Double blow

They were well beaten in the Cockspur Cup (National Knockout) by seven wickets.

At Moor Park, Northern won the toss and elected to bat first in perfect conditions and, with New Zealander Jim Marshall leading the way, advanced to 25 before wicketkeeper Cole was caught at slip by Zammit off Jennings for four.

Marshall continued to dominate and batted impressively until he was brilliantly run out by Cross for 48 in the 23rd over. Parry (19) soon followed, smartly stumped by Neil Williams off Vallance but Carl Hey then took over and added 50 for the fourth wicket with Wildman (11).

Hey stayed in control until the end of the innings as he guided his side to a healthy 189 for 7 off 45 overs.

Greg Jennings claimed 3 for 50 and Ronnie Davis 2 for 35 but the Leigh bowlers sent down an excessive number of wides totalling 19 in all which were to prove a significant factor in their narrow defeat.

The reply started disastrously with Steve Mullaney bowled behind his legs by Leigh old boy Mike Holden off the fourth ball of the innings without scoring.

Dave Dove soon followed and, at 21 for 2 off 9 overs, things looked bleak. Tim Rees, however, was in magnificent form and, assisted by the aggressive Gareth Cross, took the score to 132 in the 33rd over.

Rees was caught for 71 including 11 sweetly struck boundaries and was followed back to the pavilion in the next over by Cross who was trapped lbw by Holden for a fine 54.

These two had set up a winning position for their side but accurate bowling and outstanding fielding by the home side ensured that, in spite of the efforts of Batterley (12) and Zammit (18), Leigh disappointingly fell short of their target at 183 for 8 with Holden finishing with 3 for 37.

At Beech Walk the following day, Leigh were given a steady start by Mullaney and Dove. Mullaney was out for 28 with the score on 39 after 16 overs but Rees came down to earth after the previous day's exploits as he followed two balls later without scoring.

Dove was dismissed for 22 with the score on 59 and Batterley followed off the next ball.

A lively 28 by Cross ended in the 32nd over at 87 for 5, and the efforts of Davis (14) and Vallance (13) took Leigh to 129 for 9 off their 45 overs, this being a poor total in decent batting conditions.

The Northern spin bowlers Parry (3 for 19), Wildman (3 for 35) and skipper Woosey, with a miserly 1 for 10 off his 9 overs, were never mastered by the Leigh batsmen.

Northern were in trouble at 30 for 3 off 13 overs with Jennings having taken two wickets and Vallance one, but the scourge of the Leigh attack, Carl Hey, again proved impossible to remove as he scored another impressive half century in partnership with Wildman (44 not out). The visitors coasted home in the 39th. over with Greg Jennings (2 for 31) again being Leigh's most successful bowler.

Leigh now travel to Northop Hall, recently reinforced by the signing of Lancashire and England player Chris Schofield, for the final group match in the Premier Division Knockout Trophy, hoping that they can recover their form and gain a place in the semi-finals to be played on Bank Holiday Monday.

Spin pair were key

AFTER the previous weeks defeat by arch rivals Formby, leigh Thirds needed to regroup for their match at Worsley.

Winning the toss was a start and Leigh had no hesitation in electing to bat.

Pete Taylor and Paul Blackburn opened and got proceedings off to a lively start taking 20 off the first four overs. Taylor was the first victim followed immediately by Steve Waywell, unfortunately playing the ball onto the stumps on his first delivery.

Dave Grayson, in his comeback season, was next in and the partnership between himself and Blackburn looked promising until Blackburn holed out at mid off. Youngster Craig Fletcher joined Grayson and both played well to take the score beyond the hundred.

When Fletcher was out on 49 the Leigh innings fell away until all 10 wickets had fallen for 145.

In the second half it was a case of giving as much of the bowling as possible to spin twins Billy Banner and Alex Roussak. Banner took four wickets and Roussak took his first five wicket haul for the club.

On Sunday Leigh are at home to Fleetwood Hesketh.

Youngsters shine

rA SUPERB stand of 44 between Keith Thomason, returning after missing almost two seasons following injury, and 12-year-old Matthew Schleiner, put Leigh back on track after a poor start at Formby.

When Thomason was unluckily given out lbw for 23, the youngster continued to bat with Phil Edwards, the pair adding a further 22 for the next wicket, before Schleiner was bowled for 15 having been at the crease just under two hours. Edwards and Graeme Thomason then added 38 as Leigh declared declared after 48 overs on 136 for 7.

Formby found scoring difficult against the opening attack of Graeme Thomason and Adam Roussak, and the introduction of under fifteens Tim Edwards and Andrew Thomason yielded little more, with Edwards bowling five overs for only four runs and the wicket of the dangerous looking Jones.

At this point, with Formby at 60 for 4 one or two fielding lapses and the beginning of an onslaught by Poole and Chart, saw the initiative move towards the home side who eventually ran out winners by six wickets.

Special mention needs to go to 13 year old Matthew Hibbert with a virtually faultless display of wicketkeeping, to complement the contributions of Schleiner and Edwards with bat and ball.