Are R Ashwin and Cheteshwar Pujara coming to some random league near you?

3 minute read

R Ashwin has retired from the IPL so that he can play in overseas leagues. It strikes us that the wording of Cheteshwar Pujara’s recent announcement was conspicuously specific too, stating that he was retiring from “all forms of Indian cricket.” What are your plans, lads?

“They say every ending will have a new start,” Ashwin posted on social media. “My time as an IPL cricketer comes to a close today but my time as an explorer of the game around various leagues begins today.”

Ashwin has most recently been turning out for the marvellously named Dindigul Dragons in the Tamil Nadu Premier League, for whom he is Dennis Watermanning as coach, captain, opening batter and number one bowler.

R Ashwin: thinker, destroyer, weirdo

We’re unaware of any formal links between the Dragons and any teams/franchises elsewhere in the world so it perhaps makes more sense to look to his IPL team to see whether there’s anywhere obvious he might be heading next. (The Boland T20 league’s Drakenstein Dragons appear to be unaffilliated with Dindigul – which is a shame, because who wouldn’t want to play for a team that sounds like a chimera of two of horror’s greatest monsters – or even three, if you include the dragon?)

Chennai Super Kings are owned by the same company that owns Joburg Super Kings in the SA20 and Texas Super Kings in Major League Cricket, so our guess is that Ashwin will be exploring these super kingdoms.

But Pujara? His T20 credentials are famously weak. He played 30 IPL matches and the last one was in 2014. His career strike-rate in the competition was slower than a run a ball. Does anyone want him?

Cheteshwar Pujara is trying to sidle out on the sly – but we ain’t gonna let him, are we?

If there’s one thing you can be sure of, it’s that there’s no shortage of T20 franchise competitions. It is a barrel with no visible bottom to scrape. You can always go deeper. There is, however, a shortage of players. Pujara could, therefore, if he wanted, strap on some scuba gear and plunge down deep for a contract with the Morrisville Raptors or the Golden State Grizzlies in Minor League Cricket, or with the Lumbini Lions or the Karnali Yaks in the Nepal Premier League.

This seems unlikely. He could instead be lining up a full season of county cricket or something, or maybe he has no plans and simply specified “all forms of Indian cricket” to leave the door open for some staggeringly unlikely and currently unimaginable future development.

That would be very uncharacteristic for a man who is beyond meticulous in the way he goes about things. Ashwin (genuinely) once said of Pujara that he would set an alarm for 7.30 to have an apple, and when it went off, he’d have an apple.

How popular are all these Not-Quite-The-IPL franchise leagues actually likely to be?

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The post Are R Ashwin and Cheteshwar Pujara coming to some random league near you? first appeared on King Cricket.

Related posts:

1. It didn’t rain, it was just Cheteshwar Pujara
2. Cheteshwar Pujara shows India aren’t short of batsmen
3. Cheteshwar Pujara brings a future of runs

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Lancashire Knockout & Ray Tyler Cup finals… LIVE!

Join Tom Evans for over-by-over commentary on the all-Comp clash between Formby and Northern from Blackpool CC. Plus updates from the Ray Tyler Cup final between Sefton Park and Spring View.

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Lancashire Cup final: Northern’s star all-rounder Liam Grey faces the future rather than dwelling on happy memories

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

Liam Grey says he’s not looking for omens as Northern head into Sunday’s Lancashire Cup final – but if he did, they would all be good.

Two of Grey’s three centuries this year have come against their opponents, Formby.

And he hit a matchwinning unbeaten 118 against Longridge the last time Northern reached this stage of the competition, in 2023.

But he insists he will step out at Blackpool CC on Sunday with his eyes firmly on the immediate future, rather than the past.

“I’m just going into it with an open mind and just playing the day that’s in front of me,” he said.

“Rather than thinking back, I’ll play it as a fresh game and try to give us the best opportunity to win the Lancs Cup. 

“Formby are obviously a fantastic team with some really dangerous cricketers, and I won’t be thinking, oh yeah, I’ve done well against these previously.

“They beat us in the league, we beat them in the National, and we drew against them the weekend just gone – every game we’ve played, it’s been a very tight game. 

“We’ve traded blow for blow, basically. So it’s set to be a very, very good game of cricket.”

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As an all-rounder who tends to open with both bat and ball, Grey is usually front and centre of Northern’s achievements. 

Monday’s ECHO Cup finals day was no exception – he struck with the first ball in both games as the Crosby side won the T20 trophy for the fourth time.

Grey also went for just 24 runs all day from his eight overs, most of them in the power plays.

He said: “You can’t dream of starting a bowling innings any better. 

“In the T20 stuff, I’ve struggled a little bit this year and been quite expensive, so it’s really nice to go on and get a couple of wickets and then also go for three an over for the day.

“So it was nice to sort of get into a bit of rhythm leading into this weekend.”

The forecast for Sunday is not great, raising the possibility of the 45-over final being shortened.

As last year’s national T20 champions, and with the ECHO Cup in their back pocket, Northern will be well prepared.

Grey said: “We’ll go into Sunday expecting to play a full game, and then it’s just a case of adapting as and when we need to. 

“We’ve got enough talent within our team to be able to adapt to pretty much every situation, I’d say.”

Northern have a home league game against Wallasey to warm up for Sunday.

Ormskirk are 32 points clear in their quest for a third successive title, but James Cole’s side are not ready to give up just yet, with four games to go.

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And with Northern heading to Leigh for the Ray Digman Trophy final a week on Sunday, they could yet end the season with four pieces of silverware.

It all makes for a busy and intense time for the players – but it’s nothing they’re not used to.

“To be fair, I’ve been pretty relaxed,” Grey said.

