HINE CLINCHES CLASSIC FINAL

Date: 12th September 2010

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

The Bridging Finance Solutions Knockout Trophy Final: Firwood Bootle, 233 for six (44.3 overs), beat Leigh, 229 for nine (45), by four wickets

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Firwood Bootle may have lost the power to secure virtually every trophy Lancashire cricket has on offer, but the Wadham Road players still treat the Liverpool Competition's knockout trophy as something of a private possession. Seven wins in succession - the latest of them secured in thrilling fashion at Beech Walk on Sunday - and 13 triumphant cup runs in 15 years bear witness to the club's love afffair with this particular competition. Rarely, however, can the potaholics of Liverpool 20 have been made to fight so hard to receive their winners' medals as they were by Leigh, whose contribution to the final made it a day the neutrals will remember as warmly as the victors.

At the root of Leigh's resistance was a century by Lancashire's Karl Brown, who stroked 12 boundaries and hit Josh Hine over the pavilion for two sixes in his run-a-ball 104. When Brown was sharing his second-wicket partnership of 139 in 23 overs with Andy Batterley, who made 53, it was easy to see how David Snellgrove's batsmen might be chasing in excess of 250, so assured was the 22-year-old's strokeplay on a wicket which rarely misbehaved all day. Instead, Batterley holed out off Matthew Leah, and Brown skied Ronnie Davis to Johnny Hine at mid-off just three balls after reaching his century. These dismissals, though we could not know it, were turning points in the match. Having scored at 5.6 runs per over until the 27th over, when the opener departed, Leigh had to be content with a rate of 4.1 in the remainder of the innings. This left them with a total of 229 for 9, formidable for sure, but not fearsome. Seizing on the inability of some of the the home side's batsmen to to put the hammer down in the last fifteeen overs, the Bootle bowlers helped themselves to some wickets, although nobody bowled better than Matthew Leah, who got rid of Batterley and conceded just 29 runs in his allocation. Over tea, Snellgrove and his men knew that they needed to score at 5.11 runs an over to win the trophy. They also knew that it could have been much worse.

An opening partnership of 99 in 23.3 overs between Snellgrove and Craig Prince was key to Bootle's successful pursuit: the pair gave the innings a foundation and made the rest of the run-chase manageable. Nonetheless, after the Wadham Road skipper had departed for 42, run out by bowler Matty McKiernan's deflection onto the stumps, and Prince, on 52, had failed to beat Brown's sharp throw, 119 runs were still needed in a fraction more than 15 overs. Enter Jack Boardman and Johnny Hine, two young batsmen whose minds are happily uncluttered by introspection. Boardman struck three sixes in his 26-ball 39 and Hine a further two maximums in his 17-ball 31 not out. A run rate which had strayed above nine had been reduced to eight when Hine, one of the four ex-Southport and Birkdale players in the Bootle line-up, took 17 off six balls bowled by Richard Dempster. It was the big over Bootle needed. Despite the loss of Andrew Gill for a well-made 33 and Josh Hine for two, the former Beech Walk favourite Ronnie Davis hit a couple of boundaries, the second of which ended the game with three balls to spare.

Most significantly, at least three of Dave Dove's younger players confirmed that they are among the brightest talents in the Competition. McKiernan befuddled older heads with his leg spin and conceded only 32 runs; Left-arm seamer Richard Dempster kept to some very tight lines until pillaged by Hine; and Joe Davies, while he dropped Prince on 23, also anounced himself as a wicketkeeper of very great promise. His two leg-side takes when standing up to Brown and Barry Greenwood were as good as one might see in the professional game. So while Leigh may be disappointed for a day or two, they can enter the winter happy that they have a ground fit for Premier League cricket and a team fit to mix it with the elite. Bootle, meanwhile, go to the Rose Bowl with a trophy already in the cabinet. Not bad for a side in transition.

Leigh emerged from the game with abundant credit. Umpires Kevin Wilson and Steve Ball, both of whom did a fine job, decided that Brown should be man of the match.