The good and the bad

They suffered one of their heaviest defeats for many years as they produced a disastrous performance resulting in a 10-wicket defeat in their league match but gained their revenge the following day as they made a remarkable comeback to win their semi-final tie in the Littlewood's Gaming Trophy at Wadham Road.

Having elected to bat first in the league game at Beech Walk, their much vaunted batting line-up failed miserably to come to terms with Bootle's strong bowling attack.

Having lost three early wickets, only Steven Mullaney and Gareth Cross produced batting of the necessary quality as they figured in a partnership of 35 for the fourth wicket.

Cross was dismissed for 25 and Mullaney appeared to be cutting loose as he struck three consecutive boundaries off Australian quick bowler Adam Warren only to be bowled off the next ball for 42.

After this only Brendon Donkers (14) and Dave Dove (10) offered token resistance as Leigh crumbled to 119 all out off 43 overs.

For the visitors, opening bowlers Charlie Lamb (4 for 33) and Warren (4 for 40) proved to be far too incisive on the day for the home side's batsmen and they were well backed up by Gavin Reynolds (2 for 12).

Any faint hope that Leigh may have had of making a game of it soon disappeared as loose bowling and careless fielding allowed ex-Lancs batsmen Paddy McKeown and Ian Cockbain to rapidly take complete control and speed their side to an overwhelming victory in only 20 overs.

In desperation Leigh skipper Dove tried seven different bowlers to no avail as McKeown powered his way to 79 off 61 balls including fifteen fours and a six with 18 runs coming off one over from the hapless Dave Potter. Cockbain was also in excellent form as he scored 42.

This was obviously no way to prepare for the following day's game but the Leigh players showed remarkable powers of recovery to record a stunning victory.

Dove was again lucky with the toss and chose to bat first on a wicket that had been left uncovered overnight and was saturated by the early morning thunderstorms.

He may have initially regretted his decision as his side made another poor start losing their first three wickets for 11 runs off 4.1 overs.

But with the wicket giving the bowlers plenty of assistance Andy Batterley stood firm and was assisted by Gareth Cross (17) in taking the score to 42 before the fourth wicket fell. Batterley was dismissed soon after for a determined 33 and further wickets fell to leave Leigh in big trouble at 75 for 7.

By no means for the first time this season Donkers employed his immaculate batting technique to good effect and was helped by a brave innings by Greg Jennings (18) in a gutsy 50 partnership for the eighth wicket. Donkers was ninth out for an outstanding 47 and Leigh were all out off the last ball of their 45 overs for 137.

The pick of the home side's battery of seam bowlers were Warren (3 for 21), Lamb (3 for 33) and Reynolds (3 for 21).

Any hopes that Bootle may have had of another easy ride were rapidly dispelled as Leigh's bowlers took full advantage of the assistance offered by the drying wicket and, backed up by excellent fielding, they gave the highly rated Bootle batting line-up the shock of their lives.

Having lost Cockbain and Graham Lloyd with only three runs scored they were never allowed to recover. With Davies (3 for 12) and Jennings (3 for 13) leading the way Leigh comprehensively turned the tables by skittling out their opponents for a miserable 47.

With Pedrola taking 2 for 5 and Donkers 1 for 15 only 24.2 overs were required to finish the match. Cross was in great form behind the wickets taking four catches and a brilliant piece of fielding by Jennings led to the run out of danger man Hignett.

Hopefully this notable win will give Leigh the incentive that they need to improve their league form as they travel to take on Ormskirk in their next game.

Leigh Cricket Club Captains Comments

AN amazing weekend started with a heavy defeat against Bootle in the league. There is no doubting the quality of the Bootle side but we just never competed and our total was never going to be enough. This allowed them to play with freedom and knock off the runs without any problem.

Not only was I concerned with our performance but it was also a question of raising the team for the same opposition. Having said that, I do believe a lot of the lads wanted to show some pride and bounce back and playing Bootle again gave all the lads the chance to do this. Additionally, it was a semi-final, so there was little motivation needed in that respect.

Whilst anyone could get that unplayable delivery on a very nasty wicket, it was all about a battle, and those with the heart to take a few knocks in the Leigh cause. On the face of it, 137 is never a large total, but Andy Batterley played a fine innings and Brendon Donkers was totally resolute hitting a magnificent 47 and I take my hat off to his application and determination. Greg Jennings played a vital role towards the end taking the total to great respectability as well as batting out the overs.

