3 days ago
‘Unbelievable' Camerons are hailed as Lever's Hamer heroes
Captain Josh Gent hailed Little Lever's match-winning Camerons as 'unbelievable' after the two opening centurions helped the club win a first Hamer Cup title in more than 50 years on Sunday.
Little Lever beat Padiham by 104 runs in a run-filled final at Read, with Cameron Murray and overseas amateur Ryleigh Cameron to the fore.
Murray top-scored with 108 off 61 balls and Cameron added 104 off 101 as the Bolton side amassed a daunting 40-over total of 336-4. In defence, the latter's seam accounted for 4-44 from eight overs as Padiham were bowled out for 232 in 32 overs.
The Australian OA was named as the player-of-the-match.
'It was unbelievable how well they played,' said Gent, of the two Australians.
Murray is an Anglo-Aussie, while Cameron is fully-fledged.
Gent continued: 'Especially on a big occasion, a big crowd watching and all that.
'A lot of times, people can crumble under that kind of pressure, but it was the other way with those two. They took it all in, really, and had a brilliant day.
'They're both in their first season with us. I think that was Cameron's third or fourth century of the season, and Ryleigh's been in good form as well.
'He got 92 when we beat Padiham in the league the weekend before last.'
The pair shared 186 inside 22 overs after Gent had elected to bat first at Read, which is a notorious batter's paradise with a good pitch and short boundaries.
'I spoke to Will Wrathall (Read captain) before the final,' revealed Gent.
'And he said to me, 'If you get 270, don't think the game's done because it can be so difficult to defend at Read'.
'If someone had offered me 336 off 40 overs beforehand, I would have snapped your hand off. I think anyone would. But we were well aware that there was still work to do.'
Padiham's local professional Iftikhar Naseer blazed 85 off 27 balls with 12 sixes, including reaching 50 off only 16 balls, to keep the game alive as he took the reply to 184-4 in the 22nd over.
'Credit to their pro, he smashed it,' said Gent. 'It was some of the biggest hitting I've ever seen. But he had a lot of work to do.
'When they were 160-4, halfway there, he had about 70. And I was thinking, 'He's still got to get another 80 here at least'.
'Yes, it was nervous times, but we just had to ride the storm. Thankfully, we did.
'It was a great day and couldn't have gone any better.'
When Naseer fell caught as one of Cameron's four wickets, Padiham fell to 184-5 in the 22nd over and, in the end, lost their last six wickets for only 48 runs to hand Little Lever a first Hamer Cup title since 1972.
They also became the first team to win all three main titles in the NWCL, having won the Premiership league and T20 Birtwistle Cup double in 2023.
'It's a massive achievement and great for the club that we've won everything and the first to do it,' said Gent, whose side have also qualified for next year's Lancashire Knockout Cup as a result of this triumph.
'But it will be forgotten about pretty quickly. So we've got to enjoy it now but reset, start planning and probably make more of a push to win the league next year I would have thought.
'We've probably been a little bit inconsistent in the league (fourth place at present).
'But, as far as cups have gone, it's shown we can rise to the occasion. We've won the Hamer Cup and reached the T20 final. We were in last year's Hamer Cup final as well. We're definitely a force to be reckoned with.'
This was Gent's first Hamer Cup title, but he said: 'I was more happy for the club itself. There are a lot of people who put the hard work behind the scenes.
'People who turn up and play perhaps don't realise how much money it costs to put a game of cricket on, what goes on behind the scenes to allow us to have a professional, an overseas amateur, a good side and everything else that goes with it. Good facilities, nice ground, everything.
'Yes, I'm pleased to have won it because I'd never done it before. But they're the people I'm most pleased for.'
Little Lever fielded a sub-pro on Sunday in South African Diego Rosier, who contributed 91 not out off 55 balls and a wicket. Their regular pro, Muhammad Junaid, had returned to Pakistan a fortnight ago.
They will have Jurie Snyman (Accrington) for the remainder of the season.
'We're going to have a look around now for next year's pro,' said Gent.
'We'll have a look and see who stays around for the longest and probably go for someone like that. It would be good to have a pro who can stay for as long as possible.'
And in terms of the possibility of their final star Cameron returning for a second season as overseas amateur, Gent added: 'If he wants to come back, we'd definitely have him. The ball's in his court.
'I'm pretty sure he'd want to come back. He's said he wants to, so fingers crossed we can get it sorted.'
