AFTER signing several new players, including the highly rated former Blackpool quick bowler Marcus Sharp, Lytham have had some recent excellent results and occupied fourth place in the league after several years spent avoiding relegation.

The visit of EDS Leigh was, therefore, eagerly awaited, so it was disappointing that the game petered out into a draw after another top class batting performance by the boys from Beech Walk.

Having won the toss and, as usual, elected to bat first, the early part of Leighs innings was dominated by Steve Mullaney who scored a confident 34 off 42 balls before being adjudged caught behind off the bowling of Sharp, this being the third wicket to fall with the total having reached 61.

Heath Pedrola and Gareth Cross then soon moved into top gear as they took complete control and gave the bowling a real hammering.

High quality

Cross's strokeplay was, once again, of exceptionally high quality as he raced to 58 off only 48 balls including 11 sweetly struck fours before holing out with the partnership worth 109 scored off 18 overs.

Pedrola had been making more measured progress but still included a dozen boundaries in another wonderful innings totalling 65 in a stay of over two and a half hours. Lythams opening pairing of Sharp (2 for 60 off 18 overs) and New Zealander Warren McSkimmimg (2 for 91 off 15) bore the brunt of the punishment as the scoring rate escalated.

After the departure of Cross, the innings lost its momentum for a while until Brendon Donkers (16 not out) and Ronnie Davis (24 not out) finished with a flourish, their 35 run partnership enabling Dave Dove to declare after 49 overs with another huge score of 230 for 5 to his sides credit.

Lythams openers found progress difficult against some fine bowling by Donkers and Davis and it was no surprise when Knight was clean bowled by Donkers with 15 runs scored after seven overs.

A remarkable incident followed when the other opener, Richard Clinton, edged a ball from Davis and, after some juggling by the slip fielders, the chance was put down. The batsman had, however, left his crease wrongly assuming that he had been caught and was promptly run out only to be recalled by the umpire who had ruled that the ball was dead.

The Leigh team were, not surprisingly, unimpressed, but the batsman's concentration had obviously been upset as he gave an easy return catch two balls later.

After the shock of losing two early wickets, the home side showed very little inclination to chase their difficult target but Leigh failed to make further inroads with Davis being particularly unlucky as he beat the bat on numerous occasions without finding the edge. Kelliher eventually departed with the score on 78, caught off Paul Vallance, after scoring 18 painstaking runs off 72 balls.

After the commencement of the last 20 overs and with almost 10 runs per over required, the spectators were treated to the somewhat bizarre sight of ex-wicketkeeper Rob Clews tossing up his gentle leg breaks in an effort to elicit some positive response from the batsmen.

Bowling changes

Numerous bowling changes ensued and, with the game having lost its competitive edge, McSkimming took full advantage of any loose deliveries to power his way to his century, finishing the game undefeated with 106 incuding 18 boundaries. With Jimmy Wisniewski assisting with 28 not out, Lytham closed on 174 for 3 to leave most of the Leigh contingent wondering if their journey was really necessary.

On Saturday Leigh start the second half of their league programme with a trip to Wales to take on Northop Hall. This is followed by a visit to New Brighton for a second round tie in the Littlewoods Gaming Knockout Trophy.

IMPRESSIVE - Steve Mullaney