LEAGUE TEAM V BOLTON CRICKET LEAGUE
At Horwich CC on Sunday 10 June 2007

On a hot, sunny day, LCL skipper Mark Dyson won the toss and elected to bat against a league which had won the previous four meetings between the sides.

3 balls into the game, he was on his way back, having edged to the keeper.

This brought Paul Green to the wicket to join Lee Dale, making his league debut a week short of his 18th birthday.

Together, they set about the Bolton attack, bringing up 50 after 10 overs and the 100 after only 19 overs. Green was out soon after for a superb 49 off only 48 balls, but Dale carried on to score 60 before becoming part of a mini-collapse which also saw James Scott and Imran Mirza depart before either of them had really got going.

At 130-5 the innings was in the balance, but Matt Wake and Pete Walters set about the re-building task before Wake was out for 19 with the score on 179.

With 8 overs left, Dave Morrell joined Walters and they raised the total to 225-6 in the allotted 45 overs.

The Bolton innings started slowly against some tight bowling from Morrell and Glyn Middleton. Between them they conceded only 58 runs in 18 overs (the Bolton opening bowlers had conceded the same number between them in only 9 overs) and each picked up a wicket, Middleton with a fine catch by Ghulam Abbas.

Abbas was then introduced into the bowling attack and gave a quality display of left-arm spin, conceding only 34 runs from his 9 overs and picking up 3 wickets.

With the required run rate rising, spinners Will Hargreaves and Pete Walters bowled well and picked up wickets, despite a short shower which meant they had to bowl with a wet ball.

Walters finished with 4 wickets following his 43 not out with the bat to get the nod as Man of The Match, and keeper Wake snaffled 4 victims. The Bolton League were all out for 214, with 1 ball left, top scorer being keeper Northrop with 75.

Before the match, individuals from 7 clubs had assembled, many of whom had never played cricket together before; 7 hours later, it was a Team which celebrated victory, and the team-spirit had proved an important factor in a close game.

Everyone (even those who’d had to listen to Wakey’s stories!) had enjoyed taking part in this historic victory and now look forward to the next round, away to The Ribblesdale League on July 8th.