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Sale v Oulton Park 4 May 2024 – good toss to win
Inge Bevers8 May - 08:49
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Sale v Oulton Park 4 May 2024 – good toss to win
After the 1st round of the league was postponed, last week’s match was cancelled as Pinfold Lane was still too wet to be fit enough to host our match against local rivals Davenham and be reunited with some very familiar faces. All in all, it’s been a long winter with departures and lots of new faces around the club.
So on 4 May, it was a first for us, away at Sale, handing out a 1st XI league debut for Arthur McKenzie and club debuts for Lewis Porter and James Bell. A damp patch on the square gave the umpires a reason to delay the start and with ½ hour to play with, we eventually got started with the match reduced to 47 overs a side. Andy lost the toss and it was no surprise the Sale captain invited us to set a target. This season we will be playing 50 over cricket, win/lose and results in the event of a reduction in overs could be determined by DLS, same as what happens in international one day matches.
A new format, new captain, new team and a first match of the season. The team is gelling nicely but with no time on the outdoor pitch so far, having to set a target proved a challenge. When Danny Leech (33) started losing partners, he looked carefully for scoring opportunities, and with a slow and sticky pitch, and the outfield not at its normal Sale speed, scoring proved difficult, making his 33 more than a valiant effort in difficult conditions . Ed Roberts swung the bat with great enthusiasm but was well caught off Sale’s canny Rashid Amin shortly after Frank Farrington had been caught on the boundary. Lewis Porter got out next ball and Nick Ball unfortunately couldn’t continue his scoring rate of last year. Owen Williamson (66) replaced Danny Leech and operated in a similar fashion, attempting to keep to scoreboard ticking over while punishing the bad ball – with 5x4 and 3x6 he did just that. Again, partnerships started but ended relatively quickly, especially when Dufty (17) was caught and bowled by Tyrone Lawrence, leaving us scoring 172/9 off our 47 overs, which was a significant improvement from 47/4 in the 23rd over but still well short of what would be a par score had the outfield been less slow in the first half of our batting innings.
In reply, James Dodds (56) proved a tricky customer and when he was joined by Ty Lawrence (40) with the score at 46/1, Sale had given themselves a solid start. With good fielding and great fighting spirit, Oulton Park certainly didn’t ‘roll over and surrender’ and when Dodds fell to a Nick Ball (10/3/34/4) delivery, and Tyrone followed relatively soon after, the team got into a newly found attacking mode and at when Nick Ball trapped Rashid Amin LBW off the first ball of the 33rd over, with the score on 120/7, the fight back was truly on. Sale captain Mike Bishop (29) and Amlyn Layton (31) however withstood the pressure and brought their team home despite a great middle overs bowling display by Nick Ball and Andrew Dufty (10/1/31/3). Our bowling showed how good we can be, just need to get a bit more purchase out of early season pitches with the bat. That said, it was a good effort and unfortunately a great toss to win.
This Saturday we will play Stockport Georgians at home, with many positives taken away from Sale and Adrian and Jay available again, a lot to be looking forward to!
So on 4 May, it was a first for us, away at Sale, handing out a 1st XI league debut for Arthur McKenzie and club debuts for Lewis Porter and James Bell. A damp patch on the square gave the umpires a reason to delay the start and with ½ hour to play with, we eventually got started with the match reduced to 47 overs a side. Andy lost the toss and it was no surprise the Sale captain invited us to set a target. This season we will be playing 50 over cricket, win/lose and results in the event of a reduction in overs could be determined by DLS, same as what happens in international one day matches.
A new format, new captain, new team and a first match of the season. The team is gelling nicely but with no time on the outdoor pitch so far, having to set a target proved a challenge. When Danny Leech (33) started losing partners, he looked carefully for scoring opportunities, and with a slow and sticky pitch, and the outfield not at its normal Sale speed, scoring proved difficult, making his 33 more than a valiant effort in difficult conditions . Ed Roberts swung the bat with great enthusiasm but was well caught off Sale’s canny Rashid Amin shortly after Frank Farrington had been caught on the boundary. Lewis Porter got out next ball and Nick Ball unfortunately couldn’t continue his scoring rate of last year. Owen Williamson (66) replaced Danny Leech and operated in a similar fashion, attempting to keep to scoreboard ticking over while punishing the bad ball – with 5x4 and 3x6 he did just that. Again, partnerships started but ended relatively quickly, especially when Dufty (17) was caught and bowled by Tyrone Lawrence, leaving us scoring 172/9 off our 47 overs, which was a significant improvement from 47/4 in the 23rd over but still well short of what would be a par score had the outfield been less slow in the first half of our batting innings.
In reply, James Dodds (56) proved a tricky customer and when he was joined by Ty Lawrence (40) with the score at 46/1, Sale had given themselves a solid start. With good fielding and great fighting spirit, Oulton Park certainly didn’t ‘roll over and surrender’ and when Dodds fell to a Nick Ball (10/3/34/4) delivery, and Tyrone followed relatively soon after, the team got into a newly found attacking mode and at when Nick Ball trapped Rashid Amin LBW off the first ball of the 33rd over, with the score on 120/7, the fight back was truly on. Sale captain Mike Bishop (29) and Amlyn Layton (31) however withstood the pressure and brought their team home despite a great middle overs bowling display by Nick Ball and Andrew Dufty (10/1/31/3). Our bowling showed how good we can be, just need to get a bit more purchase out of early season pitches with the bat. That said, it was a good effort and unfortunately a great toss to win.
This Saturday we will play Stockport Georgians at home, with many positives taken away from Sale and Adrian and Jay available again, a lot to be looking forward to!
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