The only way is up for Alder this year - and captain Niall McHale thinks they’ve got what it takes to shed their tag as the Love Lane Liverpool Competition’s whipping boys.
Bottom place finishes in Division Two in 2018 and 2019 would normally have resulted in relegation, but the lack of a qualified champion in the Southport & District league gave the West Derby club a reprieve.
While last year’s Love Lane Leagues saw some improved performances - in particular with the ball - 2020’s shortened season still yielded no wins.
But with the 2021 campaign just around the corner - and with the feeder league’s pretenders getting their houses in order for another promotion bid - McHale is confident the threat of relegation will be someone else’s problem.
“We hope to do an awful lot better than we have done in the last couple of years,” he said. “And I think we’re in a really good position to do a lot better.
“The same group of lads have stuck together for the past few years, and they’re only getting better.
“We were really unfortunate last season with a couple of defeats, and we’ve just got to take that momentum into this year.”
Inexperienced sides generally bowl better than they bat, because batsmen often don’t get to make a second mistake. That was very much the case for Alder last year - in their first two games, they dismissed Sutton for 95 and Hightown St Mary’s for 98, but failed to chase the target.
McHale reckons the experience will help his players learn not to throw their wickets away - and he says the acquisition of Greg Harvey (pictured above) from Sefton Park should help add some solidity to the top order.
Teenage opening bowler Dylan Johnson was the statistical standout last season with 18 wickets at 11.22, including 5/17 in the season opener against Sutton. In Johnson and young leg-spinner Dylan Bowen, McHale believes he’s got a couple of gems.
“With another year’s experience under their belt, they’re going to be even better,” he said. “Their progress last season, even over just a few games, was incredible.
“Everything last season was beneficial for us - it was brilliant for the younger lads to play first-team cricket.”
