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Oldham Evening Chronicle

After the previous weekend’s double success, Royton had high hopes when they entertained Rochdale, but thoughts of a third successive win were blown away by the visitors, who racked up a mighty 339 for four after being put in to bat.
Professional Lou Vincent made a whirlwind 144, Simon Brierley 103 and Daz Cryer 56.
There was clearly little wrong with the wicket, so Royton’s capitulation to 69 all out was mystifying and the 270-run margin of defeat is believed to be a league record.
 

Rochdale Observer

Slaughter at the Paddock

BIG HIT... Lou Vincent was in imperious form on Saturday.

Lake Garage Central Lancashire League

IF THIS had been a boxing match the referee could quite comfortably have called it off after the first round.
Rochdale annihilated a shell-shocked Royton at the Paddock on Saturday. Their winning margin of 270 runs was almost certainly the highest in the CLL since limited overs cricket started in 1968.
Their total of 339 for four was also a Rochdale record. It beat the previous highest of 326 against Werneth in June 1988 when Mike Veletta scored 150 not out.
Rochdale skipper Roger Oldfield even had the audacity to declare after 49 overs. Whether it was to spare Royton any further embarrassment, or offer them an incentive to go for five points, is open for discussion.
Most people were in no doubt it was the former.
Incredibly, the winning margin could have been even more as Royton slumped to 35 for seven in pursuit of Rochdale’s gigantic score.
Thanks to a 27-run partnership between Bell and Woodward they recovered to 62 for eight but by then most of the Royton faithful had recognised the futility of the situation.
Royton skipper Mathew Ward won the toss and asked Rochdale to bat. He must be having nightmares about that.
His bowling attack was creamed to all parts of The Paddock as Rochdale ran riot.
Yet it had all started with promise for Royton when professional Neil Broom clean bowled Rochdale’s overseas amateur Innes Smalburger with the third ball of the game.
Enter Lou Vincent. The Kiwi master blaster’s first three scoring shots were four, six, six.
The Rochdale roadshow was up and running.
With Simon Brierley prepared to play a more sedate role at the other end, Vincent cut the Royton attack to ribbons as Rochdale clouted 50 off the first five overs, Vincent’s share being 33.
The 100 came up in only 12 overs and by the half way mark Rochdale had reached an incredible 170 for one.
It took Vincent 30 balls to register his first 50 which was laced with seven fours and three sixes, one of which scattered a barbecue party in Chetwyn Avenue.
His duly brought up his century, his third for the club, off 55 balls, with eight fours and eight sixes.
By the time he was out for 144, having added 209 for the second wicket, he’d smashed 12 fours and 10 sixes off 95 balls in 111 minutes of batting mayhem.
He gave one chance, when he was on 33, but Khan allowed a stinging drive to elude him at mid-off.
If Royton’s beleagured bowlers thought they could now take a breather they were quite wrong.
For Brierley, a product of Royton’s youth set up, simply took over from where Vincent had left off.
In an innings oozing class and composure the left-hander took his season’s run tally past the 500 mark in all competitions with his first century of the season.
His ton came up off 138 balls. He added three more before he played on to Lee Gibbons.
Daz Cryer helped himself to a half century with a mixture of bludgeoning drives and pulls before he holed out to Khan, off Woodward, for 56.
At this stage Rochdale were on 322 and there were still another six overs to go. Mercifully Oldfield called them in at the end of the 49th over but Royton’s bowling figures were something akin to what you might find in Twenty20 cricket.
Royton’s groundsman gave the wicket a solid rolling at the interval, but the home team got off to the worst possible start when Ward went in the first over, pouched by Neil Avery in the gully off Vincent.
From then on it was a procession and only three Royton batsmen, Broom, Ryan Harding and Martin Bell, were able to reach double figures.
By 6.30pm it was all over and Vincent had added three for 16 to his wonderful 144. Avery took three for four off 14 balls.

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