Formby had already won the Merseyside Youth Cricket U11 Shield and were hoping to add another trophy to finish what has been an excellent season for the U11 ‘A’.

The team hadn’t played a competitive fixture for over a month and attendance at the training sessions arranged prior to the match had been mixed but everyone was excited about the game and ready to do their best. Finding the balance between defending their wickets and scoring runs was going to be the key to the game, with the bowlers and fielders also needing to be at their best.

Captain Jackson Cockbain won the toss and decided to bat. Openers Daniel McCann and Nat Guest got off to a difficult start when the second ball of the first over took a deflection off Daniel’s pad and struck the stumps. After that setback they batted well and Nat in particular hit some great shots to give Formby a useful start of 212.

Carl Guest and David Jump were next in. Carl had most of the strike and did all of the scoring, adding another 15 runs to the total.

The third pairing of Ollie Sutton and Joe Gallen scored well and although Joe lost a wicket they still took the score to 242 after 9 overs and were looking at a final score of around 260 which would have been a challenge for Mawdesley.

The fourth pair of Jackson Cockbain and Matthew Black struggled against some medium pace but very accurate bowling and lost six wickets in their three overs. This reduced Formby to 223 and Mawdesley were right back in the game.

The final pair of Jackson Darke-Sutcliffe and Liam Rooney staged a recovery but Liam was bowled in the final over and Formby finished their 15 overs on 232.

Formby were very disappointed at the break but they knew that they had bowled teams out for less this summer and the game was still in the balance if they bowled and fielded as well as they had shown they could.

Ollie Sutton opened the bowling and took a wicket with his third ball. David Jump then bowled a superb wicket maiden which also included a run-out by wicket-keeper Nat Guest. Another wicket by Daniel McCann in the third over meant that Mawdesley were reduced to 192 and the game was swinging back towards Formby.

The bowling and fielding remained tight and Mawdesley were finding it difficult to score. A further wicket from Jackson Darke-Sutcliffe in the sixth over meant that Mawdesley were on just 198.

Mawdesley’s third pairing found runs just as difficult to find, Joe Gallen and Jackson Cockbain both bowling maidens. At the end of nine overs Mawdesley were on 203 and needed 30 runs off the last 6 overs.

Formby started to worry about protecting their boundaries and the fielders started to drop back. This meant that Mawdesley’s fourth pair of Matthew and Noah were able to start scoring singles and even the loss of a wicket to Joe Gallen didn’t stop them taking Mawdesley to 216 at the end of the twelfth over, just 17 runs short of what they needed to win.

Mawdesley’s last pair of Alex and Josh lost a wicket to a Jackson Darke-Sutcliffe run-out in the thirteenth over but a combination of good hitting, some loose bowling and poor fielding meant that they were able to take the score to 222 after 13 overs and 230 after 14. Formby’s fielders dropping back to the boundary meant that runs were available and a number of chances for easy catches were missed.

Mawdesley needed just 3 runs off the final over and Formby needed a wicket. Jackson Cockbain bowled accurately and with pace but Mawdesley were able to take three singles and then hold out to the end for the win.

It was a great match that swung either way right to the end and was played in a very sporting manner. Both sides were a credit to their clubs.

Congratulations and the league title go to Mawdesley for the second year running but Formby will feel that this was definitely a match they should have won.