SLOW and steady wins the race, or so the saying goes.
But Bacup threatened to turn what should have been a comfortable win into a photo finish in what was arguably the tie of the 2003 Lancashire League campaign's opening day.
Ian Austin, sub pro for defending champions Bacup, had sucked the life out of Enfield, last season's runners up. The former Lancashire bowler, standing in for professional Shaun Young, who's wife was due to give birth towards the end of last week, was in devastating form, claiming five wickets for 47 runs in his 24-over spell. Indeed, those five made up the first six wickets.
David Ormerod was not a shrinking violet either as he weighed in with 4-69 and got the ball rolling by having Liam Jackson caught out by Terry Lord to put the score on 28-1.
Adam Bracewell didn't last long at the crease as Austin got on a roll, going on to bowl out Andrew Barker and Mas Ahmed before trapping Enfield's sub professional Franklyn Rose leg before. But Austin was eager to play down his personal contribution.
"I played my first game for Cleckheaton on Saturday so it was good to get outside and get a few overs under my belt," he said.
"That helped me for Bacup as I took five of the first six wickets. I didn't get many runs but I'm not a massive believer in personal glory. It's about the team and the result, that's the way I've always played."
He added: "We had a comfortable victory yesterday. We bowled well on a decent deck then lost a couple of early wickets but it was a good start.
"Only two of us bowled, Dave Ormerod got four wickets and I got five, but it was a real team performance.
"There were catches in the outfield and people were diving about, everyone contributed.
"We bowled them out for 123, and we'd have snapped people's hands off if they had offered us that before the game started.
"I haven't bowled much outside recently so I was just looking to be steady and feel my way in to the season."
As predicted, Enfield offered some resistance to Austin's onslaught through Neil Holmes, who inspired the rest of the tail to wag a little after top scoring with a tantalising knock of 30 - which included six fours - before being caught at point by Dominic Ayres off Ormerod. Robert Green, Benjamin Dowling and Kaz Shazad all reached double figures - Shazad's perhaps the most breath-taking as he threw caution to the biting wind.
The former Accrington bowler hit two, then four before sending a lusty blow over cover point for six. But, in typical maverick fashion his stumps were skittled by Ormerod with his next delivery and that signalled the end of the innings for Enfield.
The start of the Bacup innings promised to turn into a battle of the bowlers as Franklyn Rose looked to steal the limelight from his Bacup counterpart.
Enfield's former full-time professional was standing in for Martin Van Jaarsveld while the South African completes a tour of Australia.
And the West Indian tore down the wicket with venom to dismiss openers Peter Thompson and Dominic Ayres for relatively few runs.
Austin would have been disappointed not to follow up such an excellent bowling display with similar success with the bat. But he was sent back to the dressing room quickly after Liam Jackson clean bowled him for just four runs.
The introduction of David Bracewell into the bowling proved to be Enfield's undoing. The visitors had been rocked by Rose's pace but exploited Bracewell's inability to find his line and length. None more so than O'Connor.
In one over, he hit Bracewell to various parts of the boundary three times, the last of which took him past a deserved half century.
Terry Lord's 18 not out was a decent knock and, although Bracewell made amends by catching O'Connor out off the bowling of Rose for 56, it was too late to stop Bacup racing away from Enfield well before the final furlong.
The home side had looked to be causing problems in the early stages of Bacup's innings.
But the Lanehead side have quality throughout their order and, with their first win under their belt, should be confident of keeping would-be title challengers at bay.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article