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: 2nd & 3rd August
T10 Tape Ball World Cup: Sri Lankan joy after fans bring ‘extra 2%’ to finals day
The wicket was a mat in the middle of a hockey pitch, with 25-yard boundaries either side. The ball was a tennis ball wrapped neatly in masking tape.
The square leg umpire wore a baseball cap backwards throughout, and musical stings accompanied every boundary, every wicket and even the occasional dot ball. Not that there were many of those.
It was cricket, but not as we know it – and it was wonderful.
Sri Lanka claimed the first ever Tape Ball World Cup title at Liverpool College, thrashing Afghanistan in the final after sneaking past England in the semi.
And if the play itself was a bit of a hit and giggle, anyone questioning how much it meant needed only to hear the raucous celebrations after Eranda Semage lifted the trophy.
“There are no words,” he said, seconds after an Afghanistan wide had brought the final to an anti-climax with an eight-wicket win for his side.
“It’s been all about teamwork – in one match one player played well, then in another it was someone else.”
Semi-finals
Sri Lanka 152/7 (9.2) beat England 148 (9) by one wicket
Afghanistan 106/0 (4.3) beat Ireland 104/7 (10) by eight wickets
Final
Afghanistan 75 (6.1) lost to Sri Lanka 77/0 (3.3) by eight wickets
Sri Lanka were the best-supported side on the day, and Semage was grateful to everyone who turned up and to organisers World in One City, with help from Academy North.
He said: “When we got to the semi-final, we used our WhatsApp group to get as many people as we could to come down and watch – they gave us an extra 2%.
“The tournament was organised very well, they did a nice job and the umpires were very good.”
Sri Lanka had to dig deep twice in their semi, first with the ball after England reached 110/3 in the sixth over of their 10, then again when their pursuit of 149 got off to a false start.
With 31 balls to go, Sri Lanka needed 87 with just two wickets in hand – up stepped Chanuda Sellan, who thrashed 69 off 24 balls, including the winning on-drive with four balls and one wicket to spare.
ECB National T20 Area 2 Finals Day: End of the road for depleted Formby
Formby’s campaign is over after an understrength side proved no match for hosts Kendal in the area final.
Without suspended captain Ian Cockbain, all-rounder Ollie Sutton and wicketkeeper Jack Carney, the side gave a good account of themselves.
They chased 136 to beat Bangor in their semi-final, with Archie Davies following a spell of 2/17 with an unbeaten 47 to help recover from a shaky start.
But Kendal’s South African Cole Abrahams smashed 76 off 41 in the final to lift his side to 196/7; when Formby lost three wickets in the first eight balls of the reply, it was always going to be an uphill struggle.
Formby still have the Lancashire Cup final against Northern on August 31 to look forward to.
The Love Lane Liverpool Competition’s last hope of a national title this year rests with Ormskirk, who host Knowle & Dorridge in the semi-final of the 40-over ECB National Knockout on August 17.
ECB Premier Division: Turner’s ton keeps Ormskirk marching on 50 points clear in title race
Ormskirk’s pursuit of a third successive league title is beginning to look ominous, after their 12th win in 15 games.
Wigan were the victims this week, falling 76 runs short of their visitors’ 275/4, which was underpinned by Calum Turner’s first league century since joining the club ahead of the 2023 season.
Turner’s run-a-ball 130, and George Politis’s 79 in an opening stand of 173, enabled stand-in skipper Jamie Barnes to declare after 46 overs; Josh Boyden offered some resistance with 76, but Ormskirk’s bowlers had plenty of time to force the win.
Mattie McKiernan’s fourth league century of the season helped his side chase 241 for an eight-wicket win at Formby. Larry Edward top-scored with 58 for the hosts before McKiernan’s unbeaten 125 was assisted by Luke Prescott with 91 in a stand of 192.
Liam Grey made 102 in Northern’s win over Newton-le-Willows. Tyler McGladdery contributed 54 to a total of 248/8, while teenager Hugo Croft took his maiden five-for for Newton; in reply, Ben Walkden made 84 but became one of seven victims of left-arm spinner Dan Wilson, whose 7/59 was his personal best.
