A family affair as Garstang CC begin with Barrow victory

The foundation for their victory was laid by the bowlers who dismissed Barrow for 129 halfway through the 41st over.

Michael Walling was the man mainly responsible, opening the season by claiming outstanding figures of 7-36 from 16-and-a-half overs.

The other three wickets fell to Travis Pieters, who took 3-29 from his 15 overs.

Only four batsmen made it into double figures for Barrow with opener Justin Pringle their top scorer with 50.

A measured reply from Garstang saw them recover from the early loss of Mark Winstanley (5).

Michael Walling followed up his earlier heroics with the ball to make 36 while his brother – and skipper – Mark saw Garstang to victory with an undefeated 44 as they reached 130-4 in the 32nd over.

However, the news was not so good for the seconds and thirds as both of those sides were beaten.

The seconds went down by four wickets in their game against Morecambe.

Garstang batted first and could only make 126-9 from their 45 overs.

Wicketkeeper Tom Wells top-scored with 33 and skipper Allan Cook made 19 but it required some late impetus from Ben Woodruff (20 not out) and Amanulla Rahman (17).

In reply, Morecambe claimed victory by reaching 127-6 in the 40th over.

Opener Andy Bird led the way with 49 while Charlie Wilkinson was 31 not out in helping them across the finishing line.

Cook and Woodruff shared the six wickets to fall in the Morecambe innings, recording figures of 3-31 and 3-38 respectively.

The thirds’ defeat was a more emphatic one as they lost by 106 runs against Tarleton.

Having chosen to bat first, Tarleton racked up 192-5 from their 40 overs, led by 70 from skipper Robert Johnson.

Tom Winstanley took 3-62 for Garstang, who were skittled for 86 when they batted.

Winstanley top-scored with 29 for Garstang but he was only one of three batsmen to reach double figures.

Joshua Greaves led the Tarleton bowling effort with 3-6 in seven overs.