WALLASEY ARE BACK ON TRACK

Date: 23rd May 2010

Courtesy of Paul Edwards & Liverpool Daily Post (Unabridged)

It will be understandable if Wallasey's players approach their sport with even more zest than usual in 2010. The cricketers currently enjoying the facilities at the Kevin McCullagh Oval are well aware that their ground could have been deserted this summer as it awaited the arrival of businessmen looking to develop the site once occupied by one of Merseyside's most famous cricket clubs. Thankfully, that grim scenario has been avoided, but memories of the winter's financial crisis that pushed the Wirral towards closure remain sharp for first team skipper Dave Miles and the many other Wallasey stalwarts who fought a successful battle to keep the club afloat. "From November onwards, I think I attended meetings almost every week to see what could be done," said Miles. "The response was fantastic, not just from the committee, but from all the membership as people dug in and started to help out."

That help sometimes took rather conventional forms as when club treasurer John Pugh began doing detailed projections to ensure that Wallasey's future would be secure for the next three years. And while Pugh was studying spreadsheets instead of the run-charts of his many centuries, Chris Bourne was devising his Friday night fundraising quizzes which Miles describes mysteriously as "legendary". "We also found a main sponsor in the Wirral company Brooktherm Refrigeration and we're very grateful indeed for their help," said Miles.

When financial meltdown had been averted, there was cricket to be considered and preparations for a season which has begun in good style for Wallasey in both league and knock-out formats. "We had yet another meeting at the end of March to decide whether we could afford an overseas player," said Miles. "We were able to do so because another sponsor came in and said that their contribution was to go towards helping us attract the sort of players that would keep us in the Premier League." The result of that generosity was the arrival on Merseyside of Australian leg spinner Kurt Roughley, whose 6 for 78 from 21 overs helped Wallasey to their 50-run victory against Northop Hall last Saturday. "Kurt's got a lot of variations and I've got a lot of bowling options at my disposal," said Miles, whose team lost to Firwood Bootle by seven wickets in The Bridging Finance Liverpool Competition Premier League on Saturday. "Unfortunately, we lost to Fleetwood Hesketh in the Liverpool Echo Knock-Out too, but I'm not too down about that because we've made a decent start overall and everybody's been chipping in," he added. "We've got matches in the National Knock-Out, the Lancashire Cup and the League Knock-Out to look forward to."

One player who will be looking to make a powerful contribution in those matches is 22-year-old opener Neil Carruthers, who made 81 against Northop Hall and whose batting style has caused one or two of the Rosclare Drive residents to check their buildings and contents insurance. "Neil is an natural sportsman who can hit the ball a long way," said Miles. "He was maybe a bit raw, but he can certainly make a massive dent in a target. Watching him and Kuran Makol open the innings is quite entertaining."One does not have to be a Wirral loyalist to agree with the view that a bit of entertainment is just what Wallasey's members deserve this summer