By Gerry Wolstenholme
Results last Saturday were such that it could be that the Northern Premier League title is now a two-horse race with Morecambe and Netherfield the two that will more than likely contest it. Both won batting first on Saturday while contenders Darwen and St Annes could only draw, which gave Fleetwood, who won batting first, the chance to move closer to the leaders.
Morecambe convincingly defeated high-scoring Carnforth who made 235 to which Atiq Uz Zaman contributed 110, Lyndell Richardson 34 and P Ather 31 while Jono Gates took 4-71 and Garnet Kruger 4-109. After the loss of Woodhead's early wicket Morecambe easily reached their target with centuries from Phil Dennison, 110 not out, and Mark Lomas, 100 not out, that took their side to a nine-wicket victory at 236-1.
Netherfield kept in touch with the leaders by defeating Leyland Motors by 90 runs. Netherfield batted first and thanks to 106 from Pierre de Bruyn, 97 from Craig Walmsley 36 not out from Simon Little and 25 not out from Chris Parry reached 226-2 before declaring in the 42nd over. Motors had no answer and capitulated for 136 in 41 overs with Peter Cummings making a top score of 34 while Andrew Makinson made 19. The Netherfield bowlers shared the wickets, Peter Lawson leading the way with 3-43, Scott Clement taking 2-36, Marc Hadwin 2-43 and Stuart Nixon 2-12.
Kendal also picked up 15 points by defeating Lancaster who had restricted the home side to 110 from their first 40 overs but then conceded 65 in the last 10 as Kabir Khan, 47, and Dave Fallows, 46 not out, made hay after Terry Hunte had set the scene with 44. Jannisar Khan took 3-63 and Tim Barry 3-52 for Lancaster whose reply was led by Barry with 46 not out and Jamie Heywood with 44. But the rest contributed very little as Lancaster were bowled out for 123 to lose by 52 runs.
Fleetwood made only 145 at Barrow but it was enough for them to win the game by 15 runs as Barrow were dismissed for 130. Adam Sharrocks top scored for Fleetwood with 46, Mohammad Faroukh made 36 and the only other double figure scores came from Michael Clinning with 16 and James Ellis with 15. Iain Kermode took 4-14 from six overs, Ahmed Amla 4-52 and Wayne Platts 2-32. It was the off-spin of Clinning that undid Barrow for he took a season's best 5-29 in 16.4 overs as Greg Reynolds made 32, Platts 23, Jonathan Miles 19, Tod Bamber 16 and Amla 13 all got starts but failed to capitalise.
Stephen John was again in good form for Chorley as he took 5-35 in helping to dismiss Leyland for 92 with the two Parkers, Adam and Stuart, the only batsman in double figures, 29 and 25 respectively. Youngster David Fisher with five was the best of the rest. The Chorley openers needed no assistance in knocking off the runs and made 94-0 with John Ratledge, dropped early on, leading the way with 53 not out and Mark Richardson making 36 not out.
St Annes and Darwen played out a draw at Vernon Road with the home side making 248-4 to which Ian Austin contributed 103, Russ Bradley a splendid 70 not out and Adrian Darlington 51. Darwen, who had lost Atif Ashraf with a broken finger, then lost eight wickets in reaching 127 for a draw. Michael Baer took 4-40 for St Annes.
Blackpool and Preston were involved in a thriller at West Cliff where Preston batted first and made 226-7 from 49 overs with Bilal Asad leading the way with 56. Justin Kreusch, 104, and Charles Boucher, 63, led Blackpool to 185-1 but then Munaf Bavla snapped up four wickets for 51 runs and suddenly Blackpool required six runs for victory from the final over with two wickets in hand. One was lost to a run out but wicketkeeper David Baker kept his nerve and won the game from the final ball as Blackpool made 227-9.
