We’re back for another weekend roundup detailing how our senior sides got on over the past few days.
With the fun of the men’s T20 season ended last week, it was the turn of the Harriers this week to try their hand at the format for the first time. Reports on these games will follow shortly after initial publication.
We also had a full round of senior mens’ League fixtures on Saturday and Sunday. With Jason Kayley away, you’re stuck with me for these this week.
Thursday
Harriers T20 at Edgworth
Report on this game will follow as soon as possible
Saturday
3rd XI B vs Todmorden
All in all it’s just another Rick and The Wall
Before I begin, you should be aware that we lost this game. We lost it convincingly to a side who played far better than we did.
But I’m not going to focus on that. For in today’s game I had the opportunity to watch live as my brother ran out an aspiring young cricketer in such diabolical comedy method that I was able to openly heckle him for the remainder of the afternoon.
Horrible man.
George, know this. There was once a time when Rick would have made that run comfortably. A time his mind briefly went to when he saw mid-on fumble. The place in his mind that told him he was a superhuman athlete and that he could get to the non-strikers end quicker than mid on could take a half-step right and shy at the stumps.
There was a time, 20 years, several knee operations and thousands of bbqs and curries long gone, where he would have genuinely made it. So don’t be too downhearted that he barely hobbled halfway before shouting no, realising his error and then trying in vain to race you to the non-strikers end to run himself out instead of you. There was a run there, just not for this version of Rick.
He didn’t BBQ you though, let’s make that clear. He calls it a braai.
At this point a warning – any children should cease to read the remainder of this report, and skip through to the 3As report.
Having struggled throughout the season so far, our 3Bs had recently turned the tide and came into today’s game on the back of successive wins. Alas the England vs Norway World Cup quarter final would be played following the game and even though we now have a bigger player pool to call upon than several World Cup nations, this had caused minor selection problems, with an initially announced team including two AN Others.
A message then went out to player groups, asking if anyone who wasn’t already playing or ruled out could fill the gaps and, a few moments later we had the return of The Wall. Tim Holden, former captain and opening batsman of the 3rd XI, had volunteered to play. A man who has seen more deliveries than Postman Pat, more leaves than the Amazon basin, more balls than Bonnie Blue’s gooch (Gooch is a cricketing term, it’s allowed).
Sorry.
The return of the Wall was upon us. And as we won the toss and elected to bat, I fully expected to see him stride out to continue where he had left off. Todmorden surely wouldn’t know what had blocked them.
But no. Regular openers Muhammad Shakeel and Hamza Qayoom stepped out, Tim insisting he could only bat at 11 assumingly to prevent him enjoying playing so much he would make himself available for the rest of the season.
The innings didn’t go well. Wickets fell regularly and we found ourselves 49-6.
A lower order scramble from Asif Akhtar, Husnain Asif and Mark Leach helped us pass 100, but we were all out for a disappointing 112
In response, a wicket each for Asif Akhtar and George Campbell were not enough as Todmorden chased down the total in 17 overs.
Here’s the run out.
3rd XI A at Lowerhouse
It’s been a bit of a mixed season for our 3rd XI A so far, coming into this game having won 4 and lost 3 of our league matches so far. Bizarrely with such a mixed record we still come into this game in second place, though some distance behind league leaders Haslingden.
Sam Newton would captain the side today, which would comprise all junior players save for the experience of second XI captain Miles Corish, whose sons Harry and Hugo would take the field alongside him.
We lost the toss and were asked to field, which in the glorious sunshine and baking heat that has somehow continued to appear for weeks now (is this an actual summer at this point), was always going to be a challenge.
Now I’ve only ever been to Lowerhouse Cricket Club once. It’s not that I don’t like the place, just whilst in attendance that time I received a telephone call from my very excitable then partner informing me I was going to be a dad. As much as I’m a massive fan of my now 7 year old child, I simply can’t risk that ever happening again.
Thankfully, they had a livestream running on YouTube of today’s game – albeit via a camera seemingly mounted on a giant inflatable wavy hand man – so I could follow along getting on with my day with the game running in the background.
The first innings went exactly as expected in the heat. A wicket each for Max Cocken (1-41), Hugo Corish (1-27), Joseph Armer (1-43) and George Aspden (1-27) couldn’t prevent Lowerhouse batting through comfortably, and they set 210-4.
A note for Lowerhouse opener Joe Clark who scored an impressive 91 and would have undoubtedly reached 100 if he hadn’t needed to force the issue, being eventually caught on the edge when running out of deliveries at the end.
A daunting target, but we know there is absolutely no fear in these young cricketers.
Freddie and Nathan (17) got us off to a solid start, putting on 45 for the first wicket. Max (25) added a further 35 with Freddie before the latter was caught for 39. Max followed soon after, but Miles joined Joseph Armer in the middle and together they added 52, putting a significant further dent in the total.
Joseph fell for an impressive 19, and captain Sam fell shortly after having looked to want to inject some pace into the run chase, but Miles was looking imperious at the other end.
Now joined by Harry, at this point we were well on top of the game.
But then, disaster! A delivery that Miles could have hit absolutely anywhere found its way straight into the hands of the vocal Lowerhouse captain. Game on.
Harry (32*) batted well, seeking to guide us to victory alongside several young colleagues, but wickets continued to fall at the other end and we ultimately couldn’t get over the line, falling just 10 short of the target.
So defeat, but a positive performance rewarded with 5 batting points. This young team will lose games but it’s all about development and playing in games like this will help them as they progress in their cricketing lives. Lots of positives to take.
On to the next one.
