A ruddy great hole in the team didn’t stop England hitting 400 and beating the West Indies by a mile

2 minute read

The last time England hit 400, almost 50 ODIs ago, they near as damn it made it to 500. It’s been a while. Probably shouldn’t complain.

On that occasion, Eoin Morgan made a golden duck and a couple of weeks later he stopped playing cricket. England’s first 400 had come in his first match in charge. Captaincy handovers seem to improve the odds of high scores. Maybe they should implement a rota system.

However you slice and dice it, victory by 238 runs is a very good start to Brook’s captaincy. But let’s slice and dice it in a mildly unflattering way, if only to counter the pervasive air of self-satisfied back-slapping.

Jacksob Bethwill

Even before the game, this looked a strong and percussive England batting line-up. It looks sensible. It looks like it would make sizeable totals pretty reliably. Was the flailing ODI team really that simple to fix?

Mmmmprobably not. This is a great batting line-up if you want to make 400 and a nicely varied bowling line-up if you’re defending that many. But would these bowlers feel confident defending a far smaller total? Specifically, who is England’s fifth bowler?

It’s easy to see how Jacob Bethell’s promise as a batter could transmogrify into consistent performance because it’s sort of happening before our eyes. That doesn’t really tell us anything about his bowling though and as things stand, he has just 42 wickets to his name as a professional cricketer. Bethell’s only half the story though. Will Jacks is there too with 130 wickets in 307 professional appearances.

Two excellent cricketers. Two excellent cricketers whose excellence is largely defined by their batting.

Bethell took 1-18 yesterday – which is handy. He did so off 2.4 overs – which is less handy. It’s the kind of thing you’re happy with from your sixth bowler – likewise Jacks’ 0-0 off 0 overs.

On days when the opposition are swinging like crazy because they’re chasing 400, part-time bowlers can be pretty damn effective. On days when some sort of total is being constructed and your fifth bowler is required to bowl more than 16 balls, they can start to feel like more of a liability.

Glass check… half full!

But then, you know, maybe it’s manageable? Bethell bowls slow left-arm, Jacks bowls off-spin and Joe Root’s variety pack of deliveries is a useful third option. At least these players make the bowling a little less right-arm fast-medium. Plus there’s always the electrifying military medium of Brook himself as a fallback.

Make 400 and then muddle-through. It’s not the worst strategy.

Jacob Bethell: first look in Test cricket

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Related posts:

1. West Indies improve their attack, England don’t
2. Shivnarine Chanderpaul – the last great West Indies cricketer
3. West Indies v England, second Test, day one – anger and amazement

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‘I’m not stopping any time soon’… why 9,000 is just the start for Northern star Liam Grey

Liam Grey celebrates his century in the 2023 Lancashire Cup final
Pictures by GEORGE FRANKS

It’s 9,000 runs and counting for one of the Love Lane Liverpool Competition’s most consistent performers… and Liam Grey says he’s a long way from done yet.

The Northern all-rounder ticked off the milestone during his 12th century for the 1st XI last Saturday, against Formby.

He made his debut for the Crosby side in 2015, against the same opposition – in one of those coincidences cricket seems to specialise in, his first innings was ended by a catch by Ian Cockbain Snr, the father of the player who caught him on Saturday.

The game ended in a narrow defeat for Northern, despite Grey’s 106.

“I’ve never been a massive believer in stats unless your team wins a game of cricket,” he said.

“It tarnishes it a bit – I found myself sitting in the clubhouse thinking it doesn’t feel the same because at the end of the day we play to win games of cricket.

There have been plenty of opportunities to celebrate over the years, though.

Grey has won two league titles, two Ray Digman Trophies, a Lancashire Cup and a National T20 – alongside finishing as a runner-up in two leagues, one Digman and two National Club Championships.

He’s still only 28, and he’s hungry for more – especially after missing out against Brentwood in the final of the National last year.

Grey said: “I’m pining for the National. And I want to win the league again. 

“We don’t put all our eggs in one basket, we want to win everything. 

“We’ve not had the best start to the league season but it’s only May and there’s a lot of cricket to be played, anything can happen. 

“We pride ourselves on being a strong cup team and I think we’ve proved that.”

this weekend’s fixtures

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Batting & bowling stats

Originally from Rochdale and still based in Greater Manchester, Grey moved to Northern to play at a higher standard than his home town club, Thornham, could offer.

Chances came and went at the fringes of the professional game, on the 2nd XI merry-go-round and with Cumbria – older and wiser, Grey recognises why he never quite made the step up.

He said: “I probably left a little bit out there and didn’t train as hard as I should have done to give myself the best opportunity. 

“There’s a whole group of us in the Comp who wanted to be professional cricketers and it didn’t quite happen.”

But he insists there are no regrets, especially given what he has achieved in the club game.

“The way it’s panned out, I’m more than happy,” he added. 

“When you look at the pressures people on lower-end county contracts are under, when the money’s not great and every two years you’re fighting for a new contract… I think that would have taken the enjoyment out of it, playing a sport to earn a living rather than enjoying it. 

“I get a big enough kick out of the competitive cricket we play at Northern.

“There’s a lot of cricketers in this league who could be playing county cricket, and the competitiveness is what keeps me enjoying the game. 

“And I’ve got friends for life – I don’t see myself leaving, it’s just complete enjoyment, it’s what I look forward to.”

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Club captain James Cole gave Grey his debut, having recruited him as a seamer who batted a bit.

Over the years, he has seen him grow into a top-order fixture and a key man in all formats, with both bat and ball – taking 447 wickets to go along with his 9,000 runs.

Cole said: “He was probably a bit tentative with the bat at first, a bit more of an accumulator; now he’s a multi-format batter, opening the batting in limited overs cricket. 

“He’s a big reason we’ve been successful in overs cricket over the last few years. 

“And on a Saturday he can bat anywhere in the top five. 

“He’s a fantastic batter, a fantastic bowler and an equally good bloke. We’re lucky to have him.”

Both Cole and Grey agree on his high point in a Northern shirt – an unbeaten run-a-ball 118 in the 2023 Lancashire Cup final at Emirates Old Trafford, to set up a big win over Longridge.

Grey also hit the stumps in the bowl-out against Oundle Town which secured the National T20 last year – making Northern the Comp’s first ever national champions.

