The firsts produced another stunning victory on Saturday, this time against near neighbours Roe Green who had inflicted some heavy damage on us in recent years. With such a young side, there are bound to be some inconsistent performances, but this was on a new level as young and not so young combined to send the visitors home with their tails between their legs.
Steve Mac succumbed early, but a batting masterclass by Gareth Cross put the 'Green' attack to the sword in stunning fashion. At vital times, he received support from his young team mates, firstly when skipper Sam and Caleb were dismissed leaving the score on 61-3 and again when both Jack and Ben went for three runs apiece in the middle order.
In the first instance, it was Praharsh (31) that once again stepped up to the mark, his runs and wickets in recent weeks proving vital. He took the score to 138 in a partnership of 77 with an increasingly fluent Gareth who had passed fifty during that partnership. There was a stutter in the middle, but Crossy simply changed gear and the ball was treated to a series of classy cricket shots. At 177-6 Zach Flaxman strode to the wicket with just five and a bit overs remaining and Gareth approaching a hundred. The two then simply took the bowling attack apart and with 200 on the horizon with two overs remaining, pushed the score to 237-6with 41 runs being scored, the two batters registering six sixes (three each)within the space of seven deliveries. Zach finished with 25 off 18 balls, but it will be Gareth's run a ball 141 not out that will live longest in the memory.
The visitors' response started positively, but with 28 onthe board inside seven overs, Ollie struck for the first time, clean bowling Joe Ball. Seven runs later Gareth produced his stock wicket-to-wicket delivery to vitally trap the 'Green' professional lbw, before Ollie took over, bowling with aggression and wiping out the middle order. Luke Williams completed his half century but could find no support from within the batting ranks until Andy Hough, facing firstly Ollie's hat trick ball, joined him. Ollie finally ran out of steam with 6-71 against his name, only to be replaced by Finn, who promptly dismissed Houghy and then followed up four overs later by tempting Batsman number 11 into lofting a catch to Steve Mac and securing a resounding 95 run victory. So, it's a trip to Horwich next week with the prospect of the wins column equalling the loss column with a victory, a prospect that looked very distant after four successive defeats in April.