“We’ve only had Saturday cricket, because we were out of both national cups, so we found ourselves throughout August having a good few Sundays off, which is a little bit different to last year.

“In recent years we’ve found ourselves going pretty deep in a lot of cup competitions. 

“So it does get pretty intense. But at the end of the day, this is why we do it. 

“We play for Northern because we want to be playing these games later on in the season, because if you’re not, then you’re not having much success. 

“There is the potential of four trophies at the end of the season. 

“We’ve got the ECHO in the bag, there’s Sunday and then the following Sunday and then the league is a bit of a long shot, but there is always the potential, you just never know.”

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Lancashire Cup final: Four-time winner Cockbain keen to pass on ruthless mentality to Formby’s young players

Ian Cockbain hits a six on his way to 101* against Northern in June
Pictures by RAY HIBBS

Formby are preparing for a big trip to Blackpool – but for captain Ian Cockbain it will be anything but a seaside jolly.

Cockbain leads his side into their first ever Lancashire Cup final against Northern on Sunday, in a competition he won four years in a row in the 2000s with Bootle.

Since those silver-studded days playing under his late, great father, Cockbain has gone on to have a successful career with Gloucestershire, along with several T20 outfits around the world.

And with Formby boasting a clutch of young players hoping to make it into the professional game, he reckons part of his job is making sure they all have a ruthless love of winning.

He said: “It was such an amazing team to be part of, and that sort of just instilled that winning habit into me. 

“It wasn’t a case of it was a big day out for the club, we were there to win it and if we didn’t win it, it was seen as a failure. 

“Not just the Lancashire Cup but also the league and the other cups as well.

“In terms of the local stuff, we pretty much won everything a number of times. 

“So for me that’s what I’m trying to instil into the club. 

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“It’s not just about this game on Sunday, it’s about getting the lads prepared for winning and it being an expectation to win, not just a nice day out.

“If you haven’t got that winning instinct, you’re going to find it quite tough to have a long career. 

“So for me, that’s my biggest goal for their development – getting that mindset right for them to carry them forward into the professional game.”

Despite a disappointing ECHO Cup finals day on Monday – Formby lost their semi-final to Widnes, stumbling at the line after bossing the run chase – the mood around the club is positive ahead of Sunday.

“From the club’s point of view it’ll be awesome to get over the line and get that major silverware,” said Cockbain.

“It’s probably the biggest game in the club’s history.

“Everyone’s pretty chilled to be honest, everyone’s really excited but not getting overly worked up, which is quite nice.

“We’re going to have a decent number of people watching, and I’m sure Northern will probably bring quite a few as well, so it should be a really good atmosphere.”

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Promising top-order batter Lucas Kennedy will be available on Sunday, and Cockbain is hopeful Ollie Sutton will be able to play some part, possibly just as a batter, as Lancashire manage a shoulder injury.

Cockbain added: “We’re just sort of waiting to see on Ollie. 

“We’re hoping that he’ll be able to play at least as a batter, he’s just carrying a little bit of a knock from a couple of weeks ago.”

An all-Comp final – only the second in the Lancashire Cup’s history – is a source of pride for everyone involved in the league, which has dominated the competition over the past three decades.

Cockbain himself has been in outstanding form this year, needing just five runs to reach 2,000 in all competitions. 

Three meetings with Northern so far have yielded two centuries, so he’s relishing another high-pressure encounter with one of the best bowling attacks in club cricket.

He said: “The Comp is probably one of the strongest leagues not just in Lancashire, but across the country as well. 

“We know what Northern’s strengths and weaknesses are. They know what our strengths and weaknesses are. 

“So it’s going to be a bit of a game of cat and mouse. 

“And I guess whoever plays to their strengths the best on the day will probably come out on top.”

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Lancashire Cup final: 1999 hero David Snellgrove looks back on the match that started the Comp’s glory days

David Snellgrove batting for Southport & Birkdale
Picture by ANGUS MATHESON

The past 30 years have been an era of dominance for the Love Lane Liverpool Competition in the Lancashire Cup.

In that time, the Comp has provided 11 outright winners, eight beaten finalists and two joint winners.

The Northern Premier League and the North West Cricket League are joint second for wins, with five each, while the Lancashire League has 13 finalists in total – a distant second to the Comp’s 21.

Since 1994, only 10 Lancashire Cup finals have taken place without a representative from the Comp.

With that in mind, it is strange that Sunday’s meeting of Northern and Formby will be only the second all-Comp final in the competition’s 53-year history.

The previous occasion came in 1999, just as the league was beginning to flex its muscles. 

Last 30 Lancashire Cup finals…

Year	Winners	Runners-up
1994	Rochdale	Darwen
1995	Kendal	Walkden
1996	Blackpool	Widnes
1997	St Annes	Bootle
1998	Westhoughton	Bootle
1999	Ormskirk	Sefton Park
2000	Netherfield	Ormskirk
2001	Tonge	Ormskirk
2002	Walkden	Kearsley
2003	Walkden	Wallasey
2004	Bootle	Westhoughton
2005	Bootle	Greenmount
2006	Bootle	Darwen
2007	Bootle	Greenmount
2008	Walkden	Farnworth Social Circle
2009	Bootle	Egerton
2010	Farnworth	Denton St Lawrence
2011	Greenmount	Walkden
2012	Bamford Fieldhouse	Northern
2013	Northern	Bamford Fieldhouse
2014	Ormskirk	Norden
2015	Bootle	Littleborough
2016	Denton West	Farnworth
2017	Lowerhouse & Ormskirk
2018	Darwen	Clifton
2019	Norden	Darwen
2021	Ormskirk	Burnley
2022	Longridge	Ormskirk
2023	Northern	Longridge
2024	Ormskirk & Prestwich

Ormskirk met Sefton Park in a washout at Old Trafford, then in a replay the following week at Brook Lane. 

