ST HELENS CC suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of free-scoring Bootle on Saturday.

Bootle's opening pair remained unbeaten with the score on 204 after only 35 overs.

John Bean, dropped on seven, went on to score 115 not out, while John Hitchmough made a cultured 83 not out.

It meant St Helens faced a possible 66 overs to survive for a draw of force a win. Roger Burrows (20) and Steve Kenny (21) offered faint hopes at the start of the innings, but only a late rearguard action from Neil Woods (21), Adam Friar (14) and Gary Sheppard (23) gave the final score of 142 an air of respectability.

The second team did the hard work by dismissing their Bootle counterparts for 139, with Bobby Kenny (5-68) and Daniel Massey (4-64) sharing the bowling honours.

In the reply, the St Helens could not find the one big innings to ensure victory. Mike Kenny (18), Paul Keenaghan (19), Ian Lawless (26), David Lowe (24) and Daniel Massey (14) must have felt they had done enough to ensure the win.

But the last six wickets went for only 13 runs with a final score of 121 all out.

The Bank Holiday weekend offers three days of cricket, with the second team at home to Lytham on Saturday, the third team at home to Liverpool on Sunday and the first team at home to Liverpool on Monday.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.