Everyone at the club is looking forward to it – and hopefully, we can cause an upset

Shahbaz Ahmed, captain

40 places separated Whitefield and Wallasey in the league pyramid last year – tonight, 40 overs will decide who comes out on top in the ECHO Cup.

A clash between the defending Love Lane Liverpool Competition champions and a side from the Southport & District League, a tier below the Comp, may seem like a mismatch.

But as the Roby side’s skipper, Shahbaz Ahmed, put it: Anything can happen in a T20.

“One quick 50, or a couple of early wickets, can change everything,” he said.

“Everyone at the club is looking forward to it – and hopefully, we can cause an upset.”

Whatever the result, things have changed at Court Hey Park in the past five years. 

They were a club on the verge of collapse, barely able to scrape two Saturday XIs together, when the return of former Rainhill man Matty Connolly as skipper inspired an incredible turnaround.

The upward momentum of promotion to the Premier Division in 2019 was stalled by Covid, but finishes of 7th and 6th in the past two seasons reflect a growing comfort at life in the top flight.

So far this season, they’ve won three and lost two – but the two defeats were by one wicket to last year’s champions, Merseyside Commonwealth Conference, and by six runs to current leaders Burscough.

Off the field, the club has a 3rd XI in the Comp’s Sunday league, and a growing junior section.

Promotion for the 1st XI is dependent on the facilities and set-up being up to scratch – Commonwealth don’t have their own ground, so didn’t make it last year – but it’s clear the club is moving in the right direction.

Ahmed said: “With more young players coming through in the next couple of years, we should be thinking of it.

“We are definitely not far behind the top sides, and we’ll have an even stronger side next year.

“Without a doubt, we’re the best bowling side in our league, and a few guys have started scoring runs.”

Leading the way is Haresh Shonak, new to the club this season, whose last three games across competitions have yielded 320 runs for once out.

There’s every chance Wallasey will give them a reality check at Court Hey tonight. 

Their title defence may have stalled out of the blocks, with just one win in five, but they’ve recorded three successive cup wins, including inflicting a first defeat of the season on Comp leaders Leigh in the Ray Digman Trophy.

Crucially, a couple of key players seem to be hitting some form – big-hitting opener Jamie Crawley smashed an unbeaten 102 in last Sunday’s Cheshire Cup win over Timperley, and spin wizard Sumit Ruikar is starting to ease into the season after an injury-hit start.

The two sides met at this stage of the 2019 ECHO Cup – Ruikar made 80 and Neil Cross 61 to set up a big win for the Wirral side. 

“We scored about 70 runs in the first six overs,” Ahmed recalled. “And then we collapsed.

“But we have some hope if we can get a start like that.

“And I think we’ve got a couple of very, very good players this season.”

Whitefield are pulling out all the stops to make an occasion of the game, using it as a chance to show what the club is about.

They and Prescot & Odyssey, also in the SADACL Premier Division, are flying the flag for cricket in Knowsley, a borough with a population of 150,000 and therefore a fair bit of untapped cricket talent.

Off the field too, they’re keen to be at the heart of the community, including a pre-season sponsored walk for the juniors to raise funds for Alder Hey, whose children’s charity is this year’s sponsor.

The hope is that an occasion like tonight will be another stepping stone on Whitefield’s journey.

Ahmed added: “It will be a big game. 

“We’ll give them a good game, it won’t be a walk in the park.

“We’re all excited – the whole team is looking forward to it.”