Irby Start the League off Strong

Fantastic, desired results as Irby CC came home with three victories out of three this weekend.

1st XI Make a Mark

Originally scheduled was a home match against new league entrants Goose Green CC at Mill Hill Road, but unfortunately the April weather put a stop to that, forcing our 1st XI to travel to Skelmersdale to play their opening match of the year. Our side over the past season proved to struggle with the bat. More often than not posting lower scores that fellow opposition seemed to cruise on the chase. It seemed that Skelmersdale may have perhaps been wise to this, winning the toss and sticking us in to bat.

There were a few new faces to the starting eleven, all with fantastic track records with the bat. Skipper Cam set up the charge with a fantastic 40, followed by the fantastic Rafi Afridi's first half century of the season (hopefully one of many). It was then down to debutant Nabeel Tahir, who racked up a fantastic 71, pushing the 1st XI to a strong position at 201-9 off the 45 overs. It is perhaps the most impressive score for a long while.

With that comfortable total to defend on a slow April pitch it was down to what Irby do best, the bowling. It wasn't long until Ollie Wilson had ripped through the opening three and Skelmersdale were seemingly on the back foot. They further succumed to fantastic bowling spells from Rob Mallon and Tom Crawford. The three bowlers picking up three wickets apiece, the host bowled out for 86 inside 33 overs.

The 1st XI could not have hoped for a better start. With this momentum nicely building up, they roll on to next week with a home game, facing visiting side New Victoria.

2nd XI Wobble Over the Finish Line

Mill Hill Road, the first game of the cricket season and Irby CC win the toss... We had a bowl.

Debutant Asad Ali takes the first spell of the season for the 2nd XI an impresses with hard to handle swing for Bedford Park's openers tying them down at one end whilst Oscar Wilkes did his usual damage at the other. It seemed the visitors were looking to crack on with it, big shots, attempted quick singles, but ultimately to their demise. As time went on the pitch dried and became a little stickier, resulting in a much slower rate at Bedford crawled towards 84. The wickets were well shared throughout the eight bowlers on display... Asad, TJ, Oscar and Smithy with 1. It was fantastic spells from Will Miles and Sean Delaney, picking up two quick wickets to finsih the side off.

It was time for Irby to bat.

With a low score on the board and the pitch drying out, Bedford Park tactically deploye the slower bowlers to open the innings. It proved a struggle for our lads and we were quickly 3 down inside 4 overs with less than 10 on the board! The drama was beginning to unfold, the visitors had their tails up. The game had gone from a walk in the park to a fight for victory within the space of 5 overs. TJ went in to bat with opener Harry Wilkes, who had watched the carnage unfurl at the other end. But the ship was soon steadied, TJ successfully completing the role he played last season in the middle order and Harry with a spell quoted by the chairman as 'graceful and beautiful batting'. The visitors racked themselves up to 79 in no time. With Harry 40 not out, he was unfortunately trapped LBW by the returning opener, attamepting to play an extravagent sweep shot, narrowly missing.

Another wicket fell quickly after that and it was apparent that we may be on the back foot again just a few runs away from the target. This was until Skipper Nathan Wilkes appeared, confidently pulling his first shot for 4. With 1 run to win, it was TJ at the other end who converted the single, finishing 34 not out. A good day for the 2nd XI in the midst of a chaotic batting display. They travel away to Haydock next week.

3rd XI Defeat Two Teams in One Weekend?!

Caldy during the week unfortunately conceded their fixture vs our 3rd XI, instantly securing the sides first 25 point win of the season without bowling a ball or raising a bat. This allowed us to host Macclesfield CC's 3rd XI at Mill Hill Road for some excellent practise and good fun. It was down to Irby to bat first, with veteran Mahi and ace bat Anoop setting the precidence, Mahi wih 19 before being caught and bowled and Anoop with a massive 71 runs. The season start got better and better for the side, with debutant Farhad knocking 48 not out before the side finished on 212-5 off their agreed 40 overs.

Once again, just like our 1st XI we had a comfortable target to defend. It was down to a great opening spell from both Raihan and Rohith, taking two wickets each, to start the 3rd XI off well. The visitors seemingly fought back well, their opener scoring 42 before being run out, then their middle to late order scoring 20, 23, 43 and 24 respectively to bring their side to 184 all out off 33 overs. A great game when the results are close like that, with everyone getting involved.