Formby U13B travelled to New Victoria for a Southport and District Junior League match on a cloudy night with rain threatening from the start. After a couple of abandonments both sides were keen to play.
New Victoria won the toss and put Formby in to bat. Opening batsman Daniel McCann had some difficulty getting his eye in on a damp pitch and after 5 dots took a swipe at a ball that cut back and took his off stump. It looked like a repeat of the previous night’s collapse was on the cards but Luke Warden and Carl Guest settled down and took Formby to 21 by the time the next wicket fell in the seventh over, Luke caught for 10.

Carl Guest was caught in the tenth over and Joe Maybury bowled in the eleventh to leave Formby on 39 for 4. Nat Guest was still at the crease and was joined by Lewis Hill who set about increasing the Formby total with some great shots, hitting a quick 25 including 4 fours and a six before he was bowled in the eighteenth over with the score on 83. Formby added another couple of runs to finish on 85 for 5.

The drizzle that had started during Formby’s innings had now turned into rain but both sides wanted to continue.

Bowlers and batsmen found the conditions difficult, with runs hard to come by and catches spilled. Formby eventually struck in the thirteenth over when Daniel McCann bowled Luke for 10. Lewis Hill bowled Matt in the next over and Matthew Linford took 2 wickets in the seventeenth. Joe Casey-Fletcher took a wicket in the eighteenth over, caught by Nat Guest. New Victoria completed their 20 overs and ended up on 38 for 5, well short of the target but a great performance given the conditions and both sides deserve full credit for carrying on with the match when other teams might have run for the pavilion.

The encouraging thing for Formby was how the middle order responded to some early setbacks and still scored the runs needed.