Report by Jack Cunnington

Thanks to Shireshead 1stXI Sponsor Paul Conannon

Shireshead faced Heysham for the fourth time already this season in the first round of the Myler cup. The first team were aiming to make it back to back victories after sneaking over the line against Burneside in the league the day before.

After winning the toss, captain Ste Yates decided to bat first on a used wicket at Heysham. Regular openers Tom Jacques and Joe Cunliffe made a strong start with a flurry of boundaries in the opening overs, aided by some loose bowling. That was the start of an excellent opening partnership. Jacques was the more aggressive of the two, playing some typically eye-catching shots while Cunliffe rotated the strike well and picked off any bad balls. Both batsmen surpassed 50 as it looked like a big score was on the cards. It wasn’t until the total had reached 174 that Heysham made a breakthrough with Joe Cunliffe (59) losing his stumps while looking to increase the scoring rate. However, that only brought in further fire power with David Jack promoted to number 3. He quickly took on the small boundaries and found his range with a number of maximums. At the other end it seemed like Jacques was moving serenely to a ton, however a dubious LBW decision ended his excellent innings for 95.

With the score on 187, there was still work to be done. Phil ‘the beast’ Oliver joined David Jack at the crease and continued the onslaught. His quickfire 34 required just 13 balls. That partnership further increased the run rate and despite both departing for the same score of 34, the damage was done. A couple of late wickets saw Shireshead close their innings on 251-5 from 40 overs. Arron Cross was the pick of the Heysham bowlers, returning figures of 4-47 from his 8 overs.

Heysham made a steady start to the chase with openers Geoff Carter and Lee Calverley looking to build a platform for their team. However, with the score on 44 David Jack made the breakthrough, removing Carter (21) with an edge through to keeper Matt Yates. With the pitch seeming to deteriorate rapidly, scoring became harder and harder and Heysham struggled to keep up with the required rate. After Joe Oliver first removed number three Damion Keegan for 0 and then opening bat Calverley (26), the score had reached 69-3. With the pitch offering increasing assistance to the bowlers, spinners Tom Jacques and Jack Cunnington entered the attack and were quickly amongst the wickets, both finding plenty of turn and bounce. The Heysham innings never recovered and Jacques (4-20) and Cunnington (2-18) finished the game off with the batting side eventually reaching 108 all out.

The win was the fourth in a row in all competitions for the first team and they will be eager to continue the momentum in what is a busy few weeks ahead. Mawdsley CC who play their cricket in Division 1A of the Palace Shield await Shireshead in the next round.