Storey the star as Ashington gain ‘winning draw’

McCafferty said Storey – who went in to bat at number nine - was a ‘joy to watch’ as he took Ashington over the line with a mature innings as the Wansbeck side went for option two in a rain affected game in County Durham.

The home side got off to a rapid start with 37 on the board in nine overs. Shortly afterwards they lost Graham Brinton who was trapped lbw to Matty Collins but Pasindu Madushan (63) and Greg Patterson (50) pressed on in a stand worth 85 until Cam Skinner got the breakthrough having the former caught behind by wicketkeeper Jack McCarthy for 63.

Nine runs later, Patterson was bowled by Skinner which triggered a flurry of wickets with Ashington bowling out their opponents in the 49th over for 192.

“They (Lanchester) got off to a flying start but for all that, I thought we bowled quite well and were unlucky early on,” said McCafferty, “The two lads Madushan and Patterson batted well and got their side into a good position. However, I always thought we were only one or two wickets away from getting into their middle order and that proved to be the case with excellent performances from Skinner (4-32) and Storey (4-50).”

He continued: “Batting wise, it was quite a difficult situation because the rain looked ominous and I think our mindset was that the game was going to be rained off. It left us in a sticky situation and to go for a winning draw was the best possible scenario given the time we had lost to the weather – and we achieved that. Cal (Storey) and Cam (Skinner) were tremendous and to be honest, Cal’s knock wouldn’t have looked out of place with a top three batter - that’s how well he performed. Cal read the situation perfectly as to how many we needed and judged everything to perfection.”

He continued: “Cal’s knock came as no surprise to me because he’s a tremendous batter to go alongside his bowling. Some of his shots were unbelievable and he was a joy to watch.”

After the game Storey said: “It was a bit weird to be honest. We secured a winning draw but it was not an outright win. When the rain came, it was never a realistic option with the overs being reduced for us to chase down the target of 193 – but a winning draw was possible.”

The 26 year old Ashington-born right arm bowler and right hand batsman reflected on his knock which included seven boundaries: “I felt in good nick,” he added, “It was still a tough ask but it was my most enjoyable innings to be fair. They (Lanchester) were bowling well but it was hard conditions with rain about. In the last season in the Northumberland & Tyneside Senior League, I hit a half century against Tynedale batting at number three and it was nice to play a few shots again.”

Although there was no man of the match award, Storey would have been the leading candidate after taking 4-50 with the ball earlier in the afternoon as Ashington hit back.