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.”

from Merseyside Cricket Online https://ift.tt/QOD3Nql