Caldy and Fleetwood Hesketh ready for Division Two showdown after perfect starts

Something has to give when Caldy host Fleetwood Hesketh on Saturday, with both sides having made a perfect start to the season in Division Two. 

The Wirral side racked up 200+ against Norley Hall and Prescot & Odyssey, before dismissing both sides for less than 100.

Fleetwood, on the other hand, have gone about things a slightly harder way – but have a slight edge in bonus points, putting them top of the nascent league table.

Captain Andy Bate was on square leg umpire duty when his side lost two wickets to the first seven balls of the season at Prestatyn, before bouncing back to win by 93 runs.

He credits a change in approach in training, inspired by New Zealander Nathan Condon, with inspiring the turnaround.

“I looked down at my feet and thought ‘here we go again’,” he said of the poor start.

“But the way the batting order pulled together reflects the way we’ve been practising – we bat in pairs in nets now, and treat it like a match situation. 

“The opening batters will face the opening bowlers for four overs, and we rotate it.

“Nathan is settling in well, he has to adapt to English conditions – he got out on Saturday and told me he played a New Zealand shot on an English wicket. 

“Hopefully, he’ll adapt and learn. He looks a very talented batter.”

At home to local rivals Southport Trinity in the second week, Fleetwood suffered a wobble at the other end of the match – chasing 151, they slumped from 122/3 to 133/9 before the last pair of Derek Sykes and Jonny Howard got them home.

Bate added: “I wasn’t at square leg for that but I was in all different positions, I couldn’t sit still. Changing rooms, balcony, picnic bench…”

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It has all been a bit more serene for Caldy skipper Mike Grealis. Big innings from Harry Beddard against Norley and Sri Lankan Rohan Sanjaya at Prescot set the tone, with supporting hands from Adam Brown in both cases.

Sanjaya and seamer Sadeep Saputantrige, signed from Parkfield Liscard over the winter, then finished both jobs, taking 17 of the 20 wickets between them.

Grealis said: “It’s the perfect way that we want to win, to put runs on the board then get some early wickets, and bowl the opposition out for less than 100. 

“Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come.

“Rohan’s a really good all-round cricketer. It’s the model we like – 10 lads that pay their subs, and one pro to be the match-winner and for the rest of us to play around, and so far it’s worked.

“Sadeep has been picking up wickets in his opening spells and that sort of kills the game if you’ve got 200 on the board.

“He bowls stump-to-stump at a decent pace and does a little bit with it, and it’s where batters don’t want it early on.”

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Having already defeated two well-fancied sides, Grealis is expecting another tough game on Saturday against Fleetwood, who were relegated from Division One last year.

“Fleetwood are going to be strong, they know what they’re doing at this level,” he said.

“But when I looked at these first three games, I would probably have taken two wins, so it’s exciting to see if we can get a third and really put a marker down.”

Bate added: “Saturday is going to be a massive task for us. But if we get runs on the board, I know we’ve got the bowlers to defend them. 

“And with two wins, the pressure is off a little bit – if we were going into this with two losses then it’d look very different. But it’s been a positive start.”

from Merseyside Cricket Online https://ift.tt/Q4wn1hF