And Comp legend David Snellgrove, who as Ormskirk captain ended up both lifting the trophy and taking home the player of the match award, remembers it like it was yesterday.

“It was a special time,” he says.

“There was a lot of buzz around the club that Ormskirk had got to the final for only the second time, and we hadn’t done it for a long while.

“It was a big thing for the club, and from a Comp point of view, it was definitely very unusual to have two sides from the same league.

“Just like this time around, with Northern and Formby, it was a fantastic achievement to get there.”

Sefton – including a 16-year-old Paul Horton – set a target of 165 before rain again threatened proceedings. 

Snellgrove and David Whittaker came together at 37/3 and knew they needed to up the rate – in the 23rd over, the last before the rain closed in, they edged in front.

“Kevin Burns, who was already out, was in position by the scoreboard,” recalls Snellgrove.

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“He was passing on messages to us of how many we needed to be on at the end of the next over. 

“I think it was just the straight run rate at the time.

“Prior to Duckworth-Lewis-Stern being plastered all over the scoreboards, we needed to know if we had one more over, how many more we needed.

“I think we needed five off the last over… we got a single then I hit a four. We came off at the end of that over, never to get back on.”

Snellgrove finished on 42 not out, to go with his economical spell of nine overs for just 24 runs.

He adds: “It was not an ideal way to finish the game, but we couldn’t control that, we just had to make sure we were in front.

“It was a very pleasing time because we hadn’t had a great deal of success in the immediate previous years, and it was the start of one or two trophies around that time.”

Ormskirk in fact reached the next two Lancs Cup finals, losing to Netherfield and Tonge.

But Snellgrove’s love affair with the competition had only just begun. 

In 2004, he hit 111 at Old Trafford as Bootle beat Westhoughton by 127 runs.

It was the start of a streak of five wins in six seasons for a Wadham Road side led by the late, great Ian Cockbain – whose son will lead Formby on Sunday.

But even during that run, they never faced another Comp side. Leigh made the semis in 2004 but were paired with Bootle, while Ormskirk met with the same fate in 2006 at the same time as Huyton lost to Darwen.

Three Comp sides – Leigh, Northern and Ormskirk – also made the semi-finals in 2022, but it was Longridge who emerged victorious.

“It is surprising that it hasn’t happened since,” says Snellgrove. “But it’s all about the luck of the draw, and how the draw takes shape.”

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Another chance for luck to intervene comes with the weather. Ormskirk and Prestwich started but couldn’t finish twice last year, and Sunday’s forecast for Blackpool is worryingly uncertain at this stage.

But assuming the clouds manage to cross their legs for an afternoon, the final promises to be a fine advert for the club game, and for the Comp.

Snellgrove, who says he is still enjoying his cricket at Southport & Birkdale, says he will be making the journey up the coast.

He adds: “I think it’ll be intriguing. Northern have got recent history of doing very well in knockout cricket.

“They seem to be a very, very strong outfit, very well drilled, seem to know their roles and they’re a very, very good cup side and have been for a number of years.

“Formby are sort of the new kids on the block in terms of the success they are having this year – winning the Comp T20.

“Coey has been scoring thousands of runs and batting very, very well, and they’ve got many other very talented players.

“If they’re all available, they’ve got a very strong side.” 

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Cheteshwar Pujara is trying to sidle out on the sly – but we ain’t gonna let him, are we?

7 minute read

“It’s going to be hot. It’s going to be flat. Who’s going to break first? Is it going to be us, or is it going to be them?” That’s what Justin Langer asked his team midway through the Boxing Day Test during the 2018/19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The answer was unequivocal, but it didn’t reveal itself quickly.

Sometimes, you’re at a party. This is a dreadful thing obviously, but from time to time it happens to the best of us. In these situations, with all sorts of people milling around all over the place, it’s easy to overlook one person’s exit if they don’t choose to make a big song and dance out of it. It feels a little like Cheteshwar Pujara went to get a drink two hours ago and you’ve only just realised he never came back.

Finality

Pujara played the 2023 World Test Championship final and scored 14 and 27. He was dropped for the following series, much to the bafflement of Sunil Gavaskar, but nevertheless carried on scoring first-class hundreds for Saurashtra and Sussex. His name therefore semi-regularly cropped up in connection to the India Test team until it gradually became apparent that a recall definitely wasn’t going to happen. It wasn’t until this week that he actually called it a day.

This is not an unusual way to bow out, but in Pujara’s case the effect was exacerbated by the years that preceded it. Pujara averaged in the 20s in 2020, 2021 and 2023 and it took an unbeaten hundred against Bangladesh to drag his 2022 average into the 40s. Some of this was dwindling form; a fair bit of it was that India played on a lot of pitches that offered serious assistance to spinners. Either way, this period rather knackered up both his overall record and also our memories of his capabilities.

Long play record

But take a look at that record and what do you think? It’s more substantial than you perhaps imagine. A fella who scored 19 hundreds in 103 Tests at an average of 43.60 is keeping some very respectable company. Remember as well that this is including the shit bit at the end. Karthik Krishnaswamy points out that at the end of the 2018-19 Australia tour, Pujara was averaging 51.18 from 68 Tests with 18 hundreds. That’s really, really, really good.

That one last ton in Chattogram moved Pujara ahead of players like David Gower and Desmond Haynes in the all-time list and up alongside Len Hutton, Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge and Mark Taylor. (Mike Hussey and Azhar Ali are also on 19, but that only makes the feat seem less impressive, so we’ll not talk about them. Ross Taylor rounds out the list, but it doesn’t feel like Ross pushes perceptions either way – 19 Test hundreds seems about right for him – so he also fails to earn a non-parenthetical mention.)

