Last few

Ainsdale Cricket Club recorded their worst performance of the 2006 Liverpool & District Cricket season last Saturday, losing their encounter against Prestatyn C.C. by a disappointing 101 runs.

Preparations for the game were not the best as the Liverpool Road side arrived in North Wales 10 minutes after the scheduled start time of 1pm,this due to horrendous traffic conditions en-route resulting from the Open Golf Championship on the Wirral.

Upon arrival Prestatyn won the toss and made the easy decision of batting 1st on the predicable 'slow and low' Beach Close wicket,things went from bad to worse for Ainsdale throughout the afternoon with 2 dropped catches early in the innings of Prestatyn skipper Gareth van Heerden and overseas player Junaid Zia catches being brutally punished.


Van Heerden went on the hit his maiden Liverpool Competition century of 104 (78 balls, 14x4s, 3x6s) and added 130 runs for the third wicket with overseas player Junaid Zia who scored 92 (10x4s, 4x6s) as Prestatyn reached 238-3d.

In reply,Ainsdale collapsed to 20 for 4,however a mini-recovery from Malcolm Swift (45) and Rakesh Patel (55) added 59 for the fifth wicket,the departure of Swift signalled the demise of the Ainsdale innings,with the visitors finally dismissed for 137 after just 32 overs.

Ainsdale now find themselves holding 6th spot in the 1st division,this however only 8 points behind 3rd place Highfield CC.

Tomorrow Ainsdale travel to Liverpool C.C. in a must win encounter for both sides,skipper Dave Newcombe will be hoping for a vastly improved performance from his players.

On Sunday Ainsdale play host to Orrell C.C in the L&DCC Knockout quarter final tie at Liverpool Road,start time 1pm.

Last Saturday the 2nd XI were unlucky not to record their 7th win of the season as scores were level at Liverpool road in the encounter versus Maghull CC. The visitors posted a score of 239-6 dec, with some very generous bowling provided by Ainsdale in probably their worst fielding display in recent seasons.

However Ainsdale recovered the situation after tea, reaching 231 before entering the final over of the game. Norman Owers with a fine 84 and Ray Fitzpatrick 56 in a stand of 114 for the 1st wicket being the contributing factor, this well supported by Ed Fazakerley with 32 not out. Unfortunately Ainsdale could only scramble 7 runs from the last over as scores were tied on 239.

On Sunday the 3rd XI also drew their fixture, versus Ormskirk CC at Liverpool Road. Ainsdale reached a total of 223-6 dec, with fine knocks of 65 from 14-year old Thomas Prescott and the ever-dependable Geoff Smoult 35 who is enjoying an impressive season for Ainsdale. In reply Ormskirk batted-out for the draw, finishing the game on 181-9.

This week Ainsdale's under 13's team were crowned Champions of the Southport & District Junior Cricket League U13 Division B.

The side have remained undefeated in the league this season with 10 victories and 1 game abandoned. Top performances in the side have come from; Thomas Prescott 388 runs, Steven Lucas 267 runs and Scott Rimmer 215 runs and in the bowling ranks from James Fazakerley with 16 wickets and Alex Smythe 14 wickets.

The Ainsdale Cricket Club would like to thanks everyone (parents, helpers and supporters) who have assisted in this fantastic achievement.

Report by Matt Amer

Ainsdale's away game against the mighty Liverpool on Saturday was being billed as both a must win game for both sides and a mustn't lose encounter at the same time,generally these affairs end in a tame draw but after an epic contest of fluctuating fortunes,the reality is that both sides still retain an excellent chance of promotion to the Premier League if either,or both, can sustain a winning run.

As it was,Ainsdale won by a narrow 10 run margin with 14 balls remaining in a contest where for 80% of the time they looked second favourites but their battling qualities,tremendous team spirit and no little ability saw them squeak home.

After the previous weeks horror-show at Prestatyn,skipper Dave Newcombe asked for a show of character and after losing the toss and being inserted,Paul Hughes (30) and teenager Andy Barlow (31) batted measuredly after the early loss of Cropper to take the score up to 68 before Hughes,sensing the need to press on,holed out.

The Liverpool seamers had been played with ease but the introduction of 15 year old debutant Edwards at one end and captain for the day,Shiv Das,at the other proved pivotal as the spinners extracted turn and bounce as the ball often seem to stick in the dusty surface.

The heavy hitting middle order failed miserably as Waqar and Swift both fell without scoring and it was only Rakesh Patel who looked capable of setting Liverpool anything resembling a challenging target,just before tea,with 30 minutes lost due to light rain,the 7th wicket fell at 128 when Causey was harshly adjudged leg before but upon the resumption the initiative swiftly swung to Ainsdale as Rakesh (70) and Dwight Mais (15) upped the tempo as Ainsdale reached an all out total of 178.