Our bowlers were then rampant as we ripped through the Bootle batting, and to bowl a side like that out for 47, irrespective of the wicket, is a tremendous achievement. All the lads who bowled were absolutely fantastic and, not only can we look forward to a final at Beech Walk in September, but we should look forward to some good results in the league if we maintain the same commitment.

David Dove

Ormskirk 2nd XI Vs Leigh 2nd XI

Second XI

STAND-IN skipper Tim McKiernan won the toss and elected to bowl first on a very good batting track in the heat, knowing that because of Leigh's very inexperienced bowling attack, the best chance of victory would be in knocking off Ormskirk's total.

Adam Roussak and Dan Taylor opened the bowling and whilst Taylor kept things tight (11 overs for 37 runs) the Ormskirk openers went about putting on 56 for the first wicket before Graham Thomason got the break thorough as a smart piece of keeping by Neil Williams had opener Curley stumped.

It was Ormskirk's number three who caused the most damage, scoring 60 off 69 balls, in accelerating the score to 113, as James Eccleshire had the other opener caught in the deep.

McKiernan had danger man Illingworth caught at slip with the score on 150 for 3, in the 34th over, and it was Roussak who picked up the other wicket in his second spell with a second good catch in the deep by debutante Matthew Woodward. Ormskirk declared in 45th over on 213 for 4.

Knowing that this would be a demanding total to chase, albeit the kind of score they have knocked off before this year, Leigh's innings got off to a bad start with the top three departing with only 22 on the board, including the prolific Williams brothers.

Leigh failed to recover from this position with only Matthew Savka and Taylor (with a breezy 38) providing any real resistance to the good Ormskirk bowling attack. The inevitable soon followed with Leigh being bowled out in the 8th over of the last 20 for 109 as their hosts climbed into second place in the league.

Fourth XI

LEIGH 4ths took the field on Sunday against Orrell hoping to consolidate their position near the top of the league. Unfortunately things didn't work out that way and after losing the toss and being put in to bat Leigh made 164 all out, Patrick Travers top scoring on 68.

Leigh were still hopeful of success, although Orrell had 43 overs to go for the score, regular wickets fell but the middle order of Moss and Coulton seemed to take the game away from Leigh.

Despite losing 3 more wickets Orrell reached their total in the last over with 1 wicket remaining giving them victory in an exciting match for the Beech Walk crowd.

JUNIOR CRICKET REPORT

LEIGH v. HINDLEY ST. PETER'S - 04/08/03

WIGAN v. LEIGH - 05/08/03

Under 13s

THE Under 13s finished the season in style as, needing to win their two remaining games to finish as league champions with a 100 per cent record, they did so with plenty to spare to record a notable triumph.

The game against Hindley St. Peter's was played on a difficult wicket and, apart from Alex Goodland, the batsmen struggled to make an impression.

Goodland batted superbly to score 44 with none of his teammates reaching double figures. Matthew Schleiner, drafted in from the Under 11s, scored a composed 9 n.o. but it took a liberal helping of 29 extras to boost Leigh's score to a healthy 98 for 6 off their 20 overs.

The bowlers were in tremendous form, in particular Kieran Grundy (2 for 8) and Jordan Monks (2 for 11) with Adil Saeed conceding only one run from his 3 overs. Hindley's batsmen never looked capable of winning the game and were restricted to 66 for 4 as the light rapidly faded to give Leigh a comprehensive 32 run win.

At Bull Hey the following evening, Leigh made a nervous start to their innings. Although all the batsmen reached double figure, none were able to establish themselves as they struggled to 48 for 3 off 14 overs.

Matthew Rozman took over as he opened his shoulders and blasted a rapid 35 n.o. including 7 fours. He was given sound support by Matthew Schleiner (11 n.o.) as Leigh eventually raced to 105 for 3.

In reply, Wigan had no answer to the Leigh bowlers who performed magnificently.

Adil Saeed led the way with his deadly inswing bowling, claiming 3 for 3 off 3 overs, and Matthew Jackson was also highly impressive with 2 for 5. Leigh used eight different bowlers and they all proved equally difficult to score off as Wigan were restricted to just 24 for 7 off 20 overs to give the Leigh boys a quite remarkable victory and claim the championship on the ground of their traditional rivals.

This young team of exceptional talent has performed to a consistently high standard throughout the league campaign, with virtually all the games having been won by comfortable margins, and they fully deserve their success, which has brought great credit to themselves and the club.