Oldham exit as Norden show class

Photo: -TIM BRADLEY-

WATER LETDOWN: Crompton skipper Simon Wright puts on a brave face despite the weather.

Cricket:

A YEAR ago Oldham made Norden pull out all the stops on their way to victory in the quarter-finals of the JW Lees Bitter Wood Cup.

Twelve months on, the Championship's basement boys were well and truly swatted aside by one of the Lake Garage CLL's powerhouse outfits.

Reigning premier division champions Norden are a match for any team in this league - but give them home advantage and the odds become overwhelmingly stacked in their favour.

Rashid Hussain's Oldham side played with spirit and energy, but were ultimately outclassed. There was no shame in that.

A damp wicket coupled with spells of sunshine and a stiff breeze suggested batting would be a tough task, and so it proved for Oldham, who were bowled out for 111.

The visitors fell to the guile of professional Daniel Salpietro and Hashim Malik, the slow bowlers taking three for 13 and two for 18 respectively.

Babar Hussain and Hamza Hussain shared a promising opening stand of 19, but once the first wicket went, others followed in fairly quick succession - despite a decent 34 by Oldham professional Aneeq Hassan.

The only others to reach double figures were Abid Fazil (12) and Rafael Nasir (11), with extras accounting for 17 of the total. That was never going to be anything like enough to trouble a powerful Norden batting line-up

Rashid Hussain shuffled his pack in an attempt to make something happen, but prolific openers Simon Harman and Salpietro snuffed out danger whenever it arose.

Harman (31) was stumped venturing down the track, but Salpietro and Ash Gowers saw their team home to an easy nine-wicket win and a place in the quarter-finals as Norden look to successfully defend the trophy they won a year ago.

twitter: @KeithMcHughOC