Saturday was a historic milestone for Shaw CC, the club proudly fielded a record 44 different players, the first time in its history that four senior teams took the field simultaneously. This remarkable achievement comes less than a year after facing challenges in regularly filling two teams on a Saturday afternoon.

The first recorded their first League win of the season against Denton West. After winning the toss, Jack Pilling’s team batted first, posting an impressive total of 262 runs. Raghav Kapur shone brightly, scoring a spectacular maiden century finishing on the last ball of the innings with 113, he ably supported by Brian Lord who finished unbeaten on 40 and Max Winskill with 37. An exceptional bowling effort from Buddika Madushan, Harsh Parmar, Ben Pilling and professional Kyle Jacobs who took 6 wickets was complimented by some fantastic fielding to saw the hosts bowled out for 176.

Back at HQ, the second team delivered an outstanding performance against Micklehurst 1st XI. Winning the toss the visitors elected to bat, but restricted to 138 all out with skipper George Russell leading the bowling attack with an impressive 4 for 28. In response, debutant Manman Parmar and Josh Fitzpatrick both scored 41, guiding Shaw to a comfortable 8-wicket victory with 25 overs to spare.

The third team faced Swinton Moorside in a challenging match. A critical 71-run partnership for the 9th wicket allowed the home side to set a target of 202. Despite a valiant effort, Shaw fell short, 46 runs short.

Shaw’s first-ever Saturday fourth team ventured to East Lancashire to compete against Lowerhouse in a spirited match. Although they faced a narrow loss by 3 wickets, everyone can be proud of their contribution in a historic afternoon.

Club President Mark Stafford expressed pride in the club’s growth, “Today, we had 44 players across four teams, all proudly representing Shaw Cricket Club. This achievement reflects the hard work being done by so many people behind the scenes not only to recruit players but enhance our ground and facilities for everyone of all ages, gender and background to play cricket. I extend my heartfelt thanks to all those dedicated individuals who are contributing often under the radar to our club’s continued transformation and development.”