The newly formed 4th team visited Droylsden for their first ever match in the inaugural GMCL Development League with a few members of the very young team playing their first ever game in senior 40 over cricket.
The Development League is designed to develop young players who currently don’t feature prominently in the other senior sides with no ‘starred’ players being allowed and only a maximum of three senior players being permissible. Unfortunately for a young Heywood side, Droylsden had a much more experienced side and as a result the game became a very one sided affair.
Droylsden batted first and racked up 229 all out in 37 overs, with their top four featuring heavily. This was no reflection on the Heywood attack as several of the opposition had played in the Second XI the day before. For Heywood, Oliver Simpson with 3-18 and Joseph Cockcroft with 2-37 are worth special mention.
When it was Heywood’s turn to bat, things didn’t get any easier and it was soon apparent that such a daunting total against a good bowling attack was beyond them and it was just a matter of spending time in the middle and gaining experience. This they did and when the innings ultimately closed in the 36th over, Heywood had reached 106 with Tom Moulton top scoring on 20 with good support from Charles Stanford-Campbell and Oliver Simpson, with the experience of Roger Smethurst providing a steadying guidance at the top of the order.
Heywood can be very pleased with their first outing against difficult opposition. Everybody stuck to their task with both bat and ball and the main objective of everyone getting a bowl and a bat was achieved. Hopefully, easier and better days are to come.
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