Another reference point is that Pujara finished two hundreds ahead of VVS Laxman – a man whose nickname was Very Very Special. Laxman was sort of famous for not scoring too many hundreds because he tended to bat at five or six, but even so, if you’d asked us before we started this article which of the two men hit more hundreds, we’d have gone for VVS.

Laxman’s reputation was of course massively bolstered by The Innings. ‘Bolstered’ probably isn’t the word. It was more of a vast steel structure that provided the framework for everything else. That 281 was incredible because India had been down and out; and torn and tattered; and battered and bruised and beaten. It was incredible because of the way he played. And it was incredible because he managed to play that way for so, so long.

But it’s not like Pujara drifted through his career featlessly.

Light on his feats

Pujara’s first Test hundred was 159 against New Zealand in 2012. That one innings accounted for 20 per cent of the runs scored in the match.

His second hundred, two Tests later, against England, was an unbeaten double that made us exclaim: “The Wall is gone! Long live this broad, robust replacement structure made out of bricks and mortar!” India actually lost that series, but didn’t lose at home again until 2024 – the year after Pujara’s final Test.

The peak was that 2018/19 victory in Australia though when he scored over twice as many runs as Australia’s top scorer, Marcus Harris, and made three hundreds in four Tests.

Australia had already had a preview of this kind of thing via a sprawling 525-ball 202 in Ranchi in 2017 that had spread like an oil slick, extinguishing all life. At the Gabba, in the first innings of the first Test, Pujara walked out and made 123 – near enough half of India’s first innings runs – and then followed it up with 71 in the second innings.

India won, but twin Pujara failures in Perth saw Australia level the series. Our man responded with an eight-hour 106 in his next innings in Melbourne and India won again. There’s a lovely little bit about that innings in Amazon’s documentary series, The Test, where they show him blocking a load of deliveries to the soundtrack of nothing but a ticking clock – then finally he hits one and the music starts up. A finer synopsis of his strengths and approach, you’d struggle to find. “He was happy to bat for five days, if he had to,” was the assessment of scarred victim, Pat Cummins.

But Pujara wasn’t finished. In the fourth and final Test, he ground Australia’s bowlers to nanoparticles with a nine-hour 193 that snuffed out any chance of the home team levelling the series.

Two years later and he (kinda) did it again. While three players outscored him in the 2020/21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, no-one faced more balls and the impact of that contribution is what enabled India’s heist.

Three things India needed for The Storming of the Gabba

At one point in the famous Gabba chase, he’d made 8 off 94 balls. At this point, he was more battered than batter; little more than a punchbag for Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. He forced them to keep running and punching for over five hours though, at the end of which they just fundamentally had a lot less running and punching left in them.

Satisfaction

It is however the nature of these knocks that shapes perceptions. You’d think a player who averaged 43.60 with 19 Test hundreds would for the most part have passed his career to a soundtrack of joyous approval – but that wasn’t really the case.

If you were to ignorantly read a random sample of comments about Cheteshwar Pujara’s batting, taken from various points in his career, you wouldn’t mistake the tone of them for being about Sanath Jayasuriya or Michael Vaughan, say – both of whom made fewer runs, at a lower average, with fewer hundreds. You’d more likely go for someone like Dom Sibley, such was the naggingly irrepressible dissatisfaction with Pujara’s approach.

There was of course that time in 2021 when one of his more stultifying innings made the same sort of impact as a rain delay, but overall the hectoring tone of the criticism made it seem like he was some junior cricketer still making his way.

We think in particular of Virat Kohli’s 2016 comments.

“There comes a time when the team needs runs,” said India’s then captain about a player who was, at the time, averaging more than him in Test cricket. “We want Pujara to bat to his potential.”

Who knows, maybe it was said with an assumption everyone in the world would already understand the bottomlessly deep well of respect he felt for his team-mate. It seems unlikely though as this kind of bubbling discontent with Pujara’s way of going about things was pretty much the bassline to his whole career. Kohli’s comments therefore only encouraged more of the same and so contributed to this weird sense of a batter who just couldn’t quite work things out.

But that view overlooks what he could do. If fans and pundits didn’t always see it, opposition bowlers were only too aware.

“Well how was that?” Justin Langer asked his team after day one of the 2019 Sydney Test. The response he got was a deafeningly haunted silence.

Then the next day Cheteshwar Pujara went out and did it to them all over again.

The autopilot: Why Cheteshwar Pujara is unconsciously exceptional

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Related posts:

1. Cheteshwar Pujara brings a future of runs
2. Cheteshwar Pujara shows India aren’t short of batsmen
3. It didn’t rain, it was just Cheteshwar Pujara

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‘There’s a big few weeks ahead’… Cole eyes more trophies after Northern clinch ECHO Cup

Northern celebrate winning the 2025 ECHO Cup final Back row, l-r: Dan Wilson, Louis Bhabra, Ben Edmundson, Stephen Lucas, Liam Grey, Josh Thompson, Tom Sephton, Paul Delve (scorer) Front row, l-r: Alex Vincent, Tyler McGladdery, James Cole (captain), Shivy Gautam, Johnny Browne

One of Northern captain James Cole’s catchphrases is “this team wants to win trophies”.

On Monday, it showed with two ruthless performances – or one and a half, at least – which earned them their fourth ECHO Cup.

It was also Cole’s 17th trophy in his 16 seasons as 1st XI skipper, which is testament to both his leadership and the crop of players he has at his disposal.

