CHORLEY LEAD THE WAY
After the opening round of the Bay 96.5 Northern Premier League games on Saturday 21 April, Chorley lead the way with the only 15 point victory of the day. Batting first Chorley made 183-6 with Nigel Heaton top-scoring with a sparkling 64, and then bowled Fleetwood out for 106 to win by 77 runs. For Fleetwood New Zealand professional Craig Pryor made 55 and showed that he is a powerful batsman particularly through the covers and in the mid-on/mid-off arc.
And for Chorley Iqbal Patel took 5-21 in three spells of hostile left-arm seam bowling.
Another winner was Darwen, who defeated Lancaster by eight wickets. Lancaster managed only 131 to which David Heywood contributed over half with 67. Professional Keith Semple took 4-26 and Gareth Cordingley also took four wickets, this time for 51 runs. Darwen had no problem in knocking off the required runs for victory and Semple completed an excellent all-round day with 69 not out.
Also picking up 12 points was last year's champions Netherfield who defeated Preston by four wickets. Batting first Preston, as yet without the services of captain Tony Hesketh, made 147-9 with Shah's 83 being the main contribution. Mark Hadwin's leg spin brought him 4-44 before Netherfield, with 53 from Simon Dutton and 52 not out from South African professional Pieter Strydom, knocked off the runs to win.
All the remaining games ended in draws. Kendal, the day's top scorers with 234-8 also had the day's individual top scorer as Simon Little fell just four short of the first century of the season and, needless to say, the evergreen Terry Hunte was also in the runs with 43. But the Kendal bowlers could not dismiss Leyland who held on at 155-6 with last year's professional and now amateur, Neil Rimmer, scoring 62.
Leyland Motors did well to total 159-7 and then did even better in preventing Morecambe to reach their target as the visitors fell away to end on 117-6. At St Annes, the home side made a very good start and eventually reached 191-8 with Adrian Darlington making 49 and Dave Callaghan continuing where he left off last season with 44. Blackpool's popular Marcus Sharp was the best of the bowlers as he took three wickets. Blackpool lost early wickets in reply and it was Paul Danson, at last being given a chance to display his batting talents, who saved the day with 58. Richard Lamb chipped in with 41 and Dave Taylor, after a winter in South Africa, was the leading bowler with 4-34.
Abbreviated scorecards (with home team in bold type):
Lancaster 131 (Heywood 67, Semple 4-26, Cordingley G 4-51), Darwen 132-2 (Semple 69*)
Chorley 183-6 (Heaton 64), Fleetwood 106 (Pryor 55, Patel 5-21)
Kendal 234-8 (Little 96, Hunte 43), Leyland 155-6 (Rimmer 62)
Leyland Motors 159-7, Morecambe 117-6
Preston 147-9 (Shah 83, Hadwin 4-44), Netherfield 148-6 (Dutton 55, Strydom 52*)
St Annes 191-8 (Darlington 49, Callaghan 44), Blackpool 162-7 (Danson 58, Lamb 41, Taylor D 4-34)
MATCH OF THE DAY
A Fleetwood side that displayed its inconsistency throughout last season could have wished for an easier start to the 2001 season than a visit for perennial top three finishers Chorley. But, on a cool, but mercifully fine day that was what they got at Broadwater on Saturday.
Batting first Chorley once again used opening bowler Iqbal Patel as an opening batsman. He made 11 flashy runs before misjudging a ball from Neil Gregson that neatly removed his leg stump with the total on 30. Skipper Roland Horridge joined Neil Bannister and the pair added 43 runs mainly untroubled apart from one or two vociferous appeals by the nippy New Zealand professional Craig Pryor.
But when the total had advanced to 73 Bannister also misjudged a ball down the leg side and the returning Jeremy Newman, who had missed the whole of last season through business reasons, plucked out his leg stump.
Horridge had made 29 when, with the total on 93, he gave Pryor his first Northern Premier League wicket with a leg before wicket decision. Jim Fazackerley did not stay long as he gave Pryor a simple catch when he had made only two and the total was 104. Chorley then became becalmed and the Fleetwood bowlers got on top to such a degree that only 20 runs came from 11 overs and a total that at one time looked likely to reach 200 became more a distant dream.
However, once Tom Smith got over his early apprehensions and straight drove Pryor for a glorious boundary the scoreboard got moving again. Nigel Heaton was the main aggressor although the powerful Smith did play one or two exquisite cover drives as the pair added 73 runs. Both went at the same total, 177, Smith caught off a skier by Pryor from Gregson for 14 and Heaton bowled by Gregson for an admirable 64, made from 92 balls with two sixes and seven fours. Neil Senior, batting later in the order than normal, and Ian Oakes saw out the innings at 183-6. Neil Gregson took 3-48 and Jeremy Newman, who later confessed to a few aches here and there, had an excellent spell of 18 overs that brought him 2-33.
Fleetwood's reply began disastrously and before Robin Bracewell had had time to enjoy a return to the dressing room that he graced so well earlier in his career he was at the wicket. Michael Dewhurst went first for nought, comprehensively bowled by Marquet, Michael Clinning followed, also without troubling the scorers, when he was leg before wicket to Patel and then captain John Wright was caught in the gully by Fazackerley off Patel for one. At 13-3, Pryor and Bracewell had a rebuilding job to do.
And they set about it steadily. Pryor's opening 16 runs came from straight driven or cut boundaries, Bracewell pulled a huge six over mid-wicket off leg spinner Stephen Cooke and when they had added 50 runs, a Fleetwood recovery was well underway. But it quickly fell apart as Bracewell edged Cooke through to Senior when he had made 18 and Coultas quickly followed for one as he holed out in the deep to a splendid running and tumbling catch by Smith off Cooke. That was 69-5 and the only other resistance, apart from Pryor, came from Bobby Denning, who, in his typically tenacious way dug himself in to make nine not out.
Sadly for Fleetwood he ran out of partners with 13 overs and two balls of the final 20 remaining. Paul Willis went for a suicidal second, after Senior had allowed a ball from Jackson to pass him and was run out for nought. Newman was leg before wicket to Patel also for nought and Gregson, after one square drive four off Marquet found the Aussie's pace too much for him. By then Pryor had been caught behind off the returning Patel for 55 made from 71 balls with 10 fours and Keith Riley was the last man out, Patel's third leg before wicket victim, also for nought.
Two talking points came out of the game. Firstly Chorley was still bowling its mandatory 34 overs at 6-45pm and completed them a couple of minutes later. A League official who was present then checked with the umpires, at the break for drinks, who reportedly stated that Chorley would have points deducted for not bowling its overs in the required time; 15 points may yet then become just 13. Secondly Josh Marquet, after his third, (unintentional) beamer of the afternoon was removed from the firing line with Nigel Heaton coming on to bowl the final two balls of the over.
Northern Premier Cricket League
Division 2 Results
Abbreviated Results (Home team in bold type)
St Annes 126 (Mustafa 5-34), Blackpool 99 (J Cotton 4-20, Booth 4-35)
Fleetwood 96, Chorley 97-3
Lancaster 108, Darwen 111-1 (Brown 69)
Leyland 102 (Parkin 5-48), Kendal 104-5 (P Ellwood 43, Walsh 4-30)
Morecambe 175-5 (Osmotheries 50*), Leyland Motors 121-6 (Carruthers 51*)
Preston 130 (Ahmro 71, Wilson 6-19), Netherfield 134-8
