Formby Cricket Club 2017 Season Review

Formby Cricket Club 2017 Season Review.

1st XI

After somewhat unaccountably struggling all season, the 1st

XI managed to win its final match away to

Rainhill and thereby secured its Premier League place for the 2018 season, a deceptively high 32 points clear of relegation. A total of 5 wins and 4 draws was all the side could muster outside the losing column, the main problem lying with the batsmen, few of whom could be relied upon to make significant scores with any degree of regularity.

Some progress was made in the Echo KO before the side ran into Bootle (who also despatched them from the National Village T20) in the quarter-final and conceded 191-5 before putting up a good fight to lose by just 21 runs.

Leading run scorer in the League was Dan Stanley with 569 league runs from 22 innings, best of 77, for an average of 29.95, with Sam Oldham the only other player scoring more than 300 runs, with 554 from 20 innings, best of 103 not out (the side’s only league hundred of the season), average 32.59. Ollie Sutton played some encouraging innings down the order, and came third with 288 runs from 18 league innings, also putting in a number of excellent performances for the Lancashire u17 side. Taking cup matches into

account, Oldham led the way with 806 runs to Stanley’s 751 (a high proportion against Ainsdale!).

Gary Keedy was the outstanding bowler by a distance, with 63 wickets at an average of 12.51 from 288.4 overs bowled, with a best of 7-10 – he took nearly half of all his team’s league wickets despite missing 2 games. Ben Aitchison and Ajmal Shahzad tied second with 18 wickets apiece, at averages of 25.50 (best 3-25) and 17.50 (best 6-20) respectively. Ben took another 7 in Cup matches. James Seward kept wicket well as usual (when not suspended!), with 33 League victims (30 caught, 3 stumped), whilst the leading catcher was Aitchison, with 7.

2nd XI

The highlight of the season was their performance in the Chrysalis Cup, the 2nd

XI T20 competition, which they won, beating Spring View easily away in the first round, Ormskirk at home in the second, with 3 balls to spare, before beating New Brighton comfortably in the semi-final on Finals Day at Rainford, before the Final was washed out by the rain.

The rearranged final was also at Rainford, where the home team was

dealt with efficiently, never really looking like overhauling Formby’s 153-8 with Formby eventually winning by 24 runs In the League, the side had a similar season to that of the 1st XI, but with rather less stress over possible relegation. Though they finished only a place clear, the points margin was comfortable, at 56 points (only 27 shy of 5th place, in a crowded mid-table. They had the same win/draw ration as the 1 st XI: 5 won and 4 drawn of the 20 games actually played (2 were abandoned).

Leading run-scorer was Andy Kenyon, with 400 league runs at 33.33, best 76 not out, closely followed by Ollie Gallagher, 367 at 26.21, best 93 not out, and Luke Jones with 327 from only 10 innings at 32.70, best 93. On the bowling front, veteran Tony Rogan led the way with 49 wickets at 12.92 (best 5-11), whilst nephew Ollie had 30 at 18.13 (best 7-43). Also worthy of mention were Charlie Gallagher, and Jackson Darkes- Sutcliffe (aged 15), who both took 17, at 32.24 (best 2-31) and 17.65 (best 5-21) respectively – particularly

promising in Jackson’s case, as he only bowled a total of 80 overs.

In the field, Shane Herbst took 12 catches and Tom Simpson 11, while ‘keeper Ollie Gallagher had 7 victims and took another 4 catches when not keeping wicket.

3rd XI

Having taken on the mantle of the Club’s development XI, the Thirds were in contention all season and eventually settled for 3rd place, 45 points off the champions, Leigh. They only lost 4 of their 16 games and had 9 wins.

Leading run-scorer was Jackson Cockbain, with 396 league runs at 56.57, best of 97, who missed out on his maiden century in the final match. Ollie Sutton scored 266 at 66.50 in just 5 innings (with 2 centuries and a best of 114). Ed Lowe also struck 2 centuries (both against Bootle!) in making 241 runs at 48.2.

Matty Baines led the wicket-takers, with 15 at 13.53 (best 4-17), with Alex Powell close behind on 13 at 7.85 (from just 32 overs, best 6-30)), and the Burt brothers next, Louis with 9 at 9.00 (best 5-21) and Josh with 8 at 15.88 (best 3-14. George Scanlan took most catches, with 5.

4th XI The 4th XI was significantly affected by the League’s decision to move them from the Sunday South-West division to the North-East division. This meant they found themselves up against, for the most part, other clubs’ 3rd XIs. Despite being regularly outgunned, they stuck to their task manfully and enjoyed a good team-spirit under skipper Steve “Beefy” Dwyer. They finally managed to win a league game in their very last match, when they overcame Wigan 3rds by 5 wickets, though sadly this didn’t prevent them from

propping up the table.

Andy McMorran topped the run-scorers with 214 league runs (best 97 not out) whist Louis Burt suddenly realised he could bat late in the season and finished on 186 with a highest of 74. Other men past the 100- mark were Zac Eastwood (128), Cook (114) and Greg Last (111).

Bowling honours went to Arthur Cook, with 17 wickets at 20.53 (best 4-25), who bowled more than twice as many overs as anyone else. He was followed by Neil Clark, with 6 (all in one match!) and Louis Burt and Zac Eastwood on 5 apiece.

Of the 19 total team catches for the season, Jim Hathaway and Jake Eastwood had 3 each.

Juniors The Club’s junior sides had fine seasons, with the U15s, and U21s winning their respective LDCC cup competitions (the latter retaining the trophy they won last year), whilst the U18 side achieved a League and Cup double in the Southport & District League.

The Club also fielded a full range of sides at all age groups, and had its first season of All-Start Cricket for the under 9s on Sunday mornings