At the bottom, Colwyn Bay made 240/6 against Rainford but found it was not quite enough, as the visitors got home with three wickets to spare thanks to half-centuries from Matty Bailey and Ehren Agarwal. Earlier, Dan Russell and Sagar Trivedi made 50s for the Welsh side, who are 19 points adrift of third-bottom Wigan.
A further nine points behind sit Birkenhead Park, whose fight for survival is looking desperate after another low total and a five-wicket defeat to Rainhill. Khalid Usman took 5/20 to bundle the hosts out for 84.
Wallasey saw off Firwood Bootle with a 127-run win, with Dan Beaver’s 54 the top score in the Wirral side’s 218. Greg Liebenberg took 5/59 for Bootle, who slipped to 7/4 and never recovered.
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Division One: Liverpool leave opponents feeling pointless yet again
Leaders Liverpool are now 40 points clear after they left their opponents without a single point for the third week in succession.
Adam Stringer’s 5/40 did the bulk of the damage as Maghull were rolled for just 76; Alex Rankin found time to make 61 from 25 balls in reply.
Maghull slip to the bottom thanks to Old Xaverians’ impressive three-wicket win at second-placed Spring View. Despite Ian Carroll’s 54, the Woolton side’s target of 237 looked a long way off at 166/7, but Lewis Barnes and Sean Stamper saw them home. Declan Mulvey had made 74 for View.
Orrell Red Triangle could not capitalise on View’s defeat, falling 42 runs short of Lytham’s 242. The visitors’ top five all got starts in the chase but none cashed in; earlier, Seshan Udara’s 76 had helped rescue the hosts from 122/7.
New Brighton took a huge step towards safety with a one-wicket win at rivals Hightown St Marys. Captain Tom Anders and his predecessor Martyn Evans steered the Rakers over the line chasing 175, after Matt Laybourne’s unbeaten 56 and Damitha Silva’s 5/67 in the first half.
Hightown are third bottom, four points clear of Old Xavs and a further eight ahead of Maghull – because of Lytham’s withdrawal from the Comp, only one side will go down.
Ben Percival, Paul Horton and Matt Young all made 50s for Sefton Park as they posted 208/8 against Highfield; Huzaifa Zubair’s 5/41 induced a slump from 60/2 to 117 all out, despite 52 from skipper Ryan Hargreaves.
Sutton closed on 160/7 in reply to Southport & Birkdale’s 213/6, with captain Joe Noctor unbeaten on 77 for the hosts. Alex Halsall top-scored for S&B with 62 not out.
Division Two: Northop Hall are new leaders despite Ainsdale’s win
Bonus points took Northop Hall to the top of the pile after their 118-run win over Parkfield Liscard.
James Hurlin made 83 and Ben Slater 51 in the Welsh side’s 228/6 – a decent return having been 24/3. Hurlin then did the damage with the ball, claiming 6/27 as only Naveed Salah’s 55 offered any resistance.
Ainsdale also won but slip to second, having batted past 55 overs in their win over Caldy. Andrew Barlow made 95 in the visitors’ 215/7, then took 6/65 to ensure the Wirral side fell 81 runs short.
Caldy are still third but 38 points shy of Ainsdale, with Northop Hall a further five ahead.
The division’s most exciting game came at Wavertree, where St Helens Town crept home by a single wicket. From the comfort of 180/5 chasing 193, they lost four wickets without addition in seven balls, and it took a six from Will Griffiths to get them home. Earlier, Venkata Dantuluri had taken 6/42 for Town, while Hamish Farrell made 61 for Wavertree; visiting skipper Dave Gaskell made 56.
Norley Hall held off Southport Trinity by just 11 runs. Mark Prince took 6/39 to help keep the visitors down to 144.
Prescot & Odyssey chased 191 for a seven-wicket win at Prestatyn, with Harsh Shonak’s 83 and Eranda Semage’s unbeaten 73 the main contributions. Nathan Condon’s 5/23 earned a 70-run win for Fleetwood Hesketh over Whitefield, after Andy Bate’s 69 and Mohammad Rafi’s 5/38 in the first half.
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With thanks to Tom Evans @ Merseyside Cricket Online (merseysidecricket.com can be supported @ https://buymeacoffee.com/tomevanscricket)