Sunday
Harriers T20 vs Church
Report on this game will follow as soon as possible
1st vs Accrington
So I have to write a proper one here don’t I. Twitter/X tells me Mr Wilkinson was present in the scorebox and will no doubt be currently curating his own eloquent summary of the afternoon’s events.
Whilst mine will no doubt be more rugged and possibly laden with occasional cock jokes, I really would like to see how my view of the game compares with someone whose work I read every week and who has been doing this type of thing exceptionally for a number of years. Best concentrate eh.
I’ve already written about Accrington this year, having covered our T20 victory earlier in the season. My favourites from that day, Shiny Hair and ThankyouThankyou Man were both in the Accrington line up for today’s game but it was a player who wasn’t present that night who would have the greatest influence on the outcome of this game.
Arriving at the ground on what was another scorching day in what is turning into an actual summer, it soon became apparent that sitting and watching in the car wouldn’t be an option today. The glass roof is a great feature most days, but in this heat it had the effect of turning it into a mobile greenhouse and, even with the air con set to low and on full power, I could feel myself starting to cook.
Not wanting to turn into the world’s heftiest rotisserie chicken, I made my way to the bar. Too hot for Guinness so a Blood Orange Cider was the choice.
Into today’s team came Caleb Greenhalgh on the back of his unbeaten 100 for our 2nd XI last week. We lost the toss but Accrington, clearly fans of crispy skin and redness, asked us to bat.
Jack Hancock got another chance to open with Matt, and took it relatively well. Together they added 67 for the first wicket before Jack was run out for 25. Now this one wasn’t a braai, but a full English BBQ complete with sausages, chicken legs and steak.
Matt followed soon after for 35, but Thikshila continued to progress the score, first with Caleb (3) and then with Max Cocken (also 3).
However when Max and Thikshila (38) were both out with the score on 114 things started to look a little bit less comfortable.
Siraj and Kaz steadied things, combining to add 40 for the 6th wicket. Kaz fell for 20, and Nathan for 9, but Siraj batted through to finish 35*, supported in the final overs by Sheraz (13*).
GHCC closed 195-7. A very reasonable target that would take some chasing.
Early wickets would be necessary, as Accrington in the reverse fixture had sent out their openers with a focus on scoring quick runs to break the back of the run chase before we’d had time to settle. It worked for them then and we could expect the same here.
Wicket. Sneddon gone in the first over bowled by de Silva.
Wicket. Clarke gone for 8
We were in the game at this point, but then Accrington pro Jurie Snyman entered and he and opener Dack set about the target.
Dack fell to a good one from de Silva which nipped and took the top of off, but Snyman continued unabated.
A wicket each for Stuart and William, and another for Thikshila kept us in with a shout, but today’s game would belong to Snyman, who brought up his 100 with a six, winning the game in the process.
Some days results can go against you because of your own poor performances, others you’re beaten by an exceptional performance from an opponent. Today was very much the latter. We competed throughout, posted a decent score, took all but one of the key wickets, but were simply beaten by a faultless hundred from the Accrington professional. Well done to him and to Accrington.
Bacup next week, on to the next one.
2nd at Accrington
Lose Lose Lose Lose Lose.
That’s all you’ve had so far this weekend. And if you’re sick of reading about it, spare a thought for the intrepid soul who has had to find ways to entertain you through writing all of this.
There’s a good reason I chose to end with our title chasing, top of the table 2s. This is a side that’s only lost once this season, and that was by one run. SURELY they could save the weekend and cheer us all up?
A trip to Accrington faced us today. Our opponents well placed in mid-table with 6 wins and 6 defeats as we move into the second half of the season.
As ever we lost the toss and Accrington 2s, clearly not as big a set of fans of sunburn as their 1st XI compatriots, chose to bat.
Harry Corish and Joseph Cookson opened, and took a wicket each in their first overs. Accrington 8-2 after 9 balls.
But then Majeed came in and immediately teed off, hitting 20 off a Cookson over on his way to a 61-ball 53.
Ably supported by Tayyib (43) and Ashraf (19) he helped Accrington post 166. Wickets were shared around, with all 6 bowlers taking one, Kasim Masood’s 3-24 the pick whilst Ciaran Holden (2-13) took the final wicket, and 2 possibly vital bowling points, with 2 balls remaining in the final over.
Onto the reply. Euan, on the back of his unbeaten 107* last week opened with Chris Oddie (who my team lineup artwork had somehow replaced with Hamza – sorry Chris), and both set about their business.
Chris fell for 20, but not before 55 had been added to the scoreboard. Kasim came in at 3 and he and Euan added a further 43 before the former was bowled by Lo-Giudice.
Euan passed yet another 50, and now joined by Alex Kennedy broke the back of the chase, taking the score to 140 before he was eventually caught for an exceptional 84, coming from 90 balls including 12 fours.
During the Accrington innings the crowd and several players had become vocal, and bizarrely were focusing much of their noise towards our captain Miles. After he dropped a catch in the deep this had only increased in intensity.
If any of you are reading this, this is a former professional cricketer you were trying to get into the head of, one that’s seen it all before and scored tens of thousands of runs in doing so. Trying to nibble at him isn’t going to affect his game negatively, it will only make him all the more focused on ensuring you lose.
And that’s exactly what he did. Supported by Oliver Roscoe (5*) he hit 18 not out off just 13 deliveries bringing victory for GHCC in the 33rd over.
A comfortable 12 point win, all the more satisfying silencing the crowd and then finding both the 2nd and 3rd placed teams had lost. We open up a 9 point gap to Enfield in second and a 25 point gap to East Lancs, who replaced Middleton in 3rd.
Bacup at home next week, the only side that have beaten us this year. A win there could be critical.
On to the next one, I’ll see you next week