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In terms of the future, it helps that Grey is playing alongside the likes of Chris Laker and Tyler McGladdery, friends of a similar age, with a similar career path and a similar ambition to win things for their club.

“It’s not looking like I’m going to be stopping any time soon,” he said.

“We still want to be the best cricketers we can be.

“That’s why we play Saturdays and Sundays and midweek T20s, playing 40-odd games of cricket a year – if we didn’t want to get better, we wouldn’t be doing that to ourselves, we’d play closer to home. 

“For me, I’m enjoying it and I always have done. 

“Never at one point have I thought about jumping ship – it feels like my club now, it’s where I belong.”

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Steven Croft has what it takes to turn Lancashire’s season around, says Lytham skipper Norris

Lancashire’s Steven Croft, now interim head coach

Lytham’s loss is Lancashire’s gain, according to club skipper Ryan Norris, as Steven Croft steps into the head coach’s role at Emirates Old Trafford.

Norris had been expecting to get 16 games out of the all-rounder this season – he got three.

But he knows the opportunity to replace Dale Benkenstein on an interim basis was too great for Croft to turn down.

Norris said: “I texted him to say congratulations and his response was ‘I’m really sorry, I won’t be able to play against Maghull on Sunday’. 

“We’re gutted to lose him but I can’t wish him enough luck.

“From what I’ve seen of what goes on with Lancs, I can’t see that there’s anyone better for the role at this time. 

“He’ll look to galvanise the squad and take things forward, and start turning results around.”

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As expected from a former county captain, who hit the winning runs at Taunton to clinch the 2011 County Championship title, Croft has always been a goldmine of experience for his club teammates.

Lytham have won just one of their opening five Division One games – one more than Lancashire have managed from seven attempts in the Championship.

But the captain says Croft has been determined to help turn things around.

“He’s been monumental,” Norris added. 

“We’ve not had the best start but he’s been good at taking the positives while highlighting where we’ve gone wrong as a team. 

“He looks at what we did wrong and how to build on that, he’s always really positive in the dressing room. 

“On the field he always looks to attack, but at the same time he’s extremely calm and calculated. 

“We’ve got quite a young squad this year and he’s always giving the younger guys advice, whether it’s technique or tactics.”

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Croft, 40, started out at his home town club of Blackpool but made the move down the coast to Lytham in 2017, playing 18 games in the Premier Division before relegation in 2019.

So he has seen plenty of what the Comp has to offer – and Norris agrees his new role can only spell good news for the league’s talented young players.

He said: “I don’t think Crofty is the sort of person who will have his head turned, he has an open approach.

“I think it’s a case of not necessarily starting again but taking a fresh approach – he might have a look at some of the younger lads around the Comp.”

Whether Croft’s appointment turns out to be short-term or longer, Norris is confident the Red Rose have the right man.

“I have every faith that Crofty will give it his all,” he said. 

“He’s Lancashire through and through.”

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What these ostensibly pointless West Indies ODIs are actually for, plus the latest update on Lancashire’s recovery masterplan

2 minute read

They say that in London you’re never more than six feet from a rat that has ballooned in size after feeding on one of the city’s countless sewer fatbergs. We don’t know about that, but we do know that in cricket you’re never more than 12 months from a T20 World Cup.

So that’s probably what the upcoming ODI series against West Indies is for. The 50-over matches take place before the T20s, so they’re kind of a warm-up for them. The series is a warm-up for preparation for yet another T20 World Cup.

It’s also, we suppose, long-term preparation for the next middle format World Cup, which will take place in the yawningly distant year of 2027. England will want to get a few players bedded into fresh roles before then. Most obviously, Harry Brook is the new captain, while Jamie Smith has been promoted to opener, having been promoted to number three a few games ago. Thirdly, Tom Hartley’s back (as in ‘returned’ – he hasn’t got anylosing spondylitis or anything).

The Smith move also brings back that old favourite England strategy ‘wicketkeepers open the batting in one-day internationals‘ which has bubbled in and out of fashion any number of times over the last 20 years. (It was actually Smith himself who’d been knackering it up most recently, because Phil Salt probably would have taken the gloves in England’s previous match, had he not been playing.)

Oh, there is one other thing actually: the top eight teams in the world in March 2027 will automatically qualify for the World Cup. England and the West Indies are currently eighth and ninth…

Lancashire’s recovery masterplan – an update

A quick update on the (unutterably shit) situation at Old Trafford where the various committees responsible for running the club have just realised they missed a person when doling out blame a fortnight ago.

You may remember that the last bout of finger-pointing resulted in a conclusion that Lancs needed a different captain, different players and different pitches to turn things around. At some point during the innings defeat to Leicestershire, someone must have said, “Hey, what about the coach?” and so now they’ve “parted ways” with Dale Benkenstein as well.

It has to be said, Benkenstein’s county coaching record is not brilliant. Lancs were relegated under him last season and are the only county yet to win a game this season. Before that, he was coach of Gloucestershire for a couple of years. They finished bottom of Division 1 and then bottom of Division 2.

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Love Lane Liverpool Competition reports, reactions & round-up… May 24-25

Ormskirk’s Tom Brown on his way to 100* against Leigh
All pictures by RAY HIBBS

Tom Brown should have been nervous. Instead, walking out at 23/5, with Leigh’s table-topping seamers running amok, Ormskirk’s 19-year-old English Australian was a 6’6” pillar of calm, compiling a maiden Comp century that blunted everything the visitors had to offer.

It meant that having been 10/4 in the fifth over, Gary Knight could call his men in on 252/9, seconds after Brown had pushed Adam Shallcross for the single that brought up his ton.

A couple of hours earlier, the skipper wouldn’t have dreamed of such riches; a couple of hours later, he was celebrating a 159-run win that moved his side to the top of the nascent league table.

“This will go down as one of our best wins,” Knight said. 

“Having been on the back foot again, to turn it around was unbelievable. 

“Browny had a really good winter, he bats in the top order for South Australia under-19s, so we knew it wasn’t an issue putting him up against good seam bowling, and he’s taken that form into this season.”

With the predicted rain staying away, hopes had been high for the second day of Ormskirk’s beer festival. But soon after the 11am start, the hosts were in danger of being a lost cause before the Play Cricket app even realised there was a game on.