By the end of this season, it could be 19 or even 20, with two more cup finals and a puncher’s chance of overhauling Ormskirk in the ECB Premier Division.

First up is a trip to Blackpool for the Lancashire Cup final against Formby on Sunday, followed seven days later by the Ray Digman Trophy final at Leigh.

Cole said: “There’s a big few weeks ahead. 

“It’s obviously nice to win a trophy, at home in particular. 

“And it puts us in good stead for, hopefully, another two or three trophies, potentially.”

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Northern were excellent as a team on Monday, beating Newton-le-Willows by 26 runs before a convincing seven-wicket win over Widnes in the final.

It was hard to single anyone out – Tyler McGladdery was named player of the match in the final for his unbeaten 45, while Stephen Lucas top-scored in the semi with 81.

Liam Grey took wickets with the first ball of both matches, and 14-year-old Shivy Gautam impressed throughout as he won his first senior trophy.

Cole said: “I thought the first 10 overs in the semi-final were excellent, and then the last 10 overs were quite poor. But then I think we put that to bed in the final.”

McGladdery was on the losing side with Rainhill against Ormskirk in the 2022 finals day, so was delighted to get Northern over the line on Monday.

“I enjoy these moments, with the pressure on,” he said.

“It’s nice to be there at the end, that’s what it’s all about. I think if you’re only chasing a 110 score, you don’t have to go hammer and tongs from the start.

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“You can just nudge it and nurdle it around and try and knock the score off and hope people come in and chip in around you.

“I suppose that’s my job, just being there at the end.”

Northern made the most of home advantage, both in terms of their vocal support and their knowledge of the unique dimensions of the Moor Park surface, which has a chunk bitten out of it by a bowling green. 

But having lost the toss for the final having just defended 156 in the semi, they were consigned to 40 straight overs running around it.

McGladdery added: “We did it the hard way as well because we had to field for 20 overs in the heat and then we got sent back out for another 20 overs. 

“It’s intense when you’re playing a finals day like this against good teams. 

“It was good that we did that and then we were still able to get over the line.”

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ECHO Cup finals day: Northern cruise to fourth crown after Formby’s semi slip

Northern celebrate winning the 2025 ECHO Cup final Back row, l-r: Dan Wilson, Louis Bhabra, Ben Edmundson, Stephen Lucas, Liam Grey, Josh Thompson, Tom Sephton, Paul Delve (scorer) Front row, l-r: Alex Vincent, Tyler McGladdery, James Cole (captain), Shivy Gautam, Johnny Browne

Northern were in cruise control as they sealed their fourth ECHO Cup T20 title, with the prospect of more silverware on the road ahead.

Neither Newton-le-Willows nor Widnes made the reigning national T20 champions break sweat in front of a healthy home crowd.

And Formby, who won the Comp’s T20 crown at the same ground last month, fumbled a semi-final that seemed in their grasp in the day’s first – and most exciting – encounter.

Cheshire County League side Widnes had staggered to 43/3 from 11 overs, but Aaron Soni smashed 63 off 30 balls to post a respectable 140.

By contrast, Formby flew out of the blocks, with Tom Billington peppering the off-side fence on his way to the day’s highest score, an unbeaten 86.

With seven overs to go, they were 100/2 and coasting before the introduction of Tom Evans, the coincidentally-named left-arm spinner and, it turns out, death overs specialist.

Billington was starved of the strike as Evans removed Jack Carney and George Evans, yielding just six runs from his first three overs.

It meant Formby needed 11 off his last set. After Archie Davies ran two off the first, Soni leapt to his left to hold a stunning catch off the second. Ryan Kennedy ran a single, leaving Billington needing eight off three. 

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He swept and sliced a couple of twos before sweeping again off the last ball, with four needed and three for the tie. They completed two with ease but failed to even attempt a third, with keeper Chris Kirby heading to the middle of the wicket to retrieve the ball. 

A tie would have been enough, with both sides having lost six wickets and Formby ahead on power play runs. 

In another timeline, they had done just enough – as the stunned players shook hands, someone in the Formby camp noticed a no-ball in the fifth over of Widnes’s innings which was added to the score but did not result in an extra ball or a free hit.

It turned out the scorers had misinterpreted a signal from the umpires and Widnes had been awarded an extra run, equal to the winning margin. But after so long, nothing could be done. 

Evans bowled the last ball with men back on the long leg-side boundary knowing he could afford to give away two – if the score had been different, so would the tactics.

As Formby licked their wounds, Widnes’s players hastily arranged childcare and cancelled plans for the rest of the bank holiday Monday – against all their expectations, they had a final to play in.

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Thanks to Stephen Lucas’s 81, Northern were able to set Newton 157 – a task made instantly trickier when Liam Grey removed Nathan Hughes with the first ball of the reply.

After the power play, bowled by Grey and Tom Sephton, Newton were 18/2 and fading fast – when captain Ben Walkden was fourth out in the 12th over, they still needed 103 runs.

Young leg-spinner Hugo Croft, who earlier took 1/17 from his four overs, got the margin down to 26 runs with a breezy 57, but Northern’s place in the final was never under threat.

Widnes skipper Alex Hewitt won the toss and batted, condemning the hosts to another 20 overs in the field straight away, but Grey quickly put a spring in their step by striking with his first ball again, pinning the dangerous Rohan Luthra.

Grey’s first three overs cost just 10 runs and when he returned to bowl the 11th he immediately claimed the key wicket of Soni. Widnes were 54/5 and this time there was no late recovery – Dan Wilson claimed three wickets as they were bowled out for 109 off the last ball.

Irish seamer Trent McKeegan gave Widnes a brief glimpse of hope by removing both openers, but Tyler McGladdery made sure it was no more than that with a serene unbeaten 45.

