By Mike Latham
Sometimes, quite by accident, you stumble across a cricket match that contains something special, an innings, bowling feat or other occurrence that will linger long in the memory.
So it was for me last Saturday as I visited Atherton Cricket Club, for their Bolton League game against Darcy Lever.
I was in something of a melancholy mood as I arrived as it was ten years since my dad passed away and, though they say time is a healer I‘ve found it is not. I have a lot to thank him for, not least him passing on his love of cricket, football and rugby league and introducing me to all three sports at an early age with trips near and far.
My dad came from a long-established Atherton family and his funeral service was conducted at Howe Bridge Church, close to the Atherton CC ground. My mum is a Howe Bridger, too, born and raised just a few yards from the cricket ground, the house demolished to make way for Howe Bridge Leisure Centre in the 1970s.
My mum’s dad was a coal miner, as many men in Atherton were, and it was through the welfare section of the local miner’s institute, with help from the colliery owners, that the cricket club set up their beautiful ground, known as Higham Park.
The Leigh Chronicle archives have records of cricket in the Atherton area dating back to the 1860s and a reference from the newspaper of 9 November 1867 states that Atherton Collieries Cricket Club was formed in 1864.
The club joined the Bolton & District Association in 1921 and these days compete in the 15-team Bolton League, effectively a merger between the Association and the League after several clubs ‘defected’ to join the Greater Manchester Cricket League, as I mentioned in a recent blog.
For sentimental reasons I was glad to visit Atherton CC on a beautiful sunlit afternoon and, as usual, a good-sized crowd was watching the game attentively.
A sunlit early evening scene at Higham Park
Earlier Darcy Lever had posted 234, failing to bat out five of their 50 overs, with opener Chris Fenn agonisingly trapped leg before after hitting 99. Even so the visitors looked well in control as their eager bowling attack made inroads into the Atherton batting. Wickets fell at regular intervals with only the home professional, Zain Abbas, standing firm.
I’d heard good things about the ‘pro’ from fellow enthusiasts, and he’d had considerable experience of local league cricket. Neat and compact with a wide range of attacking shots, and beautiful timing, he looked a real class player, but you could sense his mounting frustration as his team-mates failed to give him the support he needed. In no time at all, it seemed, the game would be over as Atherton slipped to 95 for 7, then 110 for 8 despite the ‘pro’ having dominated the scoring and remaining steadfast, 70-odd not out.
Zain Abbas, aged 29, hails from Kabirwala in the Punjab province and has already represented Pakistan A. After heavy scoring in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy must be close to a full Test call-up.
He came to the notice of league clubs in England after a prolific season in the Bolton League with Little Lever in 2015, breaking the long-standing batting record of the Australian, Geoff Marsh, who hit 1,334 runs when club professional in 1984. A year or so later Marsh was winning the first of 50 Test caps and he also played in 117 ODIs. Zain Abbas then played for two seasons in the Lancashire League for Church and more recently has fought his way back to full fitness and form after a serious ankle injury.
Zain Abbas on the verge of his century
Finally, as the home spectators began to pack up their belongings and think about going home, tailender Ellis Mort began to give the kind of steadfast support that was needed. Mort looked comfortable at the crease, unleashed a couple of superb on-driven fours and hung around long enough for the ‘pro’ to complete his hundred, consolation at least we thought, for a superb individual innings, the total then 157-8.
But then came the slow, dawning realisation that we might be seeing something special. Abbas continued to unleash some spectacular shots all around the ground, while Mort continued to bat sensibly and the target whittled down. The ‘pro’ passed 150, to generous applause, and Darcy Lever’s bowlers began to flag.
Zain Abbas hits out
Atherton still had 8.5 overs in hand when Abbas hit the winning boundary, finishing a magnificent 174 not out, with 21 fours and five sixes. Mort was undefeated on 16 and both players deservedly were greeted with great applause as they returned to the pavilion from members and opponents alike after transforming the game and providing the spectators with a game to savour.
After reaching his hundred, Zain Abbas had scored 71 out of the remaining 81 runs towards the victory target, Mort contributing six with four extras.
A record-breaking day
Atherton CC later revealed through their social media that Zain Abbas’s score and the undefeated ninth wicket partnership of 118 were both club records. And I was there.
The mid-1970s saw three hugely talented Pakistan cricketers make their mark in local cricket circles before going on to forge great Test careers, Javed Miandad at Daisy Hill, Mudassar Nazar at Little Hulton and Mohsin Khan at Astley & Tyldesley. Wouldn’t it be great if Zain Abbas, fortified by a season or two at Atherton, did the same.
Zain Abbas and Ellis Mort after their match-winning partnership
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