2013 Friendlies Begin

Westhoughton Cricket Club began their 2013 season with a home friendly against Astley & Tyldesley, late replacements after Atherton were no longer available for the friendly. Having won the toss, the away side asked Westhoughton to bat on a very green wicket.
Things didn't begin well for the hosts as they lost debutant Glen Bullock for 0, captain Rob Houghton for 9 and Dan Naylor for 0, finding themselves 13-3 and some wondering if the 2012 season was about to continue. Fortunately for the hosts, Ian Pilkington (27) and Arun Pindoria began to rebuild the inings with a decent partnership of 38 before Pindoria was out caught. Another flurry of wickets followed and Westhoughton were 89-7 from 33 overs and it looked like a short afternoon would be in store for the A&T batters. This soon changed as Rob Brown, who top scored with 60* from 49 balls, hit six 4's and three 6's to lift Westhoughton to 144-8 from their 40 overs.
A&T got off to a poor start as Paul Hart picked up a wicket with only 8 runs on the board, but a decent 28 partnership followed by a 71 partnership helped A&T to 107-3, with Rob Houghton and Matt Fanning, who bowled a superb 6 overs that only cost him 8 runs, picking up the other wickets. The game was soon taken away from the home side though as Harrison struck 33 in no time, including three consecutive 6's, to end the run chase in the 34th over.
Despite the defeat, the batting display from Rob Brown and the bowling displays of Hart and Fanning were particular points of praise considering it was the first game of the season.