Merseyside Cricket Online Division One Team of 2024… PLUS title-winning skipper George Johansen on Colwyn Bay’s dip for the line

Colwyn Bay legend Paul Jenkins in action for the club

Timing is everything in cricket – just ask Colwyn Bay.

The Welsh side secured promotion from Division One on the final day of the season by earning a second batting point against Orrell Red Triangle.

Then they climbed to the top of the table for the first time all summer by wrapping up a 106-run win – the final wicket falling to veteran left-arm spinner Paul Jenkins in his last game for the club, five minutes before the rain arrived.

Firwood Bootle, who were already promoted and had led the way for most of the summer, failed to beat Liverpool – and Bay, relegated on the final day last season, were straight back up as champions.

Skipper George Johansen, watching events unfold from afar via Play Cricket, couldn’t have been prouder.

“I’m chuffed to bits,” he said.

“We didn’t think it was possible, Bootle were well on top against Liverpool but that changed pretty quickly. 

“The last two times we’ve got promoted, we’ve had to get results on the last day of the season, and we’ve done it.”

Love Lane Liverpool Competition tables

Dulanjana Mendis finished the season with 83 wickets at just 9.71 – just one scalp behind his fellow Sri Lankan slow left-armer, Orrell’s Duvindu Tillakaratne.

But Johansen was keen to sing the praises of the supporting cast.

Will Evans, Zack Gidlow and Sion Morris all made over 400 runs each, and Jenkins and seamer Jack Parry took 35 and 34 wickets respectively.

Bay bowled their opposition out in 15 of their 20 playable games this season, including in a crucial seven-run win over third-placed Highfield in July, which Johansen sees as the turning point of the season.

He said: “It ebbed and flowed, then Dully got six wickets and it was a really good team performance.

“That moved us ahead of Highfield, and we stayed there for the rest of the season.

“It’s been a collective team effort. A lot of weeks, our bowling has been too strong – obviously with Dully being the second leading wicket taker and with the best average. 

“But Jenkins got 30-odd wickets, Jack Parry got 30-odd – so out of all the possible wickets available, I think most teams we managed to bowl out.”

Love Lane Liverpool Competition statistics

Mendis will be back next year, the club having moved quickly to snap him up as they attempt to improve on 2023’s relegation season.

“It’s good to get that out of the way early, it allows us to focus on what we’re doing with a clear head,” said Johansen.

“He’s settled in well, everyone loved him and he’s been great with the juniors. 

“I’m sure he’ll find it tougher but I don’t see any reason why he can’t do really well.”

But in 52-year-old Jenkins, who has been at Colwyn since 2003 and passed 1,000 wickets for the club in 2021, the skipper knows he has lost the services of a Liverpool Competition legend.

He said: “He’s heavily involved with Lancashire over-50s so to stay involved with that, he needs to be playing some form of cricket. 

“I don’t know where he’ll be moving on to but we wish him the best. 

“He’s taken over 1,000 wickets for Colwyn Bay, which is a fantastic achievement.”

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Division One Team of 2024

One player per club, in a balanced XI (with a sub from the bottom side). County and overseas pros are allowed, but expectation levels are taken into account. No I do not have it in for your club, that would simply not be worth my while. 

1 Liam Crilly (Maghull) 
842 runs @ 44.32, 2 x 100, 5 x 50; 12 wickets @ 37.17

In the “first name on the team sheet” category, in more ways than one. Maghull struggled at first after promotion from Division Two; Crilly’s upturn in form from July coincided with his club’s, and contributed to a comfortable eighth-place finish. After making 123* at champions Colwyn Bay, he was only out below 33 twice in the next nine innings and contributed 107 against Lytham. A fine year for the veteran.

2 Luke Prescott (Orrell Red Triangle)
476 runs @ 59.50, 2 x 100, 3 x 50

A half-century in his opening game was followed by three months out injured… but the Lancashire U18 prospect hit the ground like he’d never been away, making 107 at Lytham, 100 against St Helens Town and two more 50s. After six innings, he had 436 runs at 87.20, more than all but two of his teammates – Mark Waddington and Sam Heeley – managed all season. Orrell had the division’s leading bowler in Duvindu Tillakaratne but overseas slow left-armers are plentiful – there aren’t many young batting talents like Prescott.

3 Zack Gidlow (Colwyn Bay)
460 runs @ 24.21, 3 x 50

“Brilliant,” in the words of his skipper, George Johansen. Gidlow managed to stand out in a title-winning top order thanks to the importance of his runs – 85 in a chase of 185 at Maghull when nobody else passed 40, 72 to see the side home by just two wickets against the same opposition, who will be glad to see the back of him. After a below-par 2023, he has unfinished business in the Premier Division; thanks partly to his performances, he gets the chance to put it right.

