Great Cup Performance Formby CC

Great Cup Performance Marred by Disgraceful Incident

1st XI

Formby, the holders, took on Leigh in the Ray Digman Trophy this Sunday and put their poor league form behind them, hopefully for good. On a gloriously sunny Sunday at Cricket Path they elected to bat and lost Ollie Gallagher in the third over, but James Seward and Elliot Ketteringham played themselves in before accelerating as their partnership developed. The 50 came up in the 11th over and the 100 in the 19th, then the 150 in the 36 th. The partnership stood at 155 and the total at 162 when Seward was mystifyingly given out caught behind when there was barely any appeal, and certainly nothing from the bowler. This brought in a belligerent Dan Stanley who hit his 4th

ball for six but then got out for 18, also caught behind.

The 200 came up in the 35th over, and shortly after it Ketteringham reached his century off exactly 100 balls (12 fours and a six). He then had a rather tired swing at a Shallcross delivery and was bowled for 103. Darren Barton departed 3 runs later, bowled by the same man. This left Ollie Sutton and Tom Mills at the crease and they batted very sensibly, taking every single available and giving the innings renewed momentum. They added 45 in half an hour before Sutton was caught behind for 15. Mills then saw the side through to a final total of 267-8 from the allotted 45 overs, finishing on 33 not out from 28 balls. Shallcross finished with remarkable figures of 6-38, having conceded 14 from his first over.

Leigh got off to a decent start but lost their first wicket at 20, to a sharp piece of fielding by Ben Aitchison whose pick-up and throw beat Molyneux who was run out. It was a long time before the next wicket fell, as skipper Forster and Dove both reached hundreds before Dove was caught at long-on by James Robins off Ketteringham with the partnership on 211. It looked as though Leigh would cruise home until Tom Simpson held a spectacular low caught and bowled to remove Foster at 254. That left Leigh 13 behind with 2 overs left, and when Aitchison took 2 wickets for 2 runs in the next over the odds had shifted back to Formby.

The target had reduced to 4 from 2 balls when Hibbert missed the next ball from Sutton. As Seward tried to throw the ball back to the bowler’s, end to try to run out the non-striker, Hibbert quite deliberately kicked it away. He should have been given out for obstructing the field, and Formby appealed vigorously, but, unfortunately, the umpire hadn’t had a clear view of the incident, so Hibbert stayed, and duly hit the final

ball for four to tie the scores, meaning that Leigh won by virtue of having lost fewer wickets. He later admitted he’d kicked the ball (before making a rapid exit from the ground) and has apparently subsequently suggested that his side concede the game, but that’s too little, too late, and it’s doubtful anything will happen. The only real casualty is the spirit of cricket.

The last 2 Saturdays have seen further batting disasters as the side managed not to reach 100 in either of their league games. At Wallasey last week they crumbled to 99 all out in pursuit of Wallasey’s 175-4 declared, and this Saturday were dismissed for 96 by Northern having elected to bat first at Cricket Path. They were unlucky that James Seward was run out by a deflection off the bowler, but that shouldn’t have caused the collapse it generated. A haul of just two bonus points from those games leaves Formby perilously close to the relegation placers. Hopefully Sunday’s performance with the bat will bode well for the future!

2nd XI

With no league match last weekend, the 2s have concentrated on their Cup competitions and progressed in both the 45-over Chester Cup and the 20-over Chrysalis Cup.

Last Sunday they returned to Sefton Park, and laid the bogey of their recent league performance there by posting a total of 255-7, due largely to a fine unbeaten century from Ollie Gallagher, supported by 34 from Chris Jones and 32 not out from Andy Kenyon. They then bowled their hosts out for 225 in the 40th over, Tom Simpson taking 3-24 and the two Rogans two wickets apiece. They will entertain Lytham in the next round.

Last Thursday they entertained St Helens Town and proved far too strong for their opponents, as Jude Mahadanaarachchi, making one of his all-too-infrequent returns to action, plundered 93 not out from 7 balls in a total of 179-4. Shane Herbst chipped in with 41 from 27 balls. St Helens were dealt with in the full 20 overs, all out for 104 with new signing Gregg Weir taking 5-25 in his 4 overs, whilst Tom Simpson had 2-19 from his 4 and Andy Kenyon 2-9 from 2. Charlie Gallagher started things off with 1-7 from his 4 overs. They will be optimistic of further progress as they travel to Spring View for the second round.

Depleted by 1st XI call-ups, the 2 nd

XI travelled to Lytham this Saturday, and won the toss. They struggled

to 116 all out in 42 overs, James Beckingham top-scoring with 24 not out. They then made a good fist of defending that total, as Lytham lost 7 wickets and took 32 overs to grind out the win. Tony Rogan took 3-13 and Gregg Weir 2-25, whilst Beckingham and Ollie Rogan bagged a wicket each.

3rd XI

The side’s reputation must be preceding them now, as nobody seems to want to play them! Lytham conceded the league match last Sunday and Leigh did the same for the Embee Trophy match that had been scheduled for Friday. They had no league game this week, but remain top, now just 2 points clear of Newton-le-Willows who have now played the same number of matches