By Gerry Wolstenholme
By dint of comprehensively defeating Chorley on Monday, Netherfield took a slender lead at the top of the first Surridge Northern Premier Cricket League table of the season. They batted first and thanks to 100 not out from former captain Tommy Prime and 42 from Craig Walmsley they made a massive 223-5 before declaring. Gaurav Dhar took four of the wickets to fall for 66 runs. Chorley were then bowled out for just 81 to lose by 142 runs. Stephen John made the top score for Chorley with 38 while Craig Millward made 17 and Ian Mawdesley 16 as pacy professional Dirk Nannes took 5-42 and Peter Lawson 3-39.
Surprise package Lancaster are in second place and have won two games, which is already only one less than they did all last season. On Monday they beat Leyland Motors by 48 runs after having made 156-7 with the ebullient Tim Barry making 71, Jannisar Khan 33 and Luke Phillips 23 not out while deputy professional Raouf Akbar took 3-57. Motors were then dismissed for 108 with Graham Barnes taking 4-34 and Khan 3-38. Karl Cross made 28 and Andrew Makinson 20 for Motors.
Morecambe are in third place as they demolished Kendal at Woodhill Lane, bowling the visitors out for 124 and then winning by five wickets as they totalled 126-5. Kevin Howarth made 42 for Kendal and the returning Ikram Ullah 23 as Garnett Kruger took 4-35 and Gareth Peddar 3-45 for Morecambe whose runs came mainly from Phil Thornton, 40, Mark Lomas, 23, and Phil Dennison, 20 not out.
Last year's champions St Annes had to settle for a draw against Leyland who battled hard to hold on at 103-9 in reply to the St Annes total of 227-3. It was an excellent all-round day for substitute professional Asif Mujtaba who contributed 79 to the St Annes total and then took 7-20. But top scorer for St Annes was Adam Taylor with 88, his first senior half century. James Wright top scored for Leyland with a hard-fought 22 not out.
Fleetwood won their second game of the season by defeating Carnforth by 101 runs after they had knocked up a massive 256-5 to which Paul Harris contributed 82. Wayne Clarke 50, James Ellis 45 and Tom Wilson 26 not out as Omari Banks took 5-91. Carnforth were bowled out for 155 with Lyndell Richardson's 45 the top score and Adam Hornby making 30 not out as Harris took 7-30 with his slow left arm spin and Steve Hill took 2-37. In addition, Ellis completed four stumpings, three of them off Harris.
Barrow made 195 at the Ernest Pass Memorial Ground but could not win the game as Preston held on at 147-9. For Barrow Iain Kermode made 58, Steve Glasgow 32 and Daryl Wearing continued his batting form with 23 not out, probably his last innings before going into hospital for a foot operation, as nine of the wickets were shared by Lukman Vahaluwala, 5-56, and Bilal Asad 4-53. Barrow's substitute professional Mahendra Nagamootoo made only one run but he then took 7-34 as extras was the highest contributor to the Preston total with 41. 'Pip' McDonald made the top score of 24 not out batting at number nine.
Finally Darwen and Blackpool played out a high-scoring draw at Birch Hall. Justin Kreusch made 114 for Blackpool, Charles Boucher 28, Louis Reece 27 and Paul Danson 20 as they totalled 225-6 with Neil Cordingley taking three of the wickets for 72 runs. Darwen replied with 207-6 to which opener Chris Clarke contributed 55, Chris Lowe 48 and, down the order, Mark Emery 26 and captain Andrew Mercer 28 not out as Chris Taylor was Blackpool's most successful bowler with 3-47.
First Division results (home side in bold):
Barrow 195 (Kermode 58, Vahaluwala 5-56, Asad 4-53), Preston 147-9 (Nagamootoo 7-34)
Barrow 10 points, Preston 5 points
Fleetwood 256-8 (Harris 82, Clarke 50, Banks 5-91), Carnforth 155 (Richardson 45, Harris 7-30)
Fleetwood 15 points, Carnforth 3 points
Blackpool 225-6 (Kreusch 114), Darwen 207-5 (Clarke C 55, Lowe 48)
Blackpool 9 points, Darwen 5 points
Lancaster 156-7 (Barry 71), Leyland Motors 108 (Barnes 4-34)
Lancaster 15 points, Leyland Motors 2 points
Kendal 124 (Howarth 42, Kruger 4-35), Morecambe 126-5 (Thornton 40)
Kendal 1 point, Morecambe 12 points
Netherfield 223-5 dec (Prime 100*, Walmsley 42, Dhar 4-66), Chorley 81 (Nannes 5-42)
Netherfield 15 points, Chorley 1 point
St Annes 227-3 (Adam Taylor 88, Mujtaba 79), Leyland 103-9 (Mujtaba 7-20)
St Annes 10 points, Leyland 1 point
SURRIDGE NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Netherfield |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
35 |
| Lancaster |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
33 |
| Morecambe |
3 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
32 |
| St Annes |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
31 |
| Fleetwood |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
29 |
| Darwen |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
29 |
| Blackpool |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
24 |
| Carnforth |
3 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
14 |
22 |
| Preston |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
17 |
| Barrow |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
12 |
17 |
| Chorley |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
6 |
| Kendal |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
6 |
6 |
| Leyland & Farington |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
| Leyland Motors |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
5 |
5 |
Star performance in the Second Division came from Kendal's Adrian 'Shed' Potts who took an amazing 8-9 as Morecambe were bowled out for just 45 chasing Kendal's modest 87 all out.