4 Hermann Rolfes (Firwood Bootle)
759 runs @ 108.43, 2 x 100, 5 x 50; 23 wickets @ 8.13

The South African star wasn’t dismissed until June, by which time he’d made 215 runs and the sleeping giants of the division were starting to stretch their legs. Second only to Crilly for runs, and ahead by Bradman margins in the averages, Rolfes finished his season with a run of 381 for twice out. And this level of statistical dominance is without even considering his bowling, which was off the table for much of the summer due to injury – when he bowled, he stood out in a promotion-winning attack of quality seamers. If he comes back next year, he has what it takes to grace the Premier Division.

5 Matt Taaffe * (Lytham)
477 runs @ 31.80, 3 x 50; 16 wickets @ 13.63

A steady hand at the tiller of our XI, and in the heart of the middle order. Availability problems helped consign Lytham to their lowest finish since relegation, but as in previous years, at full strength they were a tough side to play against. Taaffe was their top scorer and at the heart of many of the good times. When he got settled, he usually made a score, only being dismissed twice between 10 and 36, and his run of four red-inkers in the last 10 games showed his willingness to dig in.

6 Jared Clein (Liverpool) 
544 runs @ 38.86, 1 x 100, 3 x 50; 42 wickets @ 12.24, 2 x 5-for

“The most underrated cricketer I’ve ever known,” according to outgoing skipper Matty Jackson. If Liverpool manage to find the consistency to mount a sustained promotion push, that could quickly change. An unbeaten 102 against Lytham in July, followed by a spell of 5/4 with his off-breaks, was certainly the kind of performance that gets a player noticed. He finished the season with a flourish, with unbeaten 70s against Sefton Park and Bootle, and will be keen to pick up where he left off.

7 Mohit Jangra (Highfield)
599 runs @ 49.92, 2 x 100, 2 x 50; 65 wickets @ 12.94, 5 x 5-for

Fourth in the runs, third in the wickets, the Indian all-rounder almost got Highfield back in the Premier Division as they matched their highest finish since relegation. He did it all at the best part of a run a ball, with only Bootle’s Sagar Trivedi hitting more than his 29 sixes. His seam bowling is his strongest suit, hence him batting in the bottom half in my imagination – he only went wicketless once in 21 attempts, and took three or more wickets on 14 occasions.

8 Nathan Ashford + (Spring View)
473 runs @ 23.65

Speaking of struggling to fit everyone in the right batting order… the 21-year-old wicketkeeper opens for Spring View but would probably be grateful for the rest. The second ever recipient of the Chris Weston bursary, he will be heading for New Zealand in the winter to hone his skills – a reflection of how well thought-of he is. He stood out in a disappointing season for his side, never reaching 50 but only recording five single-digit scores in 21 innings.

9 Dan Harrison (Old Xaverians)
420 runs @ 22.11, 2 x 50; 29 wickets @ 14.55, 1 x 5-for

Another seamer, another all-rounder – it’s been that kind of summer – and one who helped his side stay afloat with some big performances. In four games against the two relegated sides, he only failed once with the bat, making 46* against St Helens Town, and 92 and 42 against Fleetwood Hesketh. And he showed his quality with the ball by taking some big scalps in his 5/46 against champions Colwyn Bay.

10 Sibusiso Maseko (St Helens Town)
179 runs @ 8.95; 43 wickets @ 18.02

A poor season for Town ended in relegation, and their South African spinner was down on his 2023 numbers, when his 50 wickets helped keep them clear of the drop. Still, his numbers stood out from his teammates’ this year, taking a third of the side’s wickets and getting through more than 250 overs. Four of Town’s five wins came with him in the side – he took 4/11, 4/49, 3/9 and 3/60 in them. When he fired, they did well; he didn’t fire enough, sadly.

11 Jimmy Dixon (Sefton Park)
85 runs @ 17.00; 30 wickets @ 16.23, 1 x 5-for

Another outstandingly consistent season from the England deaf international. Sefton flew out of the blocks this year, with wickets shared between all the seamers – but Dixon, in typical fashion, kept it going longer than the others. Targeting the stumps and pads (23 of his 30 wickets were bowled or LBW), he finished the season with a flourish by taking 6/46 against Old Xavs, his seventh haul of three or more wickets. And he went viral with a chaotic, stump-demolishing run-out in the Disability Premier League, too.

12 Dan O’Keefe (Fleetwood Hesketh)
362 runs @ 20.11, 3 x 50; 46 wickets @ 15.02, 4 x 5-for

Two wins and 18 defeats tells its own story when it comes to Hesketh’s 2024 season. Their visiting Australian all-rounder was a bright spot, second in the club for both runs and wickets, behind Matty Howard and Sabbir Patel. But he was left carrying the can alone too often, and couldn’t turn things around for the bottom side.

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