Milnrow CC bounce back with five point victory at Elton CC

Milnrow Cricket Club

Milnrow CC bounced back from a disappointing series of results with a five point victory at Elton CC. The victory was secured by a brilliant innings by professional James Price who scored 124 not out from 107 balls.

The South African showed his class with some superb shotmaking all round the ground, scoring runs freely right from the start. His innings enabled Milnrow to claim their first victory for five games and lifted the spirits and confidence of Milnrow's players and supporters.

Milnrow bowled first and although Elton made a good start, reaching 100 for the loss of only one wicket, the introduction of talented 14-year-old Lewis Ashton gave the whole team a lift. Although Ashton did not take a wicket he bowled accurately and showed real potential, and this gave Milnrow some momentum.

Leading the way was Wilkinson, who bowled impressively. He took four for 66 from his 22 overs and this included three wickets in one over. This reduced Elton to 154 for eight and although there was a late rally, two wickets in the last over kept Elton below 200. Their 191 all out included four wickets for Price.

Although there were two rain breaks in Milnrow's innings, Price batted with real skill and momentum to lead Milnrow home. He was ably supported by Lee Crabtree who played some good shots in his 20 and Steve Dryden who hit some excellent shots through the offside in making 25 not out.

Price reached his 50 off 32 balls, his 100 off 88 and finished the game off in real style by hitting four consecutive sixes off the last four balls. His match winning innings was just what Milnrow needed and could be the platform for further progress in the next few weeks.

Milnrow are really trying to bring their young players through the system and it was noticeable that as well as Lewis Ashton's debut for the firsts there were other highlights on a day when all three Milnrow teams won their matches.

Keelan Shipley made his debut for the second team aged just 12 and the third team had a crushing victory at Blackley with 16-year-old Danny Crompton making 60 and 12-year-old Alfie Lloyd-Jones making 41.