Patrick Allan had struck twice in the opening over, finding the outside edges of Calum Turner and George Lavelle. 

Harvey Rankin survived the hat-trick ball then unwisely tried to take on the arm of Shallcross from point. Two overs later, Allan bent a yorker into George Politis’s pads. 

Shallcross pinned Ian Robinson to get on the board himself; skipper Mattie McKiernan replaced his opening pair after just five overs each, then immediately felt vindicated when Karl Brown had Knight playing on to make it 52/6.

Leigh scented blood, and a statement win over the defending champions. Instead, Brown and Sam Marsh compiled a stand of 161, a Premier Division record for the seventh wicket as far as records can tell.

They started off by counter-attacking then, when McKiernan put the field back to protect the short square boundary, switched seamlessly to accumulation.

Marsh proved equal to Ben Martindale’s short stuff, while Brown hardly took a risk for any of his 12 boundaries. 

Tom Brown in watchful mood during his century

Their running between the wickets was flawless and they were able to punish the bad balls effectively as Leigh’s attack wilted – even the return of the openers could not dislodge them.

Marsh brought up the 200 with his second six, a flat pull that threatened to demolish the taco stand, before McKiernan snuck one through his defences on 82 – his highest score for Ormskirk, and his first half-century since 2022.

With the 55-over cut-off nearing, Leigh managed to starve Brown of the strike before, with last man Jamie Barnes at the other end, he swung Shallcross to the long-on boundary to move to 97, then cut two more to set up his big moment.

Born in Sheffield and brought up Down Under, Brown idolises both Joe Root and Nathan Lyon; his off-spin was not required, but his Root-like rescue innings had already turned the game.

He said: “It was a relief after not getting many runs last year to show everyone what I can do, having had a good summer at home. 

“I feel like I do better in situations like that where I have to switch on, otherwise I can get a bit lazy and play a rash shot so I think it was better for me to feel like I was in a contest, and to get us out of trouble. 

“We tried to keep it simple – hit the bad balls and keep the good ones out.”

The second innings began like the first – high-quality seamers getting rid of high-quality batters. Scott Lees removed the dangerous Martindale before Marsh took over, castling Luke Prescott then having McKiernan held low by Turner at slip.

Karl Brown departed LBW first ball, then Tom Grundy edged high to Turner; at 21/5, then 70/6 after Harry Church and Shallcross attempted a recovery, the similarities between the two innings were striking.

The difference was that after Church chipped to mid-wicket on 30, giving Marsh his first five-for of the season, nobody stuck around. Knight took a flying catch at mid-on to remove Edwin Brewer (“the lads said I should have moved my feet instead of diving”), before Jamie Barnes did his thing with the tail to wrap up the win.

Knight insists he doesn’t look at the table this early in the season, but he will be pleased if he accidentally catches a glimpse of one. 

He said: “We know how good Leigh are and to get them on the back foot as early as we did was pleasing. 

“Marsh and Lees are a pain for batters at the best of times but that was a first-class spell from them, to get some really good players out.”

Love Lane Liverpool Competition results

ECB Premier Division

Formby got the better of local rivals Northern in a high-scoring thriller at Moor Park.

Ian Cockbain made 140 and Lucas Kennedy a personal best of 95 in a mammoth stand of 230, which made up most of the visitors’ 288/8. 

In reply, Stephen Lucas and Liam Grey posted 154 of their own; Lucas fell for 77 but Grey went on to make 106. At 221/2 the chase looked in hand, but the spin pair of Archie Davies and St Lucian left-armer Larry Edward had other ideas – they each claimed five wickets to wrap up the win with two overs to go.

Firwood Bootle continued their unbeaten start to the season with a four-wicket victory at winless Newton-le-Willows. Seamers Kieron New and Sagar Trivedi did the damage with four wickets each to dismiss the hosts for 129.

Liam Gaskell’s 5/28, his best figures for Rainford, sealed a 105-run win at Rainhill, who are also yet to pick up a win. Paul Farrar top-scored with an unbeaten 84 in the visitors’ 197/6.

Birkenhead Park are on the board after beating Wirral rivals Wallasey by six wickets. Chris Stenhouse, Safi Abdullah and David Nevin took three wickets each to roll the visitors for just 80.

Nathan Barnes with 4/7 was the pick of the bowlers for Wigan in their eight-wicket win over Colwyn Bay, who were bowled out for 87.

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Division One

Spring View thumped Maghull to go top after Nathan Ashford made his first ton since 2021 against the same opposition.

Ashford’s unbeaten 106 defied Joe Campbell, who took 5/81, as View closed on 236/9; James Critchley’s 4/26 helped run through the hosts for just 59.

Against the backdrop of a music festival, Orrell Red Triangle earned One Big six-wicket win at Sefton Park. Sam Heeley, Andy Baybutt and Matthew Wareing all made 40s in their successful pursuit of 163.

Liverpool failed to win for the first time this season on a slow day at Aigburth, as Southport & Birkdale took 59 overs to make 196 – Raunak Roy the top scorer with 58, as Jared Clein took 6/42. Early wickets hampered the chase and the hosts had to close out on 102/8 from 50 overs.

Hightown St Marys earned their first win since promotion, Jamaican Gordon Bryan taking 5/20 to dismiss the visitors for 105. Bryan had earlier top-scored with 49 out of his side’s 142.

New Brighton’s Damitha Silva took 5/19 to roll Old Xaverians for 96 and set up a six-wicket win. 

Highfield and Sutton shared the honours after the St Helens side ran out of time chasing 191. They closed on 139/5 after Kallis Anders’ 57; earlier, Mohit Jangra made 54 for the hosts.

Love Lane Liverpool Competition tables

Division Two

Caldy skipper Mike Grealis led from the front in their huge win over Southport Trinity, making 67 out of 257/8. Rohan Sanjaya took 5/18 to seal the victory.

It was a similar story at the division’s other 100% side, Ainsdale. The captain, Oli Green, top-scored against Whitefield before the overseas pro, Dilanka Auwardt, took 6/42 to wrap up a 97-run victory.

Northop Hall’s Paul Jenkins had Prestatyn in a spin, taking 4/1 to roll the Welsh side for 69 and set up a six-wicket win.

Nathan Condon’s unbeaten 54 led Fleetwood Hesketh to an eight-wicket win at Wavertree. Aqeel Mustafa took 5/42 to restrict the hosts to 143; captain and opener Theo O’Brien was last out for 64.

