SOUTHPORT and Birkdale skipper Mark Fletcher yesterday hailed Ashton May as “a brilliant cricketer” in the week when the 19-year-old Australian is set to become the first Premier League batsman to pass 500 runs for the season.
The Canberra-based all-rounder needs to score just 21 against Hightown tomorrow afternoon to reach the coveted mark and his captain is unstinting in his praise of the player charged with replacing the similarly impressive Patrick Jackson.
“What a find!” enthused Fletcher, as he prepared his team for the visit of the Ocean Park club.
“It’s not just the number of runs he scores but the way he bats which is so impressive. He’s got timing and application, and he also knows exactly what his own game is.
“Ashton’s only 19 but he’s one of the most mature players in the side. Everyone could learn from the way he plays to his strengths. I’m not bothered in the slightest that a couple of dodgy wickets have made him graft a bit more recently.
“The fact that he’s worked harder is encouraging – it shows that he’s adjusting to the variety of conditions that he’s going to find in England.”
May’s all-round contribution – he’s also taken 10 wickets with his off-spin and has the curious knack of hitting the stumps whenever he throws the ball at them – has been one of the brightest aspects of an indifferent couple of months for the Trafalgar Road side.
A couple of wins have had to be set against six defeats, a record which has prompted the incurably civilised Fletcher to call for his team to become “meaner”.
“At the moment we are only playing decent cricket for 50% of a match,” he said, citing recent post-tea displays against Firwood Bootle and Formby as prime examples of this disturbing trait.
“We’ve put the game on a plate for the opposition far too much. I want us to make life as difficult for the opposition as they frequently make it for us. We had a meeting after the Bank Holiday weekend games and I think that was useful, but it remains true that the season has not gone as well as I’d hoped.”
The slight irony of Fletcher’s comments is that they come just a couple of weeks after one of his bowlers, the England Deaf seamer James Dixon, was in some of the form of his life.
“Until two weeks ago I thought I had a new-ball attack which was as good as any in the league,” he said. “Jimmy was bowling very well, but Josh Hine was giving him excellent support and contributing massively to his success. I’m also pleased for players like Dave Aston and Chris Firth.
“They were finding it tough at the start of the season, but they worked hard at their games with our coach Colin Chapman and now I think they’re reaping the benefits.”
Aston’s first Liverpool Competition century was the highlight of S&B’s three-wicket defeat at Formby last week, a result which kept S&B in 10th position in the Premier League table, 14 points clear of the relegation places. Fletcher’s response to the possibility that his team might be playing First Division cricket next summer is characteristically clear.
“I’m confident we can do more than enough to stay in this league,” he said. “I think we’ll win enough games to steer clear of relegation.”
Elsewhere in the top division of the Business Assistance Liverpool Competition, the undisputed match of the day is at Wadham Road where some pundits’ pre-season title favourites, New Brighton, take on the current leaders Firwood Bootle.
David Snellgrove’s side has won seven of its nine games, but its bid to have the title virtually sewn up by the end of the Glastonbury Festival was halted last week when Ormskirk forced a draw at Brook Lane.
TOMORROW Business Assistance Liverpool Competition: ECB Premier League: Bootle v New Brighton, Formby v Lytham, Northern v Colwyn Bay, Northop Hall v Ormskirk, Prestatyn v Fleetwood Hesketh, Southport and Birkdale v Hightown, Wallasey v Newton-le-Willows. First Division: Highfield v Burscough, Liverpool v St Helens Recs, Maghull v Sefton Park, Rainford v Orrell Red Triangle, Rainhill v Ainsdale, St Helens Recs v Leigh, Skelmersdale v Wigan.