One cover drive off Soni alone was worthy of the player of the match award, decided by the three umpires on duty – in truth, there was no outstanding individual because the team performance ensured there was no need for one.

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Love Lane Liverpool Competition reports, reaction and round-up: August 23-24

Sagar Trivedi on his way to 103 for Colwyn Bay against Wigan
Picture by RAY HIBBS

Game of the day: Wallasey drop anchor to deny Birkenhead Park as relegation reality becomes clear 

Birkenhead Park needed fire and fury. They needed some of the belief that carried them to their great escape last year, and the righteous anger which they channelled after their devastating relegation in 2022.

But most of all they needed a win at Wallasey, and without it they now probably need something not far short of a miracle.

If – as captain Alex Harris accepts is now likely – this turns out to be the last Wirral derby in the top flight for a while, it will not have been because of Park’s efforts on Saturday.

Having won the toss and batted, they made all the running, and shrugged off a few blows to post a competitive total. 

But in the absence of Pakistani spinner Safi Abdullah, who has returned home, they did not have the firepower to remove batters who were not in the mood for chasing 241.

Their victory song, Parklife, has only been heard once in the league all season; Harris’s face at 7pm on Saturday suggested This Is A Low might be a more appropriate soundtrack, if not Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now. 

“It’s going to be pretty tough now to stay in the league,” he admitted.

“We’ve lost games chasing low scores this year so the plan was to win the toss and bat first and get a score, putting no pressure on ourselves.

“The lads did well, especially the lower order, which is good and positive, I can’t really fault anyone. 

“It’s the way cricket goes at times, and they don’t have to give us a game. It’s down to us to create chances.

“It’s going to be tough for us to bowl teams out in the second innings without our overseas pro but we know that.

“All we can do is try our best and see what happens.”

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Wallasey could at least lay claim to the one outstanding moment of the match, a running, sprawling, tumbling boundary catch by Seb Botes to remove the dangerous Mark Rowland after he had bludgeoned his way to 40. 

With Ejaaz Alavi controlling his flight nicely and Matty Keogh finding some awkward bounce and seam movement, Park slipped from 65/0 to 106/5 and could have folded.

Jack Dixon and Jon Crofton made sure they didn’t with a stand of 51, and Dixon moved on to 45 before becoming Keogh’s fourth victim. 

Chris Stenhouse and David Nevin then helped the last two wickets add 44 runs as the home bowlers began to tire. Their 240 was Park’s third highest total of the year and the only time they have passed 200 away from home.

Stenhouse then briefly raised their hopes even further by finding home skipper Greg Beaver’s leading edge in the first over of their reply.

But Connor Windell and Evan Withe had no intentions of giving them a sniff, compiling a painstaking stand of 75 from more than 28 overs.

With no Safi, Harris was hampered – once he and Stenhouse had finished their opening spells, there was little to get excited about, and not much to encourage the captain to bring the close fielders in.

By the time Windell edged Louis Evans for 27 off 83 balls, the last hour had begun and forcing a result seemed beyond either side.

Evans also claimed Withe just after he reached 50. Andrew Clarke, who at one point swapped his off-breaks for slow left-armers mid-over, removed Botes and Rowland claimed both Alavi and Chris Davies in the penultimate over. 

But the late clatter made the game look closer than it was.

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“It’s pretty disappointing,” said Harris. 

“Teams can play how they want to play but we won the toss, put a score on and didn’t even bat 55 overs, and they didn’t show much intent to go for it. 

“It was a bit of a damp squib in the end.”

With four games left – including the visits of the top two, Ormskirk and Northern – Park are 24 points adrift of an improving Colwyn Bay, and a further 18 short of safety.

Harris added: “You can pinpoint the games we haven’t won against teams that are around us in the league – Colwyn Bay, two draws, Wigan at home, we had them nine down. “Newton-le-Willows beat us at their place when we were chasing 150 – we did the hard work with the ball but let ourselves down with the bat. 

“We’ve struggled with the bat for the last couple of years so we shouldn’t be surprised where we are in the league. 

“I back the lads because I know what we’ve got in the changing room, but it’s about doing it on the pitch. 

“It’s been a tough season and only winning one league game suggests Division One cricket is where we should be. The table doesn’t lie. 

“But it’s disappointing because we’re getting close in games, playing half-games – it’s been the story of our season.”

ECB Premier Division: Ormskirk lose for the first time… but Northern can’t take full advantage

Finally, the template for getting the better of Ormskirk in the league has been uncovered – all you have to do is rack up 302/5 thanks to a batter having the season of his life, then knock them over for a mere 278 with an over to spare thanks to a five-for from the same man.

It’s so simple, it’s amazing nobody has tried it before Leigh pulled it off on Saturday. 

There were supporting actors – Luke Prescott and Adam Shallcross made half-centuries, and Patrick Allan took the crucial last wicket for the hosts. 

For the visitors, Calum Turner and George Lavelle made 50s in what was a wholehearted attempt to get the runs.

But Saturday belonged to Mattie McKiernan, whose 147 took his tally for the league season past 1,100 runs with four games still to go. He followed it up with 5/59, chipping away after the defending champions’ top order made a strong start.

At 246/5, Ormskirk needed 57 from just over seven overs when Allan removed Gary Knight (caught by McKiernan, naturally) – from then on, the lower order had a puncher’s chance but no more, and McKiernan claimed three more before Allan found Sam Marsh’s edge.

Ormskirk’s defeat was Northern’s chance to blow the title race wide open, but they fell two wickets short of victory at Formby and made up just two points on their rivals – the gap is now 32, with 100 to play for. 