St Helens Town had to settle for a draw against Prescot & Odyssey, the visitors closing nine down. Ryan Donnelly made 83 and Jamie Ellis 61 to get the hosts off to a great start with an opening stand of 150; but P&O’s last pair of Mark Plumbley and Matty Nation survived 23 balls to deny them the win.

Norley Hall’s Ryan Wood blew Parkfield Liscard away with 5/7, nobody below the top six making a single run as Hall earned an eight-wicket win.

Love Lane Liverpool Competition statistics

Sunday

ECB National Club Championship

Formby’s Archie Davies bowling against Westhoughton

Anyone who enjoyed Northern and Formby’s clash on Saturday can look forward to a rematch in the Group 6 final.

Stephen Lucas top-scored with 86 as Northern chased 192 against Lancashire Cup co-holders Prestwich, after former Rainhill man Sam Kershaw made 68 and Tom Sephton and Dan Wilson took three wickets each.

Fancy seeing you here… ex-Formby teammates Sam Oldham and Calum Turner during Leyland v Ormskirk

Ian Cockbain and Jack Carney put on an unbroken stand of 150 to earn an eight-wicket win for Formby over Westhoughton. The skipper finished on 84 and the wicketkeeper on 74 after George Darwood was the pick of the bowlers with 5/27.

The Love Lane Liverpool Competition rivals will meet at Moor Park on June 15.

Ormskirk reached the Group 5 final after a runfest at Brook Lane. Calum Turner hit 145 and Gary Knight 87, the pair’s stand of 170 setting up a total of 287/5 against Leyland. Jamie Barnes took 4/54 and Sam Marsh 3/18 as the visitors put up a fight but fell 24 runs short.

Knight’s men will host Roe Green in the final after the Greater Manchester Cricket League side overcame Blackpool.

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See, told you Zak Crawley was the very best batter in the whole wide world

2 minute read

There you are, point proven. How could you ever have doubted him? Zak Crawley is averaging 124 across his last one innings in Test cricket.

We think the way it works is that Zak Crawley’s hundred is only worth something if it can first be hung off something else. Basically, if England ultimately decide to persist with him for some wholly unrelated reason, only then will this hundred against Zimbabwe be put forward as supporting evidence.

Ben Stokes has sort of already said that Jacob Bethell will return to the Test team for the India series. 

“If you’re smart enough, the series that Beth had out in New Zealand, obviously he’s going to be back in the UK for that India series – so, I think you put two and two together, you probably know what’s going to happen.”

Except we don’t. Not exactly. Because unless England get special dispensation to field a XII, then most likely either Crawley or Ollie Pope will have to exit the team to make way for him. 

But which? Hopefully this Zimbabwe Test wasn’t pencilled-in as a shoot-out because, rather unhelpfully, both of them have made a hundred. (To be honest, if there’s a weak link in the batting right at this minute, it’s the ageing guy who averages 30-odd who’s still proving his fitness after hamstring surgery.)

Crawley has now been under significant pressure for longer than Oceangate’s Titan submersible. By May 2023, his presence was already a big enough hobby horse for people that his name frequently cropped up in a debate about England dropping their wicketkeeper.

Since then, he’s fuelled both sides of the barbecue by proving himself the greatest inside-edger in world cricket and thrashing 189 in an Ashes Test, before striking a rich vein of consistency against Matt Henry. And now this.

Say what you like, there’s always something to talk about here. You’ll miss the Zak Crawley debate when he’s gone.

Our personal view is perhaps he’s a sacrificial batter whose significant physical differences to Ben Duckett helps the latter get up and running.

In Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley England finally have an opening partnership that doesn’t play each ball on its merits

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Related posts:

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2. At least Zak Crawley has momentum
3. Does Zak Crawley’s 189 matter?

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‘They’re not watching the Comp’ – can Lancashire reconnect with club game to help turn their fortunes around?

Ollie Sutton on Lancashire duty last year

The solution to Lancashire’s woes could lie on their doorstep in the Love Lane Liverpool Competition.

That’s the view of one leading Comp coach, as the Red Rose continue to struggle in the County Championship.

In his role at Formby, Andy Grice has overseen the development of Ben Aitchison and Ollie Sutton to the professional game.

And he feels Lancashire’s senior coaches might be missing a trick, as their winless side languishes near the bottom of Division Two.

“There’s no-one at Lancs watching the Comp,” Grice says.

“What they don’t do is go and pick people’s brains who know them well and understand what they’re good at. 

“They might be useless to them, but at least have that conversation. 

“Go and find out what they’re like as people around the club. 

“It’s important – how do you develop someone who doesn’t want to learn? 

“A great player who never listens to anyone, or has too much parental influence. 

“All those sorts of things we’ve come across in our time. 

“It surely helps them if they know that? 

“We want them to help themselves by getting closer to us in the recreational game – it’s got to be for their benefit.”

Love Lane Liverpool Competition fixtures

Some of the Comp’s brightest young talents are gearing up for a busy half-term week of inter-league cricket.

Five groups of players, from U11 to U15, have been selected to represent the Comp against other north-west leagues – with an U17 squad to be chosen next month.

But Lancashire’s age groups only go up to U18 level, whereas Grice believes many cricketers are much later bloomers.

All-rounder Sutton, for example came through the age groups at Cricket Path, impressing at every level and breaking into the 1st XI at 15.

At the same time, he was given his chance in the Lancashire set-up – but by 18 he still hadn’t finished developing into the cricketer he is today.

It’s to his credit that he stuck at it, touring the county 2nd XI circuit with Derbyshire, Durham, Worcestershire and Warwickshire.

Several others to have graduated from the Comp missed out at Lancashire only to find success elsewhere – such as Derbyshire’s Aitchison and Mattie McKiernan, Essex’s Matt Critchley, Middlesex and Sussex’s John Simpson and, until his recent signing for the Red Rose, Durham’s Mike Jones.

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Lancs took another look at Sutton last summer, at the grand old age of 24 – a first professional contract followed, and a first-class debut at Lord’s this season.

Very few of even the most talented young cricketers will make it that far. Even fewer will have done enough by age 18 to convince county coaches they have what it takes.

Grice says: “The role we have to play is nurturing people, both in the Lancashire pathway and at the edge of it, but also catching the late developers.

