Triple Cup Success!
In the last fortnight, Formby CC has won three cup competitions. First, two Thursdays ago, the 2nd XI won their T20 competition, the Chrysalis Cup, in a rearranged game at Rainford, the original match having fallen foul of the weather.
Formby’s captain, Jude Mahadanaarachchi, won the toss and chose to bat first. He set off at his customary pace, getting to 47 out of 72 and was eventually out for 62 with the total on 103-2 off 13 overs. A couple more quick wickets slowed progress, but despite wickets continuing to fall, they managed to score 23 from the final 21 balls of the innings to finish on a respectable 153-8 from their 20 overs. Luke Jones’s 39 was the other major contribution.
Rainford got off to a fast start but lost wickets, too, reaching 44-3 in 5 overs. This slowed to 68-4 from 11 before the next 2 overs brought 2 further wickets to leave then in trouble at 75-6 with 7 overs left. Formby continued to take wickets and with an over to go had virtually sewn things up with Rainford on 120-8. They could only manage another 9 runs and Formby had taken the Cup.
Last Sunday saw Formby hosting the u16 and u21 Cup Finals day, with both sides facing the same opposition in New Brighton. The u16 game was first and Formby won the toss and batted. They got off to a very shaky start, with Jackson Darkes-Sutcliffe playing a cross a straight one for 5 and Michael Booth, George Scanlan and David jump going cheaply and Nick Sutton for 21 to leave the side on 42-5. They were rescued by a terrific stand of 62
New Brighton’s openers got to 15, but the Formby Bowlers, particularly Darkes-Sutcliffe, with a hat-trick in a 4-overs spell with 3 maidens, 4 wickets for just 3 runs and wickets from Zac Eastwood and Joe Stuart, reduced them to 22-6. Booth, Jump (2) and Eastwood again then mopped up the remains of the innings as New Brighton were never in the hunt and were all out for 84 with extras (18) top scorer.
The u21 final the same afternoon also saw Formby batting first, this time at the invitation of their opponents. Sam Oldham and James Seward got them off to a quick start with 60 on the board at the end of the 5th over, when Seward was caught for 16. Ben Aitchison replaced him and concentrated on giving the strike to Oldham, whose 50 came up off just 28 balls. It was something of a surprise when he was caught for 82 in the 16th over with the total on 157. Ollie Sutton was run out when Aitchison turned down a reasonable single on the same score, but Ed Lowe replaced him and struck 19 off just 9 balls before perishing with 8 balls left. The final total of 198-4 was o good one.
The New Brighton reply was halted almost before it began by Ollie Sutton and Alex Powell who removed 4 of the top 5 in their first 5 overs, the total 34-4 from 5.2 overs. The Formby Bowlers continued to prove too good for their opponents as the required run rate became ever higher, and wickets fell, one to Oldham (1-19 from 4), one to Darkes-Sutcliffe (1-20 from 4), another to Powell (3-28 from 4) and two to Joe Stuart (2-12 from 2). Aitchison completed a good all-round performance with 0-16 from his 4 overs. New Brighton were 118-9 when the innings closed.
1st XI
The match with Wallasey produced and exciting, but ultimately frustrating, finish as Wallasey’s last pair hung on for 20 balls to secure a draw. Formby had, for the first and probably only time, all their county players on display, but their innings revolved around a 79-run partnership between Dan Stanley (77) and Ajmal Shahzad (41) as Formby recovered from 57-4 to post 193-9 declared, with Ollie Sutton looking the most fluent batsman on display, making 28 at no.8. Ex-England star spinner, Monty Panesar, playing for Wallasey, was dealt with well by the Formby batsmen, taking just 2-65 in his 22.5 overs.
Wallasey lost wickets regularly in their reply, with only skipper Danny Beaver in form, reaching his 50 from 79 balls. Gary Keedy and Stephen Parry worked their way through the order, as Wallasey fell from 101-3 to 127-8 when Beaver was out for 64. They shut up shop with 10 overs to go and Formby only managed one more wicket as Keedy finished with 5-45 from 21 overs and Parry 3-25 from 12. Shahzad took the other wicket as Wallasey made it to 147-9.
This week, things were much better as Ainsdale were bowled out on their own pitch for a meagre 89. Chief destroyer was Shahzad, with 6-29 from 13 hostile overs, and 4-33 from Keedy completed the job. 7 of the 10 wickets were bowled.
Formby Lost Seward without a run on the board and Oldham on 16, but Ian Cockbain (29*) and Dan Stanley (48*) saw their side safely to an 8-wicket win. The 25 points give Formby a useful margin over the two clubs in the relegation places, Ainsdale and Southport & Birkdale.
2nd XI
2 weeks ago the side secure a vital win at Birkenhead Park, easing most of their relegation worries. Batting first, fifties from Luke Jones 67) and Elliot Ketteringham (50) got them away to a flying start of 108 for the first wicket, and useful 20s from Charlie Gallagher and Andy Kenyon paved the way for a declaration at 221-7 from 40 overs.
The Rogans ensured that Park were never in the hunt as Tony’s 4-22 from 9 and Ollie’s 3-37 from 10 overs saw Park all out for 152 in 42 overs.
3rd XI
The rearranged League match with Fleetwood Hesketh produced a particularly disappointing performance as the side lost easily to a team they’d trounced earlier in the season. Too many minds may have been over-interested in whether they might get to the 2nd XI Cup final, as the side failed to chase down a modest total of 138, barely exceeding 100.
This week, a somewhat weakened side (essentially a 4th XI) redeemed themselves by beating Rainford by 5 wickets. Rainford were dismissed for 84, though it would have considerably fewer had Louis Burt not overstepped the crease in destroying Preston’s stumps. He went on to get 37. Alex Powell (3-19 from 7) and Matty Baines (3-12 from 7) made a mess of the top order and Louis Burt and Campbell Williams took a wicket apiece.
Formby lost Andy McMorran and Harry Whitehead with just 7 on the board, but Jackson Cockbain saw his side through to the win before falling for 49 with the scores level. Josh Carberry (12) and Williams (11) kept their heads at the other end.
4th XI
The men of the 4s have managed a draw and a defeat in the last fortnight. At Ainsdale, the managed their highest score of the season, reaching 195-9 declared (though it too 55 overs). Nothing much was going right until Zac Eastwood got 25 and Josh burt 28, whilst his brother Louis made 70 not out (though it is rumoured that the opposition brought on their irregular bowlers when Formby were 19-4). Ainsdale held out for a draw on 124-9 with Arthur Cook (4-25 and Eastwood (3-40) the pick of the bowlers. Should the declaration have come sooner?This Sunday they again scaled the heights of 186, this time in 49 overs, with Louis Burt again top-scoring on 74 with Josh (30) providing the main support. Unfortunately Newton-le-willows cruised to 186-5 for a 5-wicket win.
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