Second Division results (home side in bold):
Blackpool 154 (Caunce 48), Darwen 158-4 (Jackson 49)
Blackpool 1 point, Darwen 12 points
Netherfield 162 (Goldstein 59, Demaine 5-34), Chorley 163-9 (Tolley S 48, W Goldstein 4-29)
Netherfield 5 points, Chorley 12 points
Fleetwood 115 (Stanhope 43), Carnforth 116-3 (Barnfield 40)
Fleetwood 0 points, Carnforth 12 points
Kendal 87 (Burrow 4-23), Morecambe 45 (Potts 8-9)
Kendal 15 points, Morecambe 3 points
Lancaster 51 (Rounding 6-26), Leyland Motors 53-7 (Lees 5-12)
Lancaster 2 points, Leyland Motors 12 points
Leyland 84, St Annes 85-5
Leyland 1 point, St Annes 12 points
Preston148-7 (Kaye 47), Barrow 118-9
Preston 8 points, Barrow 3 points
SURRIDGE NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| St Annes |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
36 |
| Leyland Motors |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
30 |
| Chorley |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
27 |
| Blackpool |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
25 |
| Kendal |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
25 |
| Fleetwood |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
24 |
| Netherfield |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
11 |
23 |
| Barrow |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
19 |
| Lancaster |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
19 |
| Darwen |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
18 |
| Morecambe |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
17 |
| Carnforth |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
16 |
| Leyland & Farington |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
15 |
| Preston |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
10 |
MATCH ACTION
PLUCKY LEYLAND HOLD OUT
St Annes 227-3, Leyland 103-9
By Gerry Wolstenholme
It was an excellent all-round day for St Annes' substitute professional Asif Mujtaba on Monday at Vernon Road where he scored a splendid 79 and then took 7-20 but his efforts were not enough to earn his side victory as Leyland held on at 103-9 for the draw, losing their ninth wicket off the penultimate ball of the game.
Leyland won the toss and put St Annes in to bat and Adrian Darlington and Adam Taylor got them off to a sound but not spectacular start with a partnership of 63 before the former was caught at wide mid-off by Alex Mercer off Brian Tennant for 29. Tennant had been bowling well and no-one had taken him on but Mujtaba struck his first ball down the ground for four to set the tone for his innings. He and Taylor then put on 113 during the course of which Taylor passed his first senior half century. He was eventually second out when, going for runs late in the innings, he was bowled by James Wright for 88 made from 149 balls with seven fours and one six.
Mujtaba, dropped by Shaun Dunk at long-off on 61, went on to make 79 before he edged a short ball from Wright through to Charlie Williams and that was 216-3. There was just time for Joe Davies to score a rapid 20 including driving the final ball of the innings (the seventh of the over!) for six and for Stephen Twist to make five not out as St Annes closed at 227-3. For Leyland Tennant had 1-41 and Wright 2-57.
Leyland set off like a house on fire and, aided by four overthrows, they were 15 without loss at the end of the first over. But that was as good as it got and thereafter they found runs very hard to come by, particularly when Mujtaba was introduced into the attack. He struck first when he bowled Mercer, playing a mighty but ill-advised swipe, for nine at 33-1 and then repeated the dose with a well-disguised faster ball that accounted for Dunk for one at 35-2. Chris Parkinson, who had batted well for his 18, then went for a run that was not there and was run out at 36-3.
It was 48-4 when Alex Unsworth, four, edged Mujtaba through to Bickerdike and 57-5 when Adam Parker, having batted sensibly for 16, had a rush of blood and drove Michael Baer to Aiden Cotton who took the catch nonchalantly at long-off. Tennant made four before Mujtaba deceived him with another subtle change of pace and that was 64-6.
The dependable Williams and Wright then resisted for a few overs before the former fatally went back to a ball from Mujtaba and was palpably leg before wicket at 88-7 that quickly became 88-8 when Andy Hatton, obviously not learning from the previous ball, went in exactly the same way first ball. Wright was dropped off a very catchable chance by Davies running in from mid-wicket with four overs to go and then he and Steve Pallett, nine, lasted out until the penultimate ball when Mujtaba struck again with another leg before victim. Young Tom Coxhead came in and with all the St Annes side surrounding him blocked the final ball to leave Leyland with a draw and Wright 22 not out. Mujtaba meanwhile had the excellent figures of 22-11-20-7 but it was not enough to secure the maximum points.
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St Annes crowd the Leyland batsman for the last ball of the game
St Annes Sub Professional Asif Mujtaba leaves the field after his 7-20
