Crompton fired up for revenge

CROMPTON have a score to settle and a proud record to bring to an end when they take on Heywood in the semi-finals of the John Willie Lees Wood Cup on Sunday.

Crimble is the venue for the showdown of two of the CLL’s top teams and it’s the home side which holds the psychological edge going into the game.

When the teams last met in the league a month ago, a kamikaze batting display saw Crompton bowled out for a disappointing 132, leaving Heywood to knock off the runs for the loss of only one wicket.

Heywood also have a sensational Wood Cup record to fall back on. They have reached the final for the last five seasons, winning four of them and losing the only one in which the injured Bobby Cross was not skipper.

So the odds look stacked against Crompton, despite the fact that Simon Wright’s team are setting the pace at the top of the league table.

Wright, however, is “very confident” of a Crompton victory which would earn them a place in the final for the first time since 1980, when they beat Stockport by 60 runs.

He said: “We do have a point to prove as the last time we went down to Heywood we never turned up as a team.

“They are not a bad side are they? But it’s the Wood Cup and Steve Cheetham (Heywood’s main strike bowler) can only bowl 10 overs and after that I don’t think we have too much to worry about.”

Crompton will certainly need to bat more responsibly than they did on their last visit to Crimble.

The batsmen were intent on playing their shots, but many of them were reckless and led to needless dismissals.

Wright is also aware of Heywood’s preference for batting second.

With arguably the league’s strongest top four - Tom Hardman, professional Ruvin Peiris, overseas amateur Royce Blight and league-team skipper Bobby Cross all have healthy batting averages - it is not surprising that Heywood have been able to chase down decent totals.

But Wright insisted: “We are not bothered whether we bat first or second. I know Heywood like to chase, but we will have a look at the wicket before deciding what to do if we win the toss.

“I’m not bothered about batting second either as we have been chasing successfully recently.

“And our bowling is strong, too. Javon (Searles) hurt his arm against Walsden in the quarter-final and was only able to bowl one over, but the fact that we had five other bowlers to do the job shows the strength of our attack.”

Crompton will need every bit of that all-round strength on Sunday, but first they must hope the weather holds for tomorrow’s league rematch against Middleton at Glebe Street.

Crompton won by six wickets at Towncroft last weekend, when Middleton had Durham’s Gareth Breeze as stand-in professional for Werner Coetsee, who has returned to South Africa.

Tomorrow, Middleton rely on West Indian batsman Brendan Parchment, who will come face to face with fellow Caribbean stars Kevin Stoute and Searles.

Crompton professional Stoute has been in fine form with bat and ball in recent weeks and clearly has a huge role to play this weekend.

OLDHAM will be aiming to repeat last weekend’s success against Littleborough when the teams meet again at the Pollards tomorrow.

INCREDIBLE

Skipper Mel Whittle was delighted with his side’s display at Hare Hill, highlighting the batting of professional Chinthaka Jayasinghe and the spirit of the team he leads.

Said Whittle: “Littleborough declared on 192 with a ball left against us so they obviously did not expect us to get the runs, but we knocked them off with four overs and six wickets to spare.

“Our pro (who made 82) is incredible when he gets going and they were unable to defend their score.”

WERNETH may have bowed out of the Wood Cup at the hands of Monton and Weaste, but their league win at Walsden last Saturday confirmed their vast improvement and they will be confident of another victory against the same opposition at the Coppice tomorrow.

And ROYTON, who welcome back skipper Guy Lovell after injury, will be hoping to banish the memory of last week’s defeat at Clifton when the teams stage round two at the Paddock.

OLDHAM will be hoping the bad weather relents so they can stage their John Willie Lees Twenty20 Competition semi-final at the Pollards tonight (6.15).