Match Report
St Annes achieved their first long awaited win of the season following a number of winning draws. St Annes were without skipper and wicketkeeper Duncan Whalley following a broken finger at practice on the previous Tuesday, professional Shane Harwood returned to action and took over the captaincy.
Having won the toss and asking Lancaster to bat St Annes started very well as Lancaster found the pace of Harwood and the accuracy of Ian Austin hard work, Austin's first 9 overs produced one wicket and only conceded four runs. It was especially pleasing to see the return of Harwood and although not at full pace was able to significantly trouble the batsmen. With Stephen Twist also bowling well Lancaster managed 199 for 9 off their 50 overs. Stand in wicketkeeper Aiden Cotton performed admirably conceding no byes and taking four catches.
The St Annes reply got off to a good quick start despite losing Gareth Evans early until a couple of quick wickets put the brakes on. Adrian 'Bus Pass' Darlington (65) and Harwood (42) consolidated the innings and then began to score freely to build a good partnership. As wickets fell again St Annes put themselves under unnecessary pressure and going into the final few overs it was anyone's game. St Annes pulled through however thanks to some clean hitting and sensible batting from Jon Musgrave (20), Aiden Cotton (13no) and Dave Taylor (14no). Cotton and Taylor both hitting consecutive boundaries to seal victory.