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Junior League Secrestary's Report Season 1994
1994 was the first season when all the young players of the Northern League benefited from the National Westminster Bank's generous sponsorship.
I am sure that the success enjoyed by our Under 15 and Under 18 representatitve teams proved to National Westminster Bank that their decision to support the Northern League was a sound one.
Once again, both at Senior and Junior level, the Northern League was the outfit to be avoided when the draws were made.
In the Manchester Evening News Under 18 Inter-League Competition the final was reached after convincing victories over the Saddleworth and Lancashire County Leagues.
Our opponents at Heaton Cricket Club were from the Bolton League, and as our Under 18's had performed well throughout the season we were quietly confident of success.
On this occaision, however, their form deserted them and we came a rather poor second on the day.
The main reason for this lacklustre display was the fact that most of the team had taken part in morning games in our Under 18 League, with some of them arriving at Heaton after 2 pm after rushing down the motorway from the north of the county.
This problem must be addressed for next season if we are to give our representative teams a fair chance of success.
In the North West Colts Competition, again at Under 18 level, wins against the Cheshire and South Manchester Leagues and a defeat at Morecambe at the hands of the Cheshire County League left us with a task of defeating the Southport League if we were to progress to the Semi-Finals.
Unfortunately this was not to be as Sunday the 24th July 1994 (the date for this match) turned out to be the wettest day of the summer and we bowed out of the competition without a ball being bowled.
A point worthy of mention is that on the 10th July the Northern League again turned out two representative sides at Under 18 level and both were successful against two highly rated league teams.
This is a measure of the strength in depth of the young players competing in our league.
The real success story of the year was supplied by our Under 15 League team.
Teams from the Merseyside Competition, the South Manchester League and the Bolton League all succumbed to a very competitive squad from the Northern league.
The Final against the highly rated Bolton Association was held at Fleetwood Hesketh Cricket Club, Southport on Sunday the 21st August and it was probably fair to say that before the game we were second favourites.
It would be easy to report that the best team lost as the Association bowled better than we did and for a time battered better.
But not for the first time we stuck at it and triumphed in the end, a victory for quiet determination and not to mention superb tactics.
The Junior League was competed for between ten of the clubs, with Kendal and Leyland unfortunately withdrawing.
The League Champions were Lancaster in their first season in the competition for some time, with St Annes again being the "Bridesmaids".
However, the Premiership was an exact reversal of this result with St Annes beating Lancaster in the final and therefore recording their third successive win in the play-offs, a recod to be very proud of.
During the season we were pleased to entertain the Lancashire Under 16 XI at St Annes yet again, but this time the opposition proved stronger than us on the day.
This fixture will again take place at St Annes, the date fixed for the game being 13th July, wickets pitched at 11 00 am.
A highlight of the year was the match against the up and coming youngsters of South Africa, touring Britain under the South African Country High Schools and Youth Cricket Association flag.
Unfortunately for them, they caught us on a good day and our win by 6 wickets was a fair reprentation of our all round superiority in a game that was played in the true spirit of cricket.
At Braodwater in August, the return fixture for our Under 25 XI against the Bolton Association took place and again we triumphed.
Although I was not present on this occaision I have been reliably informed that not only was the team's performance of a high standard, Fleetwood Cricket Club's hospitality had to be experienced to be believed.
Finally, may I close by thanking everyone who helped throughout the season.
Preston Cricket Club, Morecambe, St Annes,Blackpool and Fleetwood are sincerely thanked for hosting the Inter-League and Friendly games, and Roger Harrison of Blackpool C C for valuable assistance during the year in Junior Cricket administration.
Richard Hadwin,Graham Tindall, Tom Scott and David Catterall for all their hard work and enthusiasm.
It would be very remiss of me not to also thank all the Umpires,Scorers, Caterers, Groundsmen and of course parents for their support, we could not manage without it.
I look forward to doing it all again in "95" and hope it will prove as much as it was last year.
Clive Henderson
Assistant Secretary (Juniors)
National Westminster Bank
Northern Junior League
Final League Table
| Club |
P |
W |
L |
N/R |
Pts |
| Lancaster |
9 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
16 |
| St Annes |
9 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
15 |
| Fleetwood |
9 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
13 |
| Darwen |
9 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
11 |
| Leyland DAF |
9 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
9 |
| Netherfield |
9 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
9 |
| Blackpool |
9 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
7 |
| Chorley |
9 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
7 |
| Morecambe |
9 |
1 |
7 |
1 |
3 |
| Preston |
9 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
Premiership Play - Offs
Semi - Finals
Lancaster C C v Darwen C C
Darwen C C 104 for 7
Lancaster C C 105 for 0
P Taylor 52 not out
S Phillips 49 not out
Lancaster won by 10 wickets
St Annes C C v Fleetwood C C
Fleetwood C C 151
St Annes C C 152 for 2
C Harrison 72 not out
R Tindall 42 not out
St Annes won by 8 wickets
Final
St Annes C C v Lancaster C C
St Annes C C 175 for 6
Michael Moore 67 not out
Stephen Twist 41
Lancaster C C 155 for 7
P Taylor 41
Premiership winners - St Annes by 20 runs
St Annes Cricket Club were the Premiership Winners for the third time in three seasons.
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