The home support settled back and waited for an anticipated Das masterclass and he didn't disappoint and the Ainsdale total looked way short of par as the Indian Test star cut loose early on against his countryman,Rakesh,whilst Swift appeared content to succumb to injury after three overs.

Mais too took some early clobber before making the breakthrough when having Rogers caught behind for 22 with the score at 61 but by this time the home side were rattling along at 7 an over.

At this point Newcombe adopted the tactic of all out defence on Das and all out attack against the rest of the batsmen. Overall the plan worked as Das became increasingly frustrated with both the lack of strike and the comparative inadequacies of his colleagues,he still passed his 50 in only 36 balls but the introduction of Waqar's leg spin accounted for Titmuss for 16.

From there on in,no other home batsmen reached double figures,Das continued to attempt to dominate but the boundaries had dried up with both Waqar and Mais bowling effectively to a plan and although at 131 for 4 Liverpool looked in the box seat the run rate had crept up to a run a ball. Finally, on 98, Das perished when he advanced down the wicket to Waqar and was beaten by the sharp turn.

The experienced and much travelled Mal Swift stated that it was the best innings he had witnessed at first hand and few of his team mates could disagree.However,their persistence, nerve and a near faultless fielding display had earnt their opportunity to close in on victory,immediately,the previously expensive Rakesh was brought back although the next wicket fell to some fine footwork from Mais off his own bowling to run out Hoe.

Next over the former Jamaican star yorked Malik before Rakesh delivered the coup de grace,Keeper John Thompson,short of results and confidence,probably saw off both demons with a stunning one handed catch low in front of first slip to dismiss Hince and after the run out of Diggle it was left to the veteran Blackburn too see Liverpool home,he could only look on in despair though as Rakesh clean bowled Kelly and Edwards in the space of three balls to spark off jubilant celebrations amongst the fielding side.

The win sees the Liverpool Road club climb back to fourth,just behind local rivals Southport in the automatic promotion spots and further progress against a resurgent St. Helens this weekend could be a further step in remarkable adventure.

Off spinner Jon Pearce returns to the line up in an otherwise unchanged side.

On Sunday,Ainsdale reached the semi-finals of the L&DCC Knockout with a convincing 6 wicket victory over Orrell Red Triangle CC.

The visitors elected to bat and reached 137 after 44.4 overs, Rakesh Patel, Malcolm Swift and Waqar Khan took two wickets each,in reply Ainsdale coasted to victory with fine contributions from Paul Hughes (50) and Rakesh Patel (53*).

Ainsdale now face a mouth-watering semi-final tie at either Bootle or Fleetwood Hesketh.

The 2nd XI are now 5th in their division after another fine victory last Saturday against St. Helens CC.

Ainsdale dismissed the visitors for 163 in just 34 overs, Ray Walker was once again in fine form with the ball, returning with figures of 4 for 51 from 17 overs.

In reply Ainsdale reached the target for the lose of just 4 wickets,Norman Owers (58*),Ray Fitzpatrick (38) and Richard Stanyon (31) all with valuable contributions.

On Saturday the 2nd XI travel to Liverpool C.C looking for another win to boost their promotion chances.

Report by Matt Amer

Last few

Few results are still missing

With all of last weekends Liverpool & District Cricket Competition fixtures abandoned without a ball being bowled, attention at the Ainsdale Cricket club turned to the inaugural fortnight long Richard Blakey Sports sponsored Ainsdale 20/20 floodlit tournament got off to a cracking start on Sunday night.

The 1st fixture saw Southport and Birkdale chase down an imposing 155 runs to beat Merseyside and Southport Alliance representatives,Rainhill by 5 wickets,nearly 100 spectators enjoyed the evenings entertainment at the Ainsdale Club and witnessed a sparkling display from the Trafalgar Road side.

This was followed up this week with victories for St. Helens who defeated Newton-le-Willows by 22 runs on Monday evening, Southport and Birkdale who thrashed hosts Ainsdale by a massive 41 runs and on Wednesday when Northern CC were too strong for Rainhill.

Tournament organisers have been delighted at the spirit and quality of the game,the large number of spectators attending and above all the quality of the floodlights although some outfielders appeared to have greater problems than the batsmen.

Fleetwood Hesketh strolled past St Helens, thanks to some big hitting from Neil Rimmer and Jon Bowden,Hightown are still to make their 1st appearance.