“Ollie is a late developer in that he’s had to work very hard outside of the county game to get himself an opportunity. 

“I don’t think any county that has had Ollie has understood exactly what his strengths and weaknesses are.”

Anyone familiar with Sutton’s game who saw the line-up for that match at Lord’s would agree – one of the top batters in a Premier League featuring several current and former professional batters was carded at number 11.

Lancashire, of course, know what they’re doing. Josh Bohannon, one of their leading batters over the past few years, began his first-class career down the order – it takes pressure off young players and gives them the chance to learn more about the tactical side of the professional game.

But to many observers, Sutton at 11 – not at 8 like Bohannon, but the batter of last resort – was a decision that highlighted a disconnect between the county and the top level of club cricket. 

If Sutton had been an 18-year-old with an academy record to match his Comp numbers – 514 runs in 13 innings last season, before injury ruled him out – he is unlikely to have been the last man in.

Love Lane Liverpool Competition tables

Other examples abound of players who slipped through the age group net but continued to impress at club level.

Grice points to another of his Formby proteges, 17-year-old Lucas Kennedy, who is not part of the Lancashire U18s set-up, despite some impressive Comp displays.

He also highlights Rainford’s Jason Login – second in the Prem run charts last year, a handy leg-spinner, and entering his prime at 23. 

But Login grew up in South Africa and didn’t arrive in England until 2021, by which time the county age groups were closed to him. 

Grice adds: “The highest age group anyone will play now is 18 – once they’re past 18, they’re more or less out of the county game. 

“In terms of cricket development, most people don’t play 1st XI club cricket until they’re 15, so when they’re 18-19 it is still a big development age for them. 

“While Lancashire might think if they’re no good at 18 they’re no good, that’s not accurate. They’re still developing.”

Love Lane Liverpool Competition statistics

Clubs don’t exist simply to feed the counties. Higher honours can often be a double-edged sword – the Comp’s two most successful sides, Ormskirk and Northern, rely more on club cricket stalwarts than young hopefuls.

But Grice and his fellow coaches know that nurturing young talent is in everyone’s interests.

“A strong league structure should support a strong Lancashire,” he says.

“If you’re an aspiring cricketer, you’ve got to be playing in one of the top leagues. 

“And there has been a drain of talent towards the Comp because you can play against good players on good surfaces.

“The senior players and the senior captains in the Comp are very good players, very aware of tactical issues. They’re trying to nurture people coming through. 

“Matty Hurst moved from Newton-le-Willows to Leigh and got to play with Karl Brown and McKiernan – he’ll be better for that experience.

“It’s the same with Ollie, Archie and Lucas, who are all better for playing in the same team as Ian Cockbain. They’re learning from him.”

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Grice, 61, has been at Formby since 1999, save for a five-year stint working full-time with Staffordshire. 

He describes nurturing young players as his passion, and is a regular on Formby matchdays – warming up the team, then watching nervously from the boundary.

And when it comes to Lancashire, he wants the same outcome as any other supporter.

He says: “Obviously there will be some people who Lancashire think aren’t good enough, but a lot of people do feel like there have been a few incorrect judgements on some of these players who have slipped through the net. 

“No-one wants that to happen again. 

“Lancashire want a winning team. Supporters all want the same too. 

“The thing now is how can we help Lancashire get to their aim. 

“There has been some frustration at the talent drain and when you look at the former Lancashire players who are prospering at other counties, people start asking the question why that is.”

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Zimbabwe in England: six lessons from history for those not old enough to remember this kind of thing

6 minute read

Those of us chipping away the verdigris have a pretty good idea what an early summer England v Zimbabwe Test is all about – but at the same time… man, it’s been a while. All previous England v Zimbabwe matches arrived in a very narrow window between May 2000 and June 2003. Some things don’t change though. We’re pretty sure of that.

The teams have changed, obviously. This will be the first Test the tourists have played here without Heath Streak and Grant Flower in their ranks and the first time they’ve faced a side shorn of Alec Stewart and Nasser Hussain.

But – we’ll say it again – some things don’t change. Here are half a dozen things that happened in those England v Zimbabwe Tests. Let’s see if they take us to a place where we get a whiff of some sort of recurring quality that might routinely be found in these fixtures.

1. Graeme Hick made his final Test hundred

As a child, we watched an unjustifiably large percentage of a film that we’d guess was either the 1932 Western, The Night Rider, or the 1939 Western, The Night Riders.

Whatever it was, it was in black and white and set in the Wild West and despite our expectations, at no point did David Hasselhoff make a belated and striking entrance, in so doing abruptly switching the film’s narrative, colour palette, era, location and subject matter.

We think of this crushingly disappointing day often. It’s an example of how the human brain can continue to explain away extreme unlikelihood if it first began with a sufficiently strong and emotionally loaded expectation of seeing a particular thing.

In May 1988, Graeme Hick, batting at three, made 405 not out after Worcestershire had fallen to 132-5, on a pitch where Somerset were then bowled out for 222 and 192. He didn’t play his first Test until June 1991.

That would be quite the wait at the best of times, but this was not the best of times. England gave debuts to the likes of Tim Curtis, Rob Bailey and John Stephenson in the intervening period and won only four of their 27 Tests – one of which required Graham Gooch’s 333.

So when Hick did finally arrive and didn’t quite turn out to be what we all expected, many of us were prepared to keep watching. We talked ourselves into believing the talking car might yet arrive and every now and again we’d hear Mr Feeny’s distinctive timbre on the wind and convince ourselves the ‘Turbo Boost’ button was on the cusp of being pressed.

Hick’s first Test hundred was 178 against India at the Wankhede. India still won by an innings though, thanks to Vinod Kambli and England’s other batters. He only made five other tons (plus the infamous 98 not out).

The last of those was 101 against the country of his birth. It came in the first Test Zimbabwe ever played in England in the summer of 2000. Most of those runs were made in partnership with Stewart, who made 124 not out.

England secured an innings victory, in large part because…

2. Ed Giddins got wickets

Zimbabwe were still relatively new to Test cricket in 2000. We can convey just how new by setting a couple of stats alongside each other.

When they were bowled out for 83 in the first innings of the match, it was their second lowest Test total. That same innings also featured their then record sixth wicket stand between Neil Johnson and Guy Whittall. They made 19 runs together. That is not a typo.

