An incredible achievement for a small village team built on the foundations laid by the club’s successful All Stars programme.
Having beaten Prestwich CC in the first round followed by a tense 20 over game against a strong Monton CC team, Edgworth CC qualified to represent GMCL in the County competition.
Horwich (Bolton league) were our opponents in the quarter final. A solid Edgworth team performance resulted in a 25 run win and qualification to the finals day, which this year was hosted by Highfield Cricket Club in Wigan.
A glorious, sunny September day set the scene for finals day and a fantastic day of junior cricket lay ahead.
In the first semi-final, Edgworth faced Rochdale CC (Lancashire League). The nerves were clear to see in the batting performance and Edgworth set an under-par total of 57 for Rochdale to chase. Following a great start from the Rochdale opening batters, Edgworth began to gain confidence and applied pressure to limit Rochdale to just 44 runs and progress to the final.
After a four hour wait, Edgworth were eager to face their final opponents, Newton-le-Willows CC (Wigan League) who were clearly going to be tough competition having well beaten their opponents, Shireshead & Forton CC (Westmorland League), in their semi-final by over 100 runs.
Newton-le-Willows won the toss and elected to bat first in the 20 over final. Four very strong batting pairs set Edgworth a tough target of 112/6. However, Edgworth had fielded confidently and two well taken wickets in the final over gave them a strong belief in themselves going into bat. Some tight bowling from Newton-le-Willows resulted in Edgworth needing 100 runs from the last two pairs, but they were up for the challenge. A breathtaking 50+ from the third pair gave them a glimmer of hope and a gutsy batting performance by the last pair under immense pressure to the last ball was enough to take the win by just 1 run, 113/5. There were so many game changing moments throughout the match from every Edgworth player making this a true team victory.
An amazing game of cricket for anyone that witnessed it, Edgworth were very proud to represent GMCL and achieve their first Lancashire Cup in their history. This win will inspire the next wave of young players that are starting their All Stars journey at the club, watching their club mates go from having great fun together at Friday night training to bringing home a prestigious trophy. Well done Edgworth!