GREATER MANCHESTER AMATEUR CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION THREE
SALFORD BLUE JAYS 281-7
WEST DIDSBURY 151
SALFORD WON BY 130 RUNS

Salford Blue Jays continued their fine start to the season with a convincing win against a strong West Didsbury side.

Vice-captain Ross Bloomberg’s seventh straight winning toss standing is as captain meant Salford opened the batting on a good looking track at Gatley.

Waseem Hassan certainly enjoyed the true bounce of the wicket and led the way with the bat, scoring a fine 72 from 66 balls. His innings which included six fours and four sixes. However, his opening partner Daniel Bourke did not fare as well as he came to the crease and back without troubling the scorers.

Indy and Abdul added quick runs to create a platform for the rest of the side to spring off. Thereafter it was the lower order for Salford who were the stars of the innings.

Veteran Jonny Wineberg, entering the fray with three wickets down, played an anchor role and compiled 59 not out. He was ably supported by the quick hitting of Robert Dietz, Yasir and Deeraj who scored 27, 27 and 21 respectively and managed to push the Blue Jays score beyond 250.

Overall the batting performance from the away side combined defensive skill with youthful flamboyance and resulted in the Blue Jays highest score for a number of years.

After setting a target of 282 to win of their 38 allotted overs, West Didsbury got off to the worst possible start losing their first three wickets for 32 runs. This blistering start was down to the pace attack of Yasir and Robert Dietz who were swinging and seaming the ball around and causing the opposition batsman no end of trouble.

However, it was when the pace came off the ball that West Didsbury really struggled. Bloomberg found an excellent length for his off-spin and helped himself to three wickets himself. The impressive Wineberg, bowling his mixture of swing and spin, managed to take four wickets including a ripper which was expertly caught by Salford’s long standing wicket-keeper Shimon Harris.

A special mention should go to Moishe Harris, the young bowler had a fine spell only conceding 23 off his three overs and constantly kept the batsman on their toes.

This commanding performance against a West Didsbury side relegated from the second Division last year, indicates a real prospect for an excellent season. The strength of the bowling unit continued from last year, reducing Didsbury to 151 on a batsman friendly wicket.

However, it is the improvement to the batting that was most impressive with most of the team going well into double figures. With the return of key players including Kaushal Keraminiyage and captain, Josh Henry there is much room for optimism going into the rest of the season.