Division One results in brief (home sides in bold):
Fleetwood 145 (Shorrocks 46, Kermode 4-14, Amla 4-46), Barrow 130 (Clinning 5-29),
Fleetwood 15 points, Barrow 3 points
Carnforth 235 (Uz Zaman 110, Gates 4-71, Kruger 4-109), Morecambe 236/1 (Dennison 110*, Lomas 100*)
Carnforth 3 points, Morecambe 12 points
Kendal 175/7 (Khan K 47, Fallows 46, Hunte 44, Lancaster 123 (Barry 46*, Heywood J 44, Yasin 4-29)
Kendal 15 points, Lancaster 2 points
Leyland 92 (John 5-35), Chorley 94-0 (Ratledge 53*)
Leyland 0 points, Chorley 12 points
Netherfield 226-2 dec (de Bruyn 106, Walmsley 97), Leyland Motors 136
Netherfield 15 points, Leyland Motors 0 points
Preston 226-7 (Asad 56), Blackpool 227-9 (Kreusch 104, Boucher 63, Bavla 4-51)
Preston 6 points, Blackpool 12 points
St Annes 248-4 (Austin 103, Bradley 70*, Darlington 51), Darwen 127-8 (Baer 4-40)
St Annes 9 points, Darwen 1 point
SURRIDGE NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Morecambe |
19 |
2 |
11 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
180 |
| Netherfield |
19 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
41* |
159 |
| Darwen |
19 |
1 |
8 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
26 |
156 |
| Fleetwood |
19 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
2 |
28 |
150 |
| St Annes |
19 |
0 |
6 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
43 |
149 |
| Kendal |
19 |
6 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
2 |
26 |
145 |
| Lancaster |
19 |
1 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
31 |
144 |
| Carnforth |
19 |
0 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
42 |
140 |
| Preston |
19 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
7 |
2 |
36 |
135 |
| Blackpool |
19 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
26 |
130 |
| Leyland Motors |
19 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
9 |
1 |
27 |
96 |
| Chorley |
19 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
7 |
6 |
2 |
23 |
86 |
| Barrow |
19 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
11 |
2 |
50 |
84 |
| Leyland & Farington |
19 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
10 |
2 |
25 |
40 |
* 2 points deducted for slow over rate
If teams have the same number of points then the team with most wins comes first,
if they are equal then it is the number of 15 point wins
Second Division scores in brief (home sides in bold):
Blackpool 240-3 (Bracewell 102*, Griffiths 68*), Preston 106-9
Blackpool 10 points, Preston 1 point
Chorley 236-5 (Fazackerley 69, Catterall D 50), Leyland 103
Chorley 15 points, Leyland 1 point
St Annes 154-7, Darwen 111
St Annes 15 points, Darwen 2 points
Fleetwood 124 (Bushini 46, Cosgrove 5-30), Barrow 65 (Emsley 5-11, Gregson 4-20)
Fleetwood 15 points, Barrow 3 points
Lancaster 219-6 dec (Atkinson 77, Parkin 5-65), Kendal 138-8 (Bedford 59*, Gledhill 6-50)
Lancaster 9 points, Kendal 2 points
Carnforth 211-6 (Tomlinson 80, Russell 53), Morecambe 212-1 (Akrigg 140*,, Maje 62)
Carnforth 3 points, Morecambe 12 points
Netherfield 190 (Haddrick 79, Catrwright 4-45), Leyland Motors 156 (Goldstein 5-36, Wilson 4-37)
Netherfield 15 points, Leyland Motors 4 points
SURRIDGE NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Lancaster |
19 |
6 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
17 |
184 |
| St Annes |
19 |
3 |
8 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
20 |
184 |
| Morecambe |
19 |
1 |
9 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
33 |
180 |
| Netherfield |
19 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
38 |
175 |
| Fleetwood |
19 |
5 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
8 |
160 |
| Leyland Motors |
20 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
26 |
153 |
| Blackpool |
20 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
4 |
25 |
140 |
| Barrow |
19 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
9 |
2 |
44 |
111 |
| Chorley |
19 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
2 |
25 |
109 |
| Kendal |
19 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
7 |
2 |
28 |
98 |
| Carnforth |
19 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
12 |
0 |
21 |
94 |
| Darwen |
19 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
8 |
2 |
41 |
94 |
| Preston |
19 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
9 |
2 |
23 |
84 |
| Leyland & Farington |
19 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
11 |
1 |
30* |
72 |
* 2 points deducted for slow over rate
If teams have the same number of points then the team with most wins comes first,
if they are equal then it is the number of 15 point wins
MATCH ACTION
INJURY RESTRICTS DARWEN ...
BUT ST ANNES FAIL TO CAPITALISE
St Annes 248-4, Darwen 127-8
By Gerry Wolstenholme
An injury to Darwen's prolific professional Atif Ashraf stopped Darwen from making a realistic attempt to overhaul St Annes' total of 248-4. In the end they had their last pair at the wicket (Atif was not going to bat) and finished with a draw, reaching 127-8. Thus they earned themselves a point but perhaps more importantly for them they stopped St Annes gaining 15 points and thus drawing level with them in the table.
Darwen won the toss and put St Annes in to bat and they had progressed to 19, courtesy mainly of some lusty blows by Adrian Darlington, when Gareth Evans, five, was given out leg before wicket to Andrew Mercer when he had taken a big stride down the track. Ian Austin and Darlington then went shot for shot to their half-centuries but when the latter had reached his he was dismissed for 51 from the next ball when he cut Andrew Cook to Neil Cordingley at backward point and St Annes were 109-2. It was very quickly 115-3 when Duncan Whalley drove Ashraf straight back at him and he had gone for four.
