A CRICKET club has celebrated returning from the coronavirus lockdown in a strong position.

Whitehaven Cricket Club were successful in two matches at the weekend, putting in a strong performance in a hard-fought loss on the Friday. With record numbers attending socially distanced training sessions and the first brother-sister duo playing for the club, Under 11s coach Phil McCormick said: “The club is in a good position, in spite of the virus.”

Whitehaven travelled to Penrith for a T20 match against the Northern League side. Penrith batted first with Greg Hall and Harry Marshall scoring a total of 143 runs. Whitehaven fell just short of their target but McCormick praised Dom Chambers, captain Steve Holliday and Lewis Keeler for their efforts, racking up 138 runs in total despite missing Chase Young and Habib Baloch from their ranks.

Whitehaven hosted for the first time since lockdown on Saturday when they faced Seascale.

In the first game Haven made 178 runs thanks to Jonathan Stewart, Holliday and Keeler, Paul Knott claiming 2-6. Seascale made 127 runs in reply with Matt Harrison and Andrew Cameron claiming two wickets. The second game between the clubs saw Haven make 102 runs. Seascale put up 62 in reply.

Haven’s Third Team were unlucky against Workington on Monday but McCormick added that there were plenty of positives from the game with six players under 16 taking part.

“It was good to get back on the field," he said. "We’ve got lots of youngsters who weren’t able to play for a while. Seventy per cent of the players at the weekend were aged under 20.”

An inter-club tournament on Sunday July 12 saw siblings Cameron and Maddie Wood play in the same team, which is believed to be the first time a brother and sister have played together in the club’s history.