took a 1st XI best 6/52 for Newton.
Rainhill’s Khalid Usman put on a one-man show at Rainford – first his 76 carried the visitors to 179, then his 7/35 wrapped up a 59-run win.
Check out all the 2025 Premier League Centurions HERE
Division One: Top three pull away, with Liverpool leading the charge
Leaders Liverpool held their nerve to earn an 11-run win at Southport & Birkdale and edge closer to the Premier Division.
Chasing 172, the home side reached 135/5 before a late clatter of wickets, Dan Harrison finishing with 4/17. Raunak Roy made 63 for S&B, while Bobby Wincer took 6/40.
Orrell Red Triangle stay second after their 52-run win over Sefton Park, sealed in the penultimate over. Dileepa Jayalath took 5/34 for the visitors after Sam Heeley’s unbeaten 107.
Spring View remain just six points behind Orrell – they thrashed Maghull by 179 runs. James Critchley’s 79 was the top score in their 225/7, before Nathan Ashford’s 4/ 5 finished the job.
Old Xaverians missed the chance to close the gap on Maghull at the bottom, losing to New Brighton by 107 runs. Sheshan Silva took 5/26 and Damitha Silva 5/57 to run through the Woolton side after Colin Gibson’s 5/70 restricted the Rakers to 197.
Jackson Darkes-Sutcliffe achieved lift-off with 7/57 for Hightown St Marys as they earned a 114-run win over Lytham. Matt Laybourne top-scored with an unbeaten 80 in the hosts’ 220/6.
Highfield closed 29 runs short of Sutton’s 225/4. Matthew Wallace made his maiden 1st XI 50 for the Wigan side, after Joe Noctor made 91 for the men from St Helens.
Division Two: Ainsdale and Northop Hall keep up the pace in their promotion push
Ainsdale secured a dominant win at Whitefield to maintain their grip on top spot.
Ichira Yahathugoda top-scored with 70 in their 225/8 before Dilanka Auwardt claimed yet another five-for to secure the win, which leaves them 57 points clear of third place.
Northop Hall also look well-placed for promotion after their 123-run win at Prestatyn. Skipper Ben Slater declared on 55 overs with Matthew Jones unbeaten on 98 – every point counts – while James Hurlin also made 61 in Hall’s 220/5, before their hosts fell for just 97.
Caldy kept their hopes alive with a 38-run win at Southport Trinity. Adam Brown made 87 in the Wirral side’s 215, before Rohan Sanjaya clinched the win with 8/72.
Aqeel Mustafa’s 7/46 earned Fleetwood Hesketh a 41-run win over Wavertree, after Nathan Condon made 93 and Matty Howard 64; visiting skipper Theo O’Brien made 73 in vain chasing 247.
Norley Hall just ran out of time chasing 246 against Parkfield Liscard, closing on 237/6. Dan Fisher made 81 and Shah Afridi 56 for the hosts; earlier, Rasun Gamage top-scored with 63 for the visitors.
Prescot & Odyssey closed on 201/8 in reply to St Helens Town’s 252/8. Ali Zubairi’s 78 in the chase was the top score on either side, while James Marrable made 55 for Town.
Lancashire Women’s T20 Cup final: Defeat for Sefton Park as Ramsbottom dominate
Sefton Park were well-beaten in their attempt to defend their county crown, as Ramsbottom earned an 83-run win at Ormskirk’s Brook Lane.
The Bury side won the toss and piled on 148/4 from their 20 overs as Sefton, in the absence of skipper Sarah Culloty, struggled.
Eleanor Cantwell’s four overs cost just 19 and there were wickets for Caitlin Summers, Alice Kelly, Lorna Harper and Sarah Jackson, but the target proved too much. Emma Watson made 24 but nobody else made double figures as Ramsbottom pressed home their advantage, Evie Bennett finishing with 4/2.
