Weather permitting (and it rather looks as though it may not do so) one of the more important matches in the recent history of Leigh CC will get under way at Moor Park tomorrow when the ECB Premier League leaders take on second-placed Northern in a game which could go a long way towards deciding the destiny of the Liverpool Competition’s most prestigious trophy.
Tom Foster’s men currently lead their rivals by 13 points and have a 29-point advantage over third-placed Formby, so even bad weather would not necessarily be bad news for them.
However, the Beech Walk skipper has set his face against any “we have what we hold” strategy in favour of the attacking cricket which has characterised his team’s season.
“There’ll be no temptation to be cautious,” he said. “I don’t think we can afford to go into Saturday and look to stifle Northern because if we then slipped up over the next couple of weeks, they’d be breathing down our necks.
“So we’ll go out there looking to win the game as we normally do and I think they’ll do the same. There were games against Ormskirk and New Brighton early in the season when I declared quite early and we lost both.
“Maybe I could have gone on a bit longer but that isn’t the way I’ve been taught to play and an attacking style for us has worked for us. Batting first is your chance to get 25 points and you want to give yourself time to bowl sides out.”
All of which means that Leigh marquee cricketers, Ross Zelem (820 runs) Luis Reece (580 runs and 37 wickets) and Matt McKiernan (565 runs and 67 wickets), who have been at the heart of their side’s title challenge, will once again be taking leading roles in Crosby as their side seeks its maiden Competition title.
All three are fine cricketers, although Leigh’s title, if achieved, will be one to which all members of their first team squad have contributed. Nevertheless, Foster is more than content to acknowledge the efforts of players like McKiernan and Reece, the latter’s cricket being particularly praiseworthy in the month after his release by Lancashire.
“Luis has been fantastic for us recently,” he said. “You wouldn’t know what had happened from the way he’s behaved around us and I’m certain he’ll find another county. And Matt’s been tremendous with both bat and ball. He got after Mohammed Qureshi on Saturday and not many people do that.
“I’ve also been lucky as captain in that I’ve inherited a pretty good team and we’ve had Karl Brown for the second half of the season.”
All that Leigh need to do, therefore, is maintain the standard that has seen them take four wins and a draw from their last five matches. Prolonging their good run of form against Northern tomorrow and in their last two matches against Wallasey and Rainford should make it an end of season to treasure for Foster.
“It would mean a helluva lot to us to win the Comp.,” said Foster. “We’ve come second before but we’ve got a sturdy group of committee people and the mood is so different from last year when we were fighting against relegation. Everyone’s wishing us well and it would be brilliant if we got over the line.
“It’s very nicely set up for us. I thought there would be the odd game where we might crack or let things get out of hand a little bit but we’ve controlled it really well and I think I’ve been a little surprised that the players have responded so well to the pressure.
“Even when we’ve been struggling at times I’ve never been too worried that we weren’t going to get out if it. It’s been excellent to watch as a skipper.”
