If Carlsberg did cricket weekends, then this would be right up there, as all three sides produced resounding wins to dispel any melancholy that may have followed three GMCL20 defeats during the week. To equate any previous 1st XI results with Shaw would be folly, as that club had signed 54players and released almost as many since our last trip to the Pennine hills above Oldham.
With Sam's side at almost full strength, and the hosts suffering a slump of Leicester City proportions, hopes were high as Clifton batted first on a hot and sticky afternoon. The steady start saw just thirteen runs off the first nine overs before Stevie Mac nicked off to slip. Gareth and Caleb upped the tempo to some extent, but it still looked like hard work from the sidelines with balls seeming to bounce unevenly and grip the surface. Gareth was next to go with the score on 66 when he chopped on a ball that seemed to keep low. Sam and Caleb were playing with increasing fluency however but at drinks, two overs later, there were just 77 runs on the board.
Fifty runs in the next ten overs provided the platform for a more expansive approach as one of the oldest sayings in cricket, "you can't beat having wickets in t'tent” started to prove very true. Caleb fell inover 30 just as the momentum was starting to build and two more quick wickets had the Clifton faithful (all two of us) wondering "here we go again".
How wrong were though, as after Joe Mac somehow manged to pull a half tracker on to his stumps, Zach Flaxman strode to the wicket. Zach has a tendency to play shots before he's set, but not today as he was content to pick up his ones and twos until, not only did he kick into gear, but he kicked Sam into top gear as well with the pair registering an incredible 73runs off the last six overs and Zach majestically reverse sweeping the last ball of the innings over the car park (I use the term loosely) to complete a 35 ball half century. Sam had been no slouch either, contributing 26 off the 14 balls he faced in the partnership and finishing with 75no off 78 balls as an unlikely 241-5 flashed ominously on the scoreboard.
So it proved as the home side started disastrously as Winskill, imported from Kendal CC having scored 850 runs in 2025, departed to Crossy's first delivery. Bowling wicket to wicket as usual, he kept the runs down whilst at the other end Ollie fizzed the ball around alarmingly. When Kapur, who'd scored an incredible 1700 runs at an average of 91 for Durham last season, edged him to Zach with only 16 on the board, the size of the task looked steep, despite Sam only able to see four bowlers to choose from as he perused the field in the searing afternoon heat.
South African Professional Kyle Jacobs was proving a difficult rock to dislodge, but the two stuck to the task and wickets tumbled at the other end. When Crossy (3-34) and Ollie (2-33) had completed a sterling 22 overs, the scoreboard showed 58-5 leaving the spin twins, Ben and Parikh to finish the job. Finish it they did as, after P removed the dangerous Parmar with his first ball, he removed Robinson with the very next ball. He finished with 3-6 and Ben with 2-15 as the innings dwindled away to 93 all out and a remarkable 148 run victory.
Having achieved the dizzy heights of 7th, there is however, still work to do with only 6 points separating the team from the relegation spots, but winning is a habit and a victory against Royton, one place and three points below, will provide yet more daylight next week.