That was virtually the last of Darwen's success as Austin and Russ Bradley put on 112 runs in quick time. Austin eventually fell for 103, made from 117 balls with 12 fours and three sixes, in the final over when he drove Mercer to long-on where Jeff Hacking held the catch. Bradley went on to make 70 not out with one of his fours straight driven very nearly decapitating the umpire who had to take quick evasive action. Bradley's innings came from only 62 balls and contained nine fours and one six and it was his fiercely hit return that Ashraf tried to catch and ended up at hospital with a broken finger that puts him out for six weeks, and most probably the season. Mercer was Darwen's best bowler with 2-36 while Cook had 1-32 and Ashraf 1-38.
Gary Jackson and Chris Lowe opened for Darwen but the latter was caught at slip by Austin off Joe Davies before he had scored and that was 7-1. Jackson and Keith Semple then batted sensibly to take the total to 46 before the former pushed tentatively forward and was caught at slip by Austin off Michael Baer for 28 made from 60 balls (the longest innings of the Darwen reply) with six fours.
Semple had survived a confident appeal for leg before wicket from his first ball when padding up but he survived to make 22 before he did not get to the pitch of a ball from Baer and drove a catch back to the bowler. Darwen were 59-3 and Baer was on the way to a return of 4-40 from 16 overs. Gareth Cordingley made 16 and then Arshad Khan trapped him leg before wicket at 77 and without addition and in the same over Hacking played a horrendous shot at Khan and was bowled.
Neil Cordingley looked set but when he had made 16 he advanced unwisely down the track to Baer and Whalley stumped him to leave Darwen in trouble at 96-6. Mark Emery then played Darwen's most adventurous innings as he made 29 but with Darwen trying desperately to survive he drove a return catch to Baer and that was 112-7. Debutant Ben Dowling came back for the 48th over and he quickly justified the move by trapping Jordan Clarke leg before wicket for three so it left the two Andrews, Mercer and Cook, to try to save Darwen from defeat.
They succeeded for 3.2 overs as Mercer, a dogged seven not out from 49 balls led from the front, and Cook finished on one not out as Khan bowled six maiden overs at the end of his 2-44 spell but Darwen had survived with 127-8 but sadly they had lost their professional in the process.
St Annes captain Ian Austin cuts Atif Ashraf
Duncan Whalley on the defensive
Ian Austin leaves the field after making 103
and breaking his own batting record for the club
Darwen's Jeffrey Hacking strikes out
St Annes celebrate next ball at the fall of Jeffery Hacket's wicket
Darwen Professional Atif Ashraf who unfortunately broke his finger
trying to stop a fierce drive from Russ Bradley
RAIN THE ONLY SEMI-FINAL WINNER
Darwen 153 v Lancaster - match abandoned
At Lune Road the weather was set fair for the start but the forecasters who foretold of rain at four o'clock got it absolutely right. Light to begin with, it gained in intensity and eventually poured down so that the Thwaites Cup semi-final between Lancaster and Darwen had to be abandoned.
Tim Barry won the toss and put Darwen in to bat and the decision was very quickly justified as Darwen lost their first three wickets inside eight overs and all to young talent Danny Milligan. He began in the second over, his first, when, with just two runs on the board, had substitute professional Nishit Shetty chasing a widish ball outside the off stump and edging a catch to Brendan Hetherington. In his second over, the fourth of the innings, he had Gary Jackson caught at slip by Ian Parkinson for two and Darwen were 7-2. Milligan then dropped Keith Semple at third man off the impressive Jannisar Khan but it was not a costly miss for in the eighth over he had Semple, eight and having hit a magnificent back foot four through extra cover from the previous ball, gloving the ball to Hetherington and that was 18-3.
Gareth Cordingley and Chris Lowe effected a recovery and took the total to 76 by the 20th over but then Lowe, 18, found a ball from Iain Burstow cleverly held back and he could only return a catch to the bowler. Neil Cordingley made a good looking 22 before finding that man Milligan at backward point off the bowling of Alex Gledhill and Darwen, looking to push on for the final nine overs, were 116-5 in the 31st over.
Milligan returned to bowl Mark Emery for five with a most cleverly disguised slower ball at 138-6 and then two balls later the bowled Craig Chatterton before he had scored. The crucial wicket fell at 140 when Gareth Cordingley, having scored an excellent and responsible 66 from 98 balls with nine fours, was dismissed by a stunning catch in the outfield by Gledhill who ran 20 yards from long-off to take the ball to his left as he fell to the ground.
The final two wickets added 13 runs and Khan accounted for them both. He bowled Andrew Mercer for three and then had Andrew Cook caught by Hetherington for four, which left Jordan Clarke four not out and Darwen 153 all out. It was a disappointing total but one that looked far distant when the innings was in tatters at 18-3. However, in the end the rain won the day as Lancaster were unable to get to the crease to reply and the replay has been arranged for 27 August.