These days Giddins is best remembered for his batting, which Cricinfo’s Martin Williamson described as “in the sub-rabbit class”. On his debut, he came in below not just Alan Mullally, but also Phil Tufnell. (One of the defining moments of England’s 90s cricket.)

He’s also remembered for cocaine and betting bans. Reporting on the former, Christopher Martin-Jenkins wrote that, “The committee rejected Giddins’ contention that he had ingested the drug inadvertently…”

This was his second Test appearance and he took 5-15 in the first innings, beginning a new tradition of peripheral, second-choice bowlers taking a load of cheap wickets against Zimbabwe and no-one knowing how to value those performances.

He played two more Tests: the second and final Test of the series and the next one, against the West Indies, when he failed to take a wicket. At this point, his full name was revealed to be Edward Simon Hunter Giddins. Upon learning that he had two full names, England dropped him.

3. Chris Schofield got a game but not wickets

One man who didn’t get a bowl in that same Test match we are somehow still talking about, even though we’ve reached the third entry of six, was Chris Schofield, the young Lancashire leg-spinner wrongly perceived as promising because no-one had really seen him bowl.

There was, at the time, huge desire to unearth a leg-spinner, so it didn’t seem too mad to pick a 21-year-old. After failing to get an over in his first match, Schofield progressed to merely failing to get a wicket in his second and never played Test cricket again.

He did however play four T20 internationals in the span of six days, seven years later at the 2007 T20 World Cup – which England did not win. (Their 15-man squad also included James Kirtley, Darren Maddy, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Owais Shah, Jeremy Snape and Vikram Solanki, which gives some sense how England approached the shortest format in those days. Solanki, who was not a wicketkeeper, kept wicket in one game.)

4. Richard Johnson got wickets

Fast forward to the futuristic year of 2003 and England reprised their Giddins trick for the second Test. This time Richard Johnson was the stalwart county seamer promoted to show what he could do – a mere nine years after making a name for himself by taking all 10 wickets in an innings for Middlesex against Derbyshire.

Embed from Getty Images

What Johnson could do was skittle the tourists for 94 by taking 6-33. Yet somehow the 0-67 he managed in the second innings always loomed larger. In any case, a knee injury then ended his summer.

Recalled for his second Test, against Bangladesh in Chattogram later in the year, he took 5-49 and 4-44. This earned him just enough credit to get a third game, against Sri Lanka, a month later, where 1-54 and 0-28 pretty much did for him.

5. Anthony McGrath got wickets (and runs)

Anthony McGrath exited Test cricket with a batting average in excess of 40 and a bowling average under 15. He secured this against Zimbabwe.

Embed from Getty Images

Batting at seven in the Johnson Test, the not-really-an-all-rounder-in-any-meaningful-sense top scored with 81, having previously made 69 in his only innings in the first Test.

It was also in that first Test that he took all four of his Test wickets, including 3-16 in the second innings, where he formed one half of an unlikely strike-bowling partnership with Mark Butcher. Why have early season wickets against Zimbabwe not always been given much weight? Butcher and McGrath combining for 7-76, that’s why.

Although really the match was settled in the first innings when…

6. James Anderson got wickets

Sometimes early season wickets against Zimbabwe are significant, aren’t they? This fella James Anderson made his debut at Lord’s in 2003 and immediately took a five-for.

He took 0-65 in the second when Butcher and McGrath ran riot.

Who knows what anything means?

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The post Zimbabwe in England: six lessons from history for those not old enough to remember this kind of thing first appeared on King Cricket.

Related posts:

1. The Awkwardest Squad: Why the 96/97 “flippin’ murdered ’em” tour of Zimbabwe was peak 90s England (a net bowler’s story)
2. Zimbabwe not quite so bad, West Indies still really rather bad indeed
3. Australia lose to Zimbabwe

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Reports, reaction & round-up: May 17-18

Power Rankin puts Sefton to the sword as Liverpool lay down a marker

Liverpool on their way to wrapping up a big win at Sefton Park

A mischievous social media post on Friday contrasted Hill Dickinson’s naming rights deal for Everton’s new ground with their sponsorship of Liverpool CC.

The text, written by a Toffees-loving Liverpool member, claimed the city’s leading football club and its leading cricket club were sharing a sponsor.

One of those claims has to go down as dubious; the other, for the time being, is settled. 

Displays of top-flight quality from Rob Rankin and Finn Hulbert blew Sefton Park away and claimed local bragging rights, showing the sort of class that ensures Liverpool will themselves be taken seriously as promotion contenders in Division One. 

Former Ormskirk man Rankin flayed a brutal unbeaten 153 from 86 balls featuring 18 fours and eight sixes – 120 in boundaries.

It was his first hundred since joining the club last year and his first for anyone since July 2021.

He did it in the sunshine, in front of a healthy crowd at Croxteth Drive, and he did it to make it four wins from four games for Liverpool.

Skipper Jared Clein said: “I don’t think it could have gone any better. Rob’s innings was the best I’ve seen at the club, by a mile.

“It was actually doing a bit early on, though Rob made it look like it wasn’t.

“We’ve spoken a lot about building a platform and setting things up for the likes of him to come in and score quickly, and we did that well today.”

After Clein won the toss, the first hour was slow going but once Sefton’s opening pair of Huzaifa Zubair and Jimmy Dixon had been seen off for the loss of two wickets, Rankin hit the gas.

Dropped at backward point in the 30th over as the score passed 100, he decided to teach Sefton a lesson. 

Naimat Karyab disappeared over long-on for a six that was still rising as it smacked into a tree, then four successive fours off Mark Chappell and two sixes off Abishek Jagan took him into the 90s.

If there were nerves, they didn’t show – Jagan disappeared through mid-off to bring up three figures, which Rankin celebrated with another huge six. 

Alex Harper had batted with growing freedom and assurance in Rankin’s slipstream, bringing up his 50 with a clip through mid-wicket off Jagan, but ran past Chappell on 60 with the stand at 139.

But if Sefton thought they were over the worst, Hulbert had other ideas – Chappell in particular came in for some stick as the former Leigh all-rounder raced to 36 off just 10 balls. Clein said Hulbert had asked to go in, promising a swift 50 – nine balls later, he had delivered.