Tyler McGladdery made 67 and Louis Bhabra 50 in Northern’s 242/8, while Larry Edward claimed 6/107; in reply, Jack Carney made 75 and George Evans an unbeaten 65 as Formby closed on 217/8.

Colwyn Bay gave themselves a chance of avoiding relegation with a 63-run win over Wigan, set up by Sagar Trivedi’s 103 from 79 balls – the next highest score in the innings of 184 was 17. Dulanjana Mendis then took 5/46 to seal the win; Aveen Dalugoda had taken 5/29 for the visitors.

Newton-le-Willows are the most likely to be caught at the bottom – they fell 29 runs short of Firwood Bootle’s 214 despite skipper Ben Walkden’s 57. Luke Yates took a 1st XI best 6/52 for Newton.

Rainhill’s Khalid Usman put on a one-man show at Rainford – first his 76 carried the visitors to 179, then his 7/35 wrapped up a 59-run win.

Division One: Top three pull away, with Liverpool leading the charge

Leaders Liverpool held their nerve to earn an 11-run win at Southport & Birkdale and edge closer to the Premier Division.

Chasing 172, the home side reached 135/5 before a late clatter of wickets, Dan Harrison finishing with 4/17. Raunak Roy made 63 for S&B, while Bobby Wincer took 6/40.

Orrell Red Triangle stay second after their 52-run win over Sefton Park, sealed in the penultimate over. Dileepa Jayalath took 5/34 for the visitors after Sam Heeley’s unbeaten 107.

Spring View remain just six points behind Orrell – they thrashed Maghull by 179 runs. James Critchley’s 79 was the top score in their 225/7, before Nathan Ashford’s 4/ 5 finished the job. 

Old Xaverians missed the chance to close the gap on Maghull at the bottom, losing to New Brighton by 107 runs. Sheshan Silva took 5/26 and Damitha Silva 5/57 to run through the Woolton side after Colin Gibson’s 5/70 restricted the Rakers to 197.

Jackson Darkes-Sutcliffe achieved lift-off with 7/57 for Hightown St Marys as they earned a 114-run win over Lytham. Matt Laybourne top-scored with an unbeaten 80 in the hosts’ 220/6.

Highfield closed 29 runs short of Sutton’s 225/4. Matthew Wallace made his maiden 1st XI 50 for the Wigan side, after Joe Noctor made 91 for the men from St Helens. 

Division Two: Ainsdale and Northop Hall keep up the pace in their promotion push

Ainsdale secured a dominant win at Whitefield to maintain their grip on top spot.

Ichira Yahathugoda top-scored with 70 in their 225/8 before Dilanka Auwardt claimed yet another five-for to secure the win, which leaves them 57 points clear of third place.

Northop Hall also look well-placed for promotion after their 123-run win at Prestatyn. Skipper Ben Slater declared on 55 overs with Matthew Jones unbeaten on 98 – every point counts – while James Hurlin also made 61 in Hall’s 220/5, before their hosts fell for just 97.

Caldy kept their hopes alive with a 38-run win at Southport Trinity. Adam Brown made 87 in the Wirral side’s 215, before Rohan Sanjaya clinched the win with 8/72. 

Aqeel Mustafa’s 7/46 earned Fleetwood Hesketh a 41-run win over Wavertree, after Nathan Condon made 93 and Matty Howard 64; visiting skipper Theo O’Brien made 73 in vain chasing 247.

Norley Hall just ran out of time chasing 246 against Parkfield Liscard, closing on 237/6. Dan Fisher made 81 and Shah Afridi 56 for the hosts; earlier, Rasun Gamage top-scored with 63 for the visitors.

Prescot & Odyssey closed on 201/8 in reply to St Helens Town’s 252/8. Ali Zubairi’s 78 in the chase was the top score on either side, while James Marrable made 55 for Town.

Lancashire Women’s T20 Cup final: Defeat for Sefton Park as Ramsbottom dominate

Sefton Park were well-beaten in their attempt to defend their county crown, as Ramsbottom earned an 83-run win at Ormskirk’s Brook Lane. 

The Bury side won the toss and piled on 148/4 from their 20 overs as Sefton, in the absence of skipper Sarah Culloty, struggled. 

Eleanor Cantwell’s four overs cost just 19 and there were wickets for Caitlin Summers, Alice Kelly, Lorna Harper and Sarah Jackson, but the target proved too much.

Emma Watson made 24 but nobody else made double figures as Ramsbottom pressed home their advantage, Evie Bennett finishing with 4/2.

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‘It’s a massive challenge… but we’re excited for it’: Sefton Park’s women set out to defend Lancashire Cup crown

Raining champions… Sefton Park’s women celebrate their Lancashire T20 win last September

Sefton Park’s women will set out to retain their Lancashire T20 Cup title on Sunday – and win or lose, captain Sarah Culloty says it’s a sign of the progress they have made.

Culloty’s side take on Ramsbottom at Ormskirk to defend the trophy they won by scampering to the DLS target against Leyland last September.

Despite having the better of their encounter in the 40-over league earlier this season, Culloty says Ramsbottom go into the clash as favourites.

But she is looking forward to seeing what the day brings.

“It’ll be a massive challenge,” she said. “But we’re excited for it.

“Even though we’re the cup holders, I think we’re probably still very much the underdogs. 

“Ramsbottom are a very experienced team with a lot of depth and a lot of county experience in them.

“They had a lot of players missing for that league game. 

“It was still a very good performance from our team, because they’ve got such depth in their squad that even missing all their top players, they can still put out a good performance. 

“But I would expect quite a number of changes in the team for Sunday.”