ECHO Cup finals day: Northern cruise to fourth crown after Formby’s semi slip
Northern celebrate winning the 2025 ECHO Cup final Back row,
l-r: Dan Wilson, Louis Bhabra, Ben Edmundson, Stephen Lucas, Liam Grey, Josh Thompson, Tom Sephton, Paul Delve (scorer) Front row, l-r: Alex Vincent, Tyler McGladdery, James Cole (captain), Shivy Gautam, Johnny Browne
Northern were in cruise control as they sealed their fourth ECHO Cup T20 title, with the prospect of more silverware on the road ahead.
Neither Newton-le-Willows nor Widnes made the reigning national T20 champions break sweat in front of a healthy home crowd.
And Formby, who won the Comp’s T20 crown at the same ground last month, fumbled a semi-final that seemed in their grasp in the day’s first – and most exciting – encounter.
Cheshire County League side Widnes had staggered to 43/3 from 11 overs, but Aaron Soni smashed 63 off 30 balls to post a respectable 140.
By contrast, Formby flew out of the blocks, with Tom Billington peppering the off-side fence on his way to the day’s highest score, an unbeaten 86.
With seven overs to go, they were 100/2 and coasting before the introduction of Tom Evans, the coincidentally-named left-arm spinner and, it turns out, death overs specialist.
Billington was starved of the strike as Evans removed Jack Carney and George Evans, yielding just six runs from his first three overs.
It meant Formby needed 11 off his last set. After Archie Davies ran two off the first, Soni leapt to his left to hold a stunning catch off the second. Ryan Kennedy ran a single, leaving Billington needing eight off three.
He swept and sliced a couple of twos before sweeping again off the last ball, with four needed and three for the tie. They completed two with ease but failed to even attempt a third, with keeper Chris Kirby heading to the middle of the wicket to retrieve the ball.
A tie would have been enough, with both sides having lost six wickets and Formby ahead on power play runs.
In another timeline, they had done just enough – as the stunned players shook hands, someone in the Formby camp noticed a no-ball in the fifth over of Widnes’s innings which was added to the score but did not result in an extra ball or a free hit.
It turned out the scorers had misinterpreted a signal from the umpires and Widnes had been awarded an extra run, equal to the winning margin. But after so long, nothing could be done.
Evans bowled the last ball with men back on the long leg-side boundary knowing he could afford to give away two – if the score had been different, so would the tactics.
As Formby licked their wounds, Widnes’s players hastily arranged childcare and cancelled plans for the rest of the bank holiday Monday – against all their expectations, they had a final to play in.
Thanks to Stephen Lucas’s 81, Northern were able to set Newton 157 – a task made instantly trickier when Liam Grey removed Nathan Hughes with the first ball of the reply.
After the power play, bowled by Grey and Tom Sephton, Newton were 18/2 and fading fast – when captain Ben Walkden was fourth out in the 12th over, they still needed 103 runs.
Young leg-spinner Hugo Croft, who earlier took 1/17 from his four overs, got the margin down to 26 runs with a breezy 57, but Northern’s place in the final was never under threat.
Widnes skipper Alex Hewitt won the toss and batted, condemning the hosts to another 20 overs in the field straight away, but Grey quickly put a spring in their step by striking with his first ball again, pinning the dangerous Rohan Luthra.
Grey’s first three overs cost just 10 runs and when he returned to bowl the 11th he immediately claimed the key wicket of Soni. Widnes were 54/5 and this time there was no late recovery – Dan Wilson claimed three wickets as they were bowled out for 109 off the last ball.
Irish seamer Trent McKeegan gave Widnes a brief glimpse of hope by removing both openers, but Tyler McGladdery made sure it was no more than that with a serene unbeaten 45. One cover drive off Soni alone was worthy of the player of the match award, decided by the three umpires on duty – in truth, there was no outstanding individual because the team performance ensured there was no need for one.
You can follow all the fixtures & results HERE (ECB National Club Championship)
Share this:
With thanks to Tom Evans @ Merseyside Cricket Online (merseysidecricket.com can be supported @ https://buymeacoffee.com/tomevanscricket)