By now, Zubair had returned, but the sixes continued to rain – one over mid-wicket brought up Rankin’s 150 just before Clein put a stop to the fun on 295/3.

The pitch was behaving, the outfield rock-hard and one of the boundaries short. 

But as soon as Hulbert located his radar with the ball, the outcome was beyond doubt.

Haroon Khan perished to a slog, trying to repeat an earlier six, before Hulbert found line, length and a little extra bounce to bruise the outside edges of Ben Percival, James Stirling and Matt Young. 

Skipper Paul Horton held the last of the hosts’ dwindling hopes; when he became a second LBW victim for Reece Kelly, it was 59/6 and the gig was up.

Sefton’s best bowlers were also their best batters – Zubair, tall and left-handed, managed to see off Hulbert, before Dixon punched a few fours to earn a batting bonus point.

But Aussie wicketkeeper Josh Sawel pulled off two stumpings – one a lightning leg-side effort – to round off a perfect display in the field.

Clein said he hoped the performance and result were a sign of things to come.

He added: “The bowling was excellent, and we took every chance in the field.

“We’ve started the season really well. It’s only early days but the signs are good.”

Love Lane Liverpool Competition results

ECB Premier Division

Mattie McKiernan fired his Leigh side to the top of the league with an unbeaten 132, which set up an 85-run win over Wigan.

From 137/5, McKiernan and Adam Shallcross put on an unbroken stand of 147, Shallcross finishing on 53. Shallcross then claimed 6/62 to make sure Wigan finished well short.

Firwood Bootle’s impressive start to the season continued as they became the first side to avoid defeat against champions Ormskirk. In a see-saw game, Sagar Trivedi took 5/51 to reduce the visitors from 70/0 to 119/7; Tom Brown’s 51 enabled them to post 223/9.

In reply, Bootle’s top six all passed 20 but none topped Ivan Kriek’s 47; from 177/5, they slid to 183/9, before the last pair of Jhangir Liaqat and Joe Adderley helped them to close just 17 runs short.

Chris Laker’s unbeaten 115 set up a convincing win for Northern at Colwyn Bay. Helped by Stephen Lucas’s 73, Laker was able to declare on 240/5 before Tom Sephton’s 5/75 – his third five-for in four league games this season – sealed a 62-run win. It would have been more comprehensive but for Charlie Collins’ 58 from number 10.

Wallasey’s Evan Withe made his first century for the club to help set up their 158-run win at Rainford. Backed up by Connor Windell’s maiden 1st XI half-century, Withe’s 116 led the visitors to 257; in the second half, Matty Keogh took 5/24 as the hosts crumbled.

Andrew Clarke also tonned up for the first time for Birkenhead Park, but his 103 could not prevent defeat at Formby. Ian Cockbain made 75 as the hosts chased 172 with three wickets to spare.

It was slow going at Rainhill, where Newton-le-Willows closed out for a draw at 172/4 in response to 233, neither side close to victory. Ben Walkden took a career-best 7/57 for the visitors while Khalid Usman made 82 for the hosts; Chris Schofield and Chris Chambers made half-centuries in the second half.

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Division One

New Brighton earned their first win since their relegation, and inflicted Southport & Birkdale’s first defeat since theirs. 

Off-spinner Sheshan Silva was the star, claiming 6/52 after the hosts compiled a painstaking 167/8 in 60 overs – Sri Lankan pro Damitha Silva the top scorer with 67.

Hightown St Marys are still looking for their first win after earning promotion, after Old Xaverians held their nerve in a low-scoring encounter. Defending 126 after Matt White’s 6/44, Colin Gibson took 5/31 to earn the Woolton side their first win of the season.

Spring View got the better of a tight encounter with Highfield to keep up their good start. Skipper Lewis Matthews took 4/5 as the visitors slumped from 122/5 to 146 all out; view got home with two wickets to spare despite Jamie Darbyshire’s best efforts.

Sam Heeley took 6/72 to earn an 83-run win for Orrell Red Triangle over Sutton. Mark Waddington top-scored with 79 in the hosts’ 240/7.

An eighth-wicket stand of 51 between skipper Ryan Norris and veteran Anthony Mulligan earned Lytham victory over Maghull. 

Love Lane Liverpool Competition tables

Division Two

Ainsdale skipper Oli Green made 47 to rescue his side from 6/4 as they chased 112 against Parkfield Liscard to keep up their winning start to the season.

Caldy join them on four wins after overhauling Prestatyn’s 140 with seven wickets to spare. Kieron Battersby made 59 for the Wirral side, after Rohan Sanjaya took 6/65; Andy Taylor carried his bat for 60 for the Welshmen.

Jac Kennedy made his second century of the season for Northop Hall as they chased 225 for a seven-wicket win at Fleetwood Hesketh. Andrew Watkin joined the former Northern man in an opening stand of 143, after Nathan Condon’s 89 and Jonny Howard’s unbeaten 79 set the target. 

Aussie batter Liam Sherriff made 101 as Southport Trinity chased 201 for an eight-wicket win at Whitefield. Seam Cragg’s 5/53 did the damage in the first half, while home skipper Ben Ashcroft finished unbeaten on 49 from number 11, with Karl Gerrard run out after a last-wicket stand of 77.

Prescot & Odyssey closed nine down and 20 shy of Wavertree’s 237/6. Hedley Molyneux made 63 in the chase, while Prateek Agnihotri took 5/61; earlier, Chris Heath made an unbeaten 78 for the visitors.

Norley Hall and St Helens Town shared the spoils, the Wigan side finishing on 183/7 chasing 220. Callum Martlew took 5/50 for Hall, while Jamie Ellis top-scored with 64 for Town.

Love Lane Liverpool Competition statistics

Sunday

Lancashire Cup Round 1

Joint holders Ormskirk crashed out to last year’s other finalists Prestwich in a low-scoring encounter.

Former skipper Nicky Caunce, playing his first 1st XI game since 2022, took 4/15 to restrict the Greater Manchester Cricket League side to 110, but a run-out in the first over set the tone as the visitors slipped to 52/6.

The biggest stand of the match – 47, between Ian Robinson and Sam Marsh – took Ormskirk to the brink of victory, but the last four wickets fell for just four runs.

