BURSCOUGH STILL "A WORK IN PROGRESS" AFTER EXCELLENT START

Date: 24th June 2016

A Paul Edwards copyright exclusive for L&DCC Official Website.

"Old man" Murray playing a key role.

Even in a league like the MI Dental Liverpool Competition, which regularly features current or former first-class cricketers, it is rare to come across a player with the helmet he was wearing when he was whacked on the head by one of the undisputed greats of the game.

But Alan Murray is no ordinary cricketer and Burscough is a far from ordinary club. In the rather distant past Murray played for England Under 19s and it was during a tour to South Africa that he was ‘sconed’, to use the cricketers’ argot, by a young and rapid Jacques Kallis.

A serious car accident then seriously disrupted Murray’s developing cricket career but now, as a forty-something at Burscough, he is enjoying the senior pro’s role in the side led by Brendan Domigan.

And it is no wonder Murray and Domigan are enjoying themselves. Having won the 2015 Second Division title by 66 points, the School Lane side lead the First Division going into tomorrow’s match against Wigan, over whom they have a two-point advantage with nine matches played.

As Domigan points out, there are plenty of clubs who are not so far behind the leaders and we are less than half way through the current season. Nevertheless, the possibility that Burscough may be taking on Ormskirk, Northern and New Brighton next year beckons. If it comes to pass, Domigan will need Murray’s advice.

‘Alan is like the old wise wizard even if he’s not that old,’ said Domigan. ‘He’s young enough to be in touch with the junior members but he has that real family mentality about him.

‘He has this helmet with a grille that’s bent and he tells me that it’s where Jacque Kallis hit him when he was playing against South Africa under 19s. Now, even though his body is sometimes falling apart on him, he still turns up and runs around like one of the young guys.’

But Burscough’s success has been built on a mixture of youth and experience and it has been fostered by a sense of togetherness. The youth is represented by many players but perhaps no one exemplifies better than the young Australian all-rounder, Navdeep Aujla, who is in his second season at the club and has so far taken 27 wickets and scored 209 runs.

‘Navdeep is a great team player who will do anything you want him to at any time,’ said Domigan. ‘He’s an aggressive player in the best sense because he thrives on a challenge and while he won’t back down, he won’t cause conflict.

‘He always has the team’s interests at heart and the best players bring out the best in him. Some players drop their heads in those situations but he doesn’t. He’s not overly fast with the ball and he’s not an overly quick scorer but he’s one of those players who will knuckle down and do the hard work and reap the rewards later on.’

Domigan has also been able to call on a healthy mix of talents. Last week it was leg-spinner James Dickinson who grabbed 6-25 in their draw at Northop Hall and Domigan is excited about the prospect of utilising his talents once again especially if we have a dry summer.

‘James is a young bloke who came to the club last year and is at university in Scotland. But he comes back at the end of the university term to play for us and he’s becoming a bit of a find. We couldn’t bowl him earlier in the year because the wickets were too green but since then he’s really started to do the job for us.’

And as for that chance of mixing it with the élite, Domigan admits that he has pondered the possibility and that he wouldn’t be surprised if it happened. But he also gives the clear impression that the careful growth of Burscough CC comes first.

‘I’ve been at the club six years and I’ve kept coming back because developing the club is a work in progress and I get on really well with the players,’ he said. ‘That’s why I keep coming back. It’s a nice little community and we have a really good junior section.

‘We’ve kept the same team together for the last two or three years and people are showing both desire and commitment. We are getting consistent turnout from players where before we used to miss players for three or four weeks during the season. I don’t think we’ve played our best cricket yet.’