Bacup v Rawtenstall U15s match report

Wed 14/5/25

Rawtenstall 124/3

Bacup  95 all out 

Weather: Sunny

Temperature: Scorchio 

Rawtenstall won the toss and elected to bat, with captain M Entwistle taking the strike initially. The first over bowled by Laurie Williams was eventful, with Entwistle being struck by the second ball, before responding with powerful 4s and 6s to end the over.

   Making his debut for the U15’s in the league this year, Xander Taylor had the perfect start in the second over, capturing S O’Connor with his first delivery, chipped up to cover and snagged low down by J Sercombe. This brought Z Tipton to the crease at number 3 and he calmly saw out the rest of the pacy over.  Laurie continued to bowl from the carp-park end, with M Entwistle again hitting him for successive boundaries through the vacant gaps that 8 a-side cricket brings. There was definitely a preferred end to bowl to as Xander showed with a tight 4th over. 

Following the initial burst, bowler changes brought Isaac Greenwood and Jake Sercombe on for the next spell. Bacup’s tactic to starve M Entwistle of the strike slowed the scoring rate down, and a very economical spell from Isaac restricted this further. Isaac bowled 4 overs straight, (4-1-12-0). At the other end Jake (2-0-12-0) was replaced by Phoebe Williams and she likewise continued the control of scoring. Only 1 boundary scored in this 7 over period. Having faced the lion’s share of the strike, Z Tipton fell for 21 after a solid knock, caught at mid-off by X Taylor off Phoebe Williams (4-1-16-1). 

With 6 overs to go Rawtenstall started to press the accelerator. Entwistle continued to bat at ease, finally retiring on 40 not out, finishing with a stylish 6 over backward square leg. At the other end new batsman A Tinkler kept the pace up finding the gaps, before having his middle stump taken (14) by a fullish delivery from the returning Laurie Williams (3-0-27-1).  At the other end X Taylor completed the proceedings with a tight last over, to finish with excellent and well deserved figures of  (3-0-15-1) 

Break

 Chasing 125 to win, unfortunately Bacup made a poor start with captain Adam Goddard chipping up to mid off in the first over from S O’Connor.  This brought Zac Richardson to the crease to join opener Jake Sercombe and the two of them began to re-build the innings, combination of singles and well run byes moving Bacup to 24-1 after 3 overs. The 4th over unfortunately saw two wickets fall, Zac getting one that bounced, snicking through and well taken behind, Laurie Williams likewise getting one that lifted and popped it up for an easy catch.

 Xander Taylor came in at 5 and looked as good with the bat as he did with the ball initially.  Bacup were in need of a partnership and Xander and Jake looked to build this. Jake was starting to score more freely hitting boundaries either side of the wicket with more confidence, but unfortunately Xander (9) fell to a straight one, leaving Bacup struggling on 55-4. Phoebe Williams joined Jake at 6 and this brought the best partnership of the match for Bacup. Good defence, sensible running led to a 39 run partnership which was only broken by Jake retiring on 40 not out in the 13th over. 

With 40 required from 5 overs, Isaac Greenwood (3no) joined Phoebe at the crease, only to be met with the return of the pacy Entwistle aiming to close the game out. Both Isaac and Phoebe batted well against this, scoring 7 off the 14th over.  Phoebe (10)  fell in the 15th, bowled by A Tinkler who had bowled well all evening for Rawtenstall. Last man in Oliver Parkinson got off the mark with a hard struck shot to mid-off, but a repeat of this eventually saw him run out at the bowlers end following a direct hit to close the innings. 

Stumps 

Bacup fell 30 runs short of the Rawtenstall total this time, the players will look forward to gain revenge in the reverse fixture later this season.