Northern progressed to round 2 with a 44-run win over Darwen, set up by half-centuries for Liam Grey, Tyler McGladdery and Chris Laker, and confirmed by Greg Liebenberg’s 5/49. 

After an opening stand of 105 in 22.2 overs, the visitors were in the game chasing 258, but Northern put the squeeze on and kept them behind the rate. Their reward is a trip to Prestwich.

Formby are the Love Lane Liverpool Competition’s other representatives in round 2 after Jack Carney followed up his maiden Lancashire 2nd XI century with a first ton for his new club, against Shireshead & Forton. 

Carney’s 120, backed up by 79 from Michael Booth and 50 from Ian Cockbain, set a target of 332 which the visitors never looked like reaching. Cockbain’s side will host Westmorland league side Appleby Eden next.

There was no joy for the other Comp sides. Rainford’s 139/9 wasn’t enough against Blackpool, and Prescot & Odyssey spent the day chasing leather as Longridge piled on 343/7.

Southport league side Cheshire Lines also bowed out, dismissed for 97 against Padiham.

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Thunder Cup Group 2

Leigh will play in the semi-finals of the new competition after a 60-run win over Leyland. 

Aussie Lucy Page made 67 and Sophie Heaton 51 in their 219; Peyton Hulme then took three of the last four wickets, which yielded just five runs, to secure the win. 

Sefton Park, however, will not qualify from the group after Lindow openers Heidi Cheadle and Holly Topp put on a clinic at Croxteth Drive.

Both made centuries in a stand of 270, the innings eventually closing on 381/5; in reply, despite Emilia Lamb’s 94 and Alice Kelly’s 49, the hosts fell well short.

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Home win for South Liverpool as cricket returns to Wirral village after eight years

Players and officials of South Liverpool and Caldy on the pitch at Torr Park, Eastham, ahead of their game on Sunday, May 11

A 172-year-old village cricket ground without a club, a fast-growing club without a home… it’s a match made in heaven for Eastham and South Liverpool CC.

A journey which began with a scroll on Google Earth had its first major milestone on Saturday, when South Liverpool’s 2nd XI took on Caldy’s 3rd XI at Toor Park.

It was the first competitive match in the Wirral village for eight years – the club’s cricket development officer, Azam Udayar, hopes it’s the start of something special.

Since forming in 2018, South Liverpool have made waves in the Love Lane Liverpool Competition’s 3rd XI leagues, winning their Sunday league at the first attempt before switching to Saturday cricket.

They earned promotion to the 3rd XI Premier Division in 2022 and have finished second and third since then. 

The club has expanded to three open sides and two women’s.

But as a nomadic club – currently renting space at Northern’s Moor Park – they are limited in how far they can go.

So Udayar was tasked with finding a home. Last February, he was speaking to Wirral council’s Ally Noonan about the Bebington Oval, when something caught his eye.

He says: “She was telling me the bottom pitch at Port Sunlight might be available, so I was on Google Earth looking at that, and I just saw what looked like a square in Toor Park.

“I pushed the time back to 2012 and the square was there, then pushed forward to now and it disappeared. 

“I asked what it was, and Ally said it was no longer in use. So I just said can we have it? She said obviously it will take a lot of work.

“Straight away I spoke to Jason Gooding, who is the director of neighbourhood services for Wirral, and he was so helpful – he just said go for it.

“I went down to take a look and it didn’t look like a cricket pitch, it was knee-high with grass. 

“Nobody had done anything with it because they were using it as a dog park.”

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The pitch used to be home to Eastham CC, which folded in 2017.

But Udayar saw past the grass – and whatever the dogs had left – and saw potential.

He and the club set to work on the ground, and on renovating the old clubhouse.

This year, groundsman Stuart McCall, who already works with Birkenhead Park, Maritime and Oxton on the Wirral, came on board to finish off the square.

And last week – just 15 months after Udayar’s first enquiry – cricket returned to Eastham.

A T20 friendly was held to make sure the pitch played well, before the historic visit of Caldy.

South Liverpool made 237/6 in 41 overs, with half-centuries for Abhishek Appankunju and Akhila Mohanan, setting up a 135-run win.

But the real victory was being there at all.

“It was playing really well, better than I thought,” said Udayar.

“It kept low a few times but that’s expected, it’s the first game in eight years.”

The Comp’s structure is changing next year with the absorption of the Southport & District Amateur Cricket League. 

Clubs like South Liverpool, Liverpool Superkings and Merseyside Sports & Cultural Club, who currently play in the Comp’s 3rd XI structure, are set to join the SADACL clubs in a new division of the Comp.

This integration will open up opportunities for the nomadic clubs, but also present challenges, and Udayar is keen not to rush in. South Liverpool’s 1st XI will remain at Northern for the time being.

“We are moving gradually,” Udayar said.

“The change that’s coming in will affect the 1st XI, because we might need to make a bit of a step up. 

“We are competitive and our players are very capable. Having the pitch in play now puts us in a good position for the future. 

“Once we’re confident that it’s going to play to a good enough standard, then we will bring the other teams in – whether that’s next season or the season after, or whenever. 

“We are being very careful so the interest in cricket is not lost because of the playing facilities.

“We’re playing only one team there to start with. We don’t want to overload the pitch, so we thought we’d do a gradual transition. 

“But eventually we’ll be able to move the other teams there.”

Love Lane Liverpool Competition results & Fixtures

Even that will not be the end of the journey.

In common with other nomadic sides in Merseyside, most of South Liverpool’s 76 members are from the South Asian background community. 

The club does not currently have a junior section. But as it grows, and gets the rare opportunity to put down roots, Udayar’s vision is of becoming part of the furniture in Eastham.

He says: “We want junior cricket, so the idea is to fill a junior section with children local to Eastham. 

“And we’re going to try to recruit coaches locally. That will form a pathway for players to come through.”

Udayar is keen to thank the league for their support, along with Ally Noonan, Jason Gooding, Matthew Humble, Darran Marquis, Carl Davies and Mike Penny from Wirral council, Lancashire Cricket Foundation’s Paul Morris, and David Allen and Stephen Bailey from the Eastham Village Preservation Association.

The EVPA welcomed the club in its latest newsletter, delighted that the field was now a “field with a purpose”.

Udayar adds: “The locals are loving it – some of them are quite emotional to have cricket back there. 

“And what they’ve said in their newsletter was very moving for us.”

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