Remaining fixtures:

Thursday 7th 19:00 hrs Fleetwood v St. Helen
Friday 8th 19:00 hrs Hightown v Newton
Sunday 10th 12 noon Fleetwood v Newton
15.30 hrs Hightown v St. Helens
19:00 hrs Rainhill v Ainsdale

Monday 11th 19:00 hrs Southport v Northern

Wednesday 13th 19:00 hrs Winner grp 1 v Runner-up grp 2

Thursday 14th 19:00 hrs Winner grp 2 v Runner-up grp 1

Friday 15th 19.00 hrs Final

20/20 match report

The inaugural Ainsdale 20/20 floodlit trophy, sponsored by Richard Blakey Sports, reaches its conclusion tonight with a 7.00pm final to be contested by the winners of the Fleetwood Hesketh v Southport semi final and either Northern, St. Helens or the host club from the other side of the draw. At the time of writing, St. Helens had qualified for the Wednesday semi-final whilst Ainsdale and Northern were to precede that match with a 10 over slog after run rate couldn't separate them in the group stage.

Watched by good sized crowds,the format has been well received by players and spectators alike and one of the organizers fears,that sides batting second would be disadvantaged,appears somewhat unfounded as an equal number of sides have come through chasing down a score.

Highlights have included some scintillating fielding from a youthful Southport and Birkdale side, big hitting from the likes of Ainsdale's Rakesh Patel, Fleetwood Heskeths duo of Neil Rimmer and Jon Bowden and devastating death bowling from St. Helen's Sanjey Pandey.


Slow bowling has been every bit as successful as express pace although the Rainhill batsmen who copped for facing Patel and Mais on Sunday night may not agree whilst the all round pedigree of 2005 ECB Champions,Northern, has been evident from the start.

Mistakes in the organization have been few but some minor alterations will be made to the format for next year, already booked for the fortnight commencing 2nd September, and will include an additional couple of floodlight towers to eliminate all areas of shadow in the outfield.

Southport Match Report

Ainsdale created a little bit of their own history at Liverpool Road on Saturday when turning in an excellent performance to comfortably beat local rivals Southport for the first time in a competitive match.

After finally being allowed to compete at the same level in 2005 when gaining promotion from the Merseyside and Southport Alliance,Ainsdale had failed to set up anything resembling a challenging total in their three previous encounters and their wholesale failure to deal with the turn and bounce of Nilesh Kulkarni had featured prominently in this sequence.

With Southport only requiring three bonus points to secure deserved promotion to the Premier League they asked Ainsdale to bat on winning the toss and on a pitch generally offering low bounce they saw Ainsdale openers Steve Cropper and Paul Hughes put on an assured ...... before the former was pronounced leg before wicket to the impressive Hines who then claimed the notable scalp of Hughes,caught well at slip.

Waqar Khan looked in confident mood hammering Firth to the leg side boundary but in all these encounters it always appears something of a phoney war as if the game is only ever really on when the gangling figure of Kulkarni is twirling his magic.

Sure enough he replaced Cranston for the 13th over of the innings and almost immediately accounted for young Andy Barlow,a rare failure in his first season at this level,Waqar soon followed when a combination of bat,pad and boot assisted the ball onto his stumps and when a subdued Mal Swift soon followed Ainsdale were looking down the barrel at 77 for 5.

Rakesh Patel was still at the crease and he coped superbly with Kulkarni in defence whilst attacking the bowling of Firth and Britten at the other end,with Dwight Mais also showing responsibility they rebuilt the innings and it was a surprise all round when Rakesh fell for a well compiled 46.

Mais soon joined him in the clubhouse for a valuable 25 and it was left to veteran skipper Dave Newcombe and keeper John "The Cat" Thompson to take the score along to a healthy 180 before Newcombe was last man out for 22.

In reply,Southport began earnestly as although they had by now been assured of promtion,local bragging rights were at stake and Aston and Baker appeared to have withstood the early tests of Mais and Rakesh when the former finally found a way around Astons pads to bowl him.

Although only about 12 overs into the innings,the abrasive wicket was already producing some reverse swing for the former India A star and next ball the key wicket of Fletcher succumbed to a vicious yorker that clipped his leg stump.

Firth tried to secure the innings with Baker but every time Newcombe considered giving his star bowler a break he took another wicket and indeed accounted for the entire top half of the Southport order.

Only the classy Baker had any answers although he was perhaps fortunate to escape a caught behind decision off the unlucky Mais who failed to be rewarded for one of his most consistent spells before being replaced by former Southport captain,Swift.

Despite suffering the effects of one of many injuries that has blighted his bowling this term,Swift destroyed the visitors lower order with a return of 3 for 8 from only four overs of gentle trundle,the wickets of Cranston and Kulkarni seemingly giving him immense pleasure whilst the leg spin of Waqar finally accounted for Baker caught and bowled for 41 after his solo show of defiance.

Rakesh was recalled to the attack and his first ball back destroyed Hines stumps to leave Southport defeated by 90 runs.
Rakesh finished with the fine figures of 6 for 31 and the victory still leaves Ainsdale with the opportunity of eclipsing last seasons sixth placed finish as they travel to Wigan for their final game of the season.

In his last home game as first eleven captain,skipper for 9 consecutive years,Dave Newcombe,implored his charges to be positive.

Report by Matt Amer