Match Report
NOT ENOUGH RUNS ON THE BOARD SPELLS DEFEAT
St Annes 159-9, Blackpool 160-2
Gerry Wolstenholme
On a sunny but cold afternoon at Vernon Road on Monday the St Annes batsmen let the side down on a track that was of more help to them than it was to the bowlers. They never really got free of the shackles that Paul Danson and his men put on them particularly when the spinners were bowling in tandem and as a result they managed only a modest 159-9 from their 57 overs. Thereafter they were going to have to bowl the visitors out to get anything out of the game but they failed to make early inroads into the Blackpool innings and two wickets to Jimmy Adams was their only consolation as they lost by eight wickets, Blackpool's 160-2 coming with 10 overs of the final 20 remaining.
Put in to bat St Annes opened with Danny Hagen in place of the absent Gareth Evans but it was his partner Adrian Darlington who was the first to go. When he had made 10 and the total was 18 he aimed an extravagant drive at Chris Taylor and was bowled.
This brought in Jimmy Adams who started well with three excellent cover drives. He also had two close calls going for unnecessary quick singles before he edged 15-year-old Michael Taylor to wicketkeeper Richard Cragg and he was gone for 23 and St Annes were 68-2. At this point Paul Danson joined the attack with Clinton Perren to make it off-spin from both ends and this slowed the scoring immediately as the batsmen had to make their shots to pierce an excellently placed field.
Danny Hagen got to 32 when he held back on a shot to Perren and he was caught and bowled to leave St Annes on 80-3. It was 89-4 when Danson bowled Davies for nine and half the side had gone for 98 when Steve Twist, 12, edged Danson to Cragg. Russ Bradley made just two before Danson bowled him at 100-6 and then Adam Cotton, 22, and Charlie Boucher, 23, put on 35 runs for the seventh wicket.
The introduction of seam spelt the downfall of Cotton as Tim Barry bowled him at 135-7 and with David Bartholomew driving a catch straight back to Perren before he had scored, it was 136-8. A superb piece of fielding cost Boucher his wicket when a firm drive from Dave Taylor, who went on to play a cameo innings of 11, was brilliantly fielded and returned at short extra cover by Perren and Boucher did not even look to the umpire and that was 145-9. Michael Baer made two not out and St Annes closed on a disappointing 159-9, probably 50 or more runs short of a decent target. Danson was the most successful bowler with 3-15 from 10 overs but it was an all-round team effort by Blackpool.
When Blackpool batted it looked comfortable for openers Steve Mercer and Perren and they quickly put on 54 without alarm. Mercer, 21, then drove Adams to deep mid-on where Bartholomew, who later missed a very easy chance from Perren when he had made 30, took the catch. Perren added only three runs to his score after his let-off before Bradley took a stunning catch in the slips to have him caught off Adams and that was 61-2.
However that was St Annes' last success for, rotate the bowlers as he did, Twist could not capture another wicket as Steve Croft, 55 not out, and Barry, 44 not out, saw Blackpool comfortably home to an eight-wicket victory with plenty of overs to spare.
