Match Day 11th August 2001
KENDAL STEAL A MARCH ON RIVALS
By Gerry Wolstenholme
On a day on which rain ruined the Bay 96.9 Northern Premier League programme, two sides managed to fashion a positive result. And one of them, Kendal, did itself a power of good by pocketing 12 points and moving into fourth place, four points behind second placed Chorley.
The Shap Road side visited Windsor Park and had the best of a short game by bowling Chorley out for only 86 with Kabir Khan taking 6-35. Early wickets lost eventually meant little as Kendal reached 87-3 to win by seven wickets.
The only other win of the day came for Leyland. Morecambe, who like Chorley suffered a dent to its championship hopes, were the vanquished side as, batting first, Andy Bird top-scored with 53 out of a total of 196-8. The impressive Martin van Jaarsveld then knocked 60 to help Leyland to a three-wicket victory at 197-7.
The top-of-the table clash between Blackpool and Netherfield ended in stalemate as rain interfered throughout. Blackpool made 133 as Pieter Strydom had his best League day with the ball taking 5-32 and then Netherfield's Grahame Clarke and Jimmy Moyes was about to launch an assault in the final five overs when rain ended play for the day with the total on 97-4.
Leyland Motors was once again bowled out in the 80s, this time 84 with Jeff Hacking taking 5-54 and Keith Semple 5-27 for Darwen but another unlikely win was not beyond Motors as Darwen was struggling at 59-7 in reply with Stephen John having 4-22 to his credit.
Fleetwood and St Annes produced an excellent match at Broadwater as 300 runs were scored and equally split between the two sides. Fleetwood recovered from eight wickets down for less than 100 under newly appointed captain Michael Clinning and reached 150-9 with Roger Banks having his best senior day with 4-36. St Annes reply owed much to Joe Davies' 72 as he scored almost half the runs as St Annes reached 150-5 before rain drove the players from the field.
At Lancaster it was a sorry story for there was only time for Preston to reach 31-0 before rain ended play for the day.
Division 1
Abbreviated scoreboards (home team in bold):
Blackpool 133 (Strydom 5-32), Netherfield 97-4 - rain stopped play
Chorley 86 (Khan 6-35), Kendal 87-3
Leyland Motors 84 (Semple 5-27, Hacking 5-54), Darwen 59-7 (John 4-22)
Fleetwood 150-9 (Banks 4-36), St Annes 150-5 (Davies 72) - rain stopped play
Preston 31-0 v Lancaster - match abandoned
Morecambe 196-8 (Bird 53), Leyland 197-7 (van Jaarsveld 60)
Gerry's Match Of The Day
RAIN RUINS TOP-OF-THE-TABLE CLASH
By Gerry Wolstenholme
Rain ruined the top-of-the-table clash between leaders Netherfield and third-placed Blackpool at Stanley Park on Saturday. Morning rain delayed the start until 1-50pm and then a mid-game interruption of two hours was followed by a premature close.
In between the delays, Blackpool won the toss and batted. In what eventually turned out to be a 39-over innings the batsmen perished generally in the chase for quick runs and the final wicket fell from the last ball of the final over and it was 133 all out. Netherfield's reply got off to a good start, slowed in the middle and then was just re-starting at quite a rate when the rain brought proceedings to a close with the Cumbrians standing at 97-4 from 21 overs with five overs remaining.
Darren Walton unusually took strike for Blackpool and he punished David Wheatman to the tune of 10 runs in the opening over but then Wheatman and Clement bowled tighter and runs dried up. It was 17 in the ninth over when Wheatman bowled Walton for 14 and it was 49-1 when rain forced the players from the field for the first time.
After a two-hour delay play resumed and Blackpool wickets fell regularly. Martin Pickles was caught off Pieter Strydom for 29, Paul Danson was run out by Jim Moyes for two and when skipper Mark Lomas was leg before wicket for 23 it was 74-4. Bartholomew had failed to trouble the scorers when he hit a gentle return catch to Clement and Croft was smartly stumped by Moyes off Strydom for 15 when the total was 89.
Chris Barrow then injected some urgency into the innings with a quick-fire 27 before he was superbly caught at extra cover by Strydom off Clement. Marcus Sharp made only one before Strydom bowled him and Andy Kenyon was caught in the deep by Tommy Prime for 13. There was just time for David Brooks to make one and for Martin Hackett to run himself out as the innings closed at 133 with Strydom returning his best League figures of the season to date with 5-32.
The weather had closed in when Netherfield batted and conditions were far from ideal with visibility down to just about 22 yards! Craig Walmsley was, however, untroubled and he hit a rapid 22 from 26 balls including one tremendous six over cover before he perished to a catch at the wicket by Hackett off Sharp. Strydom then hit one glorious boundary before he was controversially dismissed next ball. He advanced down the track to a head-high full toss from Brooks, ducked and the ball finally hit the top of the leg stump to bowl him for five. He was reluctant to leave the field and his captain, Jim Moyes, came on to make sure that the umpire's decision was correct. The outcome was that he was gone and Netherfield was 33-2. That quickly became 33-3 as Simon Dutton hit Brooks straight to Lomas at gully and then it was 58-4 as Prime drove Croft hard to extra cover when Bartholomew took the catch.
Grahame Clarke joined Moyes and the pair scampered some unlikely singles and both gained reprieves when fielders could not see catches that went into the outfield. There were going very well with Moyes 21 not out and Clarke an ominous 28 not out from only 19 balls with one six and two fours. The rain that had been falling for a few minutes then got steadier and the umpires had no alternative to take the players from a very dark arena. And with no further play it was 97-4 with both sides earning four points, Blackpool for batting first and Netherfield for batting second with three bowling bonus points.
The draw, coupled with others elsewhere, at least leaves the League title very much in the balance.
One interesting footnote to the game was that Blackpool batsman, and very occasional bowler, Martin Pickles was, in the unlikely event that he had been asked, unable to bowl for five overs at the start of the Netherfield innings. He bowled a practice ball on the artificial wicket at the edge of the square and umpire Tommy Wilson reprimanded him and invoked the rule that a player bowling on the square should be barred from bowling for five overs.
Division 2
Abbreviated scoreboards (home team in bold):
Chorley 23-1 v Kendal - match abandoned
Darwen 187-9 (Heys 41), Leyland Motors 153-9 (Henderson 51*)
Leyland 109-6 (Walsh 52*), Morecambe 110-3 (Izatt 59)
Preston 141-3 (Farrington 41, Greenwood 41), Lancaster 142-7 (Kaye 5-43)
St Annes 121 (Sherlock 6-59), Fleetwood 125-5 (Coultas 59, Baldwin 4-36, Booth 4-49)