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Sefton themselves have benefited from a settled XI, with eight of the players who lined up for last year’s final also playing in their semi-final win over Blackpool last month.

And after six years of the women’s and girls’ section, Culloty believes the hard work is starting to pay off in the shape of talented young players ready for 1st XI hardball cricket.

She said: “We’ve been working really hard with our girls’ section the last couple of years. 

“And this year, in the last few weeks, a number of them have made the step up to the women’s section and have started making their debuts for the women’s section, which is really exciting to see. 

“That’s kind of happening all across the Comp as well. 

“Northern have had the greatest depth in their girls section and now they’re in their women’s team and performing amazingly well for the women’s team. 

“So it’s great to see all across the Comp. 

“All the work everyone’s put in with the girls’ sections are really bringing extra strength to the women’s sections.”

Opening bowler Eleanor Cantwell has halved her strike rate this year, while Lancashire under-15 prospect Caitlin Summers has another year of experience under her belt, after playing a crucial part in that chase in last year’s final.

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Sefton also lead the Lancashire 40-over league, although with only one game left compared with up to four for their rivals.

Culloty said: “I think over the last few years, it’s been really nice to see our progression.

“From the first year, when we really struggled to win any matches, progressing up to last year, when we came second. So it would be nice to win. 

“But I think it’s going to be quite a tight one at the top of the table for the last couple of matches.”

Sefton’s women’s side have been a huge beneficiary of a renewed focus on the women’s game in the past few years, from the Comp in general and from the club.

They have had coaching support from Steve Rowe and Matthew Young, and practical support from everyone at Croxteth Drive.

“One of the Sunday team captains helped by moving one of their league matches so we could get our semi-final played,” Culloty added.

“Everyone at the club is helping out and that shows their support for us.” 

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Echo Cup finals day preview: Lucas back on trophy trail at Northern as Walkden hopes Newton’s matchwinners can fire

Northern’s Stephen Lucas at the crease
Picture by RAY HIBBS

Northern’s Stephen Lucas is hoping to kick-start his club’s chances of a cup treble on Echo Cup finals day.

The Crosby side have home advantage in Monday’s showpiece, and will face Newton-le-Willows before the winners take on Formby or Widnes.

Next Sunday they have a trip to Blackpool for the Lancashire Cup final, with Formby again the opponents – they also play in the league on Saturday, so could well be sick of the sight of each other. 

Then, on September 7, Northern travel to Leigh for the Ray Digman Trophy final.

Lucas, who returned to Moor Park this year after seven years back at his boyhood club Ainsdale, says occasions like this are why he came back.

He said: “One of the reasons for coming back was obviously to be playing in these sort of bigger games and getting a chance to play in finals. 

Echo Cup Finals Day

Monday, August 25 · Moor Park, Northern

10am

Widnes v Formby

1.15pm

Northern v Newton-le-Willows

4.30pm

Final

“We were a little bit disappointed with our runs in the national competitions this year, but we’ve got three big weekends coming up, and hopefully to finish the season with a treble would be nice.”

The opening batter had already proved himself at the top level during his first spell at Northern – including being part of two Echo Cup wins, in 2012 and 2017.

But he admits he was keen to show he still has what it takes – so he was pleased to start with a run of four half-centuries in seven innings in the league, as well as some strong displays in the cups.

He added: “There were a few nerves at the start of the season.

“You’ve always got to back yourself and back your own skill level, and obviously it was nice to have a couple of scores early on in the season and sort of get that monkey off my back a little bit.

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“It just allowed me to relax a little bit and just enjoy playing cricket again.

“It’s a bit of a different group to what I played with six, seven, eight years ago. 

“So it’s been nice getting to know a new group and putting on a few performances early.”

Newton-le-Willows have made it to finals day for the second time in three years, losing out to eventual winners Neston in the semi-final in 2023. 

Captain Ben Walkden admits he has been disappointed with his side’s displays in the ECB Premier Division this season – they sit third bottom, albeit with a 33-point cushion over Colwyn Bay.

Ben Walkden bowling

But he hopes the shortest format will be ideal for his matchwinners such as opener Nathan Hughes and all-rounder Adnan Miakhel to come to the fore. 

He said: “We’ve had a good run with the pink ball so we’re looking forward to Monday. 

“We know it’s not going to be an easy test but we’re ready for it.

“Nathan at the top can be destructive with a pink ball, and Adnan speaks for himself in this format.

“They’re probably the two that could probably take the game away from the opposition. 

“We’ve got firepower, it’s just utilising it as best we can.”

Walkden comes into the weekend on the back of scoring 75 and 34 for Cumbria in their three-day National Counties game against Northumberland.

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Aged 22 and still improving, especially with the ball, Walkden still has county ambitions – and the sight of Newton teammate George Bell making his first century for Lancashire’s 1st XI this week only encouraged him more.

“I’m buzzing for Belly,” he said. “It’s not for me to say, but I feel like he should have had more of a go in the 1st XI – to see him do that is brilliant.

“Myself, with the bat, I had a probably tricky start to the season and didn’t really kick on or start as I wanted to. 

“But I feel like I’m finding a little bit of rhythm now, which is nice going into the end of the season.”

Monday will be Moor Park’s second finals day of the summer, after Northern hosted the climax to the local rounds of the ECB National T20 in July.

The hosts were not there to defend their crown, which was taken by Formby – Lucas hopes they can cash in on home advantage this time.

“I think it’s a massive advantage for us, playing on our home ground,” he said.

“You know how easy it is to defend certain areas, you’ve got to run hard and all these sort of things

“Everyone’s very excited around the club, obviously it’s a bank holiday Monday and I’m sure a few people will have booked the Tuesday off so we can have a few drinks.”

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