Rain or Shine, There's Always Cricket!

After a bout of rain and a blanket of thunderstorms swept across Merseyside on Saturday morning, it was looking like questionable conditions for playing cricket, with some questionable pitch protection methods in play - but for most teams it brightened up enough for a cautious game of cricket to ensue.

Unfortunately the first team were caught in the crossfire in the battle between England's cricket pitches and the weather this weekend, with their trip to Wavertree being cut short, despite them looking to compete for their place in the league table.

Fortunately such a fate was not the same for the rest of the Saturday teams, with the second team tentatively taking to the front pitch, looking to maintain their incredible run of undefeated form. Caldy won the toss and decided to make the most of the conditions and have a bowl first, but this was no issue for Jon Bennett who put 52 runs up on board, helping the team to a respectable total of 145 given the conditions. It was then in the hands of the bowlers to show that this total was good enough - with seam bowler Ollie Wilson notching 6 wickets, helping bowl Caldy out for 103, and securing a Viking victory.

Then there is the third team who went from strength to strength this week, finding themselves at home against Wallasey who took to the crease first after Irby won the toss. The 3rd XI managed to limit the opposition to 130 runs after a bizarre declaration by the opposition. Their faith in their bowling strength, however, did not pay off with Irby putting in yet another solid performance at the crease, only losing one wicket in the process.

The Fourth XI managed to take to the field yet again at Wayfarers this week despite the conditions, and with the help of industrial levels of sawdust. It was a tough game for the side due to lack of availability, but they managed to put an amicable 137 runs on the board, with contributions coming from Tomas Jones (47 runs) and junior Max Thompson (19 runs). With a churned and sawdust covered strip they then took to the field to try and defend the total to the best of their ability, and they got pretty close considering their struggles this week with amazing contributions from Kian behind the stumps, and bowling performances from Rich who ended up on a hat-trick ball in his first over.

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