By Gerry Wolstenholme
The early leaders in the Surridge Northern Premier League are Lancaster, superbly led by new skipper Tim Barry who on Saturday took 4-32 and scored 34 not out in his side's seven-wicket victory over Barrow at Lune Road. Barrow batted first and were bowled out for 115 with the evergreen Graham Barnes, 6-53, sharing the wickets with his skipper as Iain Kermode top scored with 36 but only John Miles, 14, of the rest gave him much support. Jamie Heywood set up the Lancaster win with 38 and Barry was undefeated at the close.
Fleetwood entertained Netherfield and in a low scoring contest managed to come away with a draw after making a modest 135-7 from their 40 overs on a pitch that was conducive to spin. Paul Harris made 57 but next best was 18 from Wayne Clarke as Marc Hadwin spun his way to 4-45 from 21 overs. Craig Walmsley, 30, got Netherfield off to a flyer but then wickets began to tumble to the slow left arm spin of Harris, 4-61. But with four overs remaining and the game evenly poised rain intervened and with Netherfield 125-7 the game was drawn.
Morecambe visited Stanley Park and came away with a two-wicket victory as they restricted Blackpool to 150-7 with Charles Boucher making 53 and Steven Croft 42 as Garnett Kruger took 3-37. Fellow South African Justin Kreusch replied in kind with 3-27 but it was not enough to prevent Morecambe reaching their target with 151-8 to which Mark Woodhead contributed 40 and Gareth Peddar 26.
Chorley gained their first victory of the season and a comprehensive one it was too as they bowled Leyland Motors out for 79 with Stephen John returning 6-35 and Billy Smith 3-14. Only professional Raouf Akbar with 31 made any impression for Motors but he then had too few runs to bowl at as Mark Richardson, 52 not out, spearheaded Chorley's charge to victory at 80-2.
Lyndell Richardson was in the runs again for Carnforth as he made 43 and Omari Banks 34 as they totalled 169 against Darwen, for whom Atif Ashraf took 4-27 and Neil Cordingley 3-63. Semple then made 81 not out and Gareth Cordingley 60 not out from Darwen's winning 172-2.
Kendal entertained last season's champions St Annes and had the better of a drawn game. They scored 182 with Ikram Ullah making 52, Terry Hunte 39 and Kabir Khan 33 while newly arrived Australian professional Adam Griffiths took 4-30 and Michael Baer had 4-87. Aslam Qureshi then took 4-39 as none of the St Annes batsmen could capitalise on reasonable starts with Adrian Darlington making 32, Russ Bradley 32 and Adam Cotton 31 not out as their side closed 23 runs short of victory at 160-7.
There was a high-scoring draw at Fox Lane where visitors Preston batted first and thanks to a superb 146 not out by professional Bilal Asad, made 267-6 with Lukman Vahaluwala making 23 and 'Pip' McDonald 23 not out while Brian Tennant took 4-75. Adam Parker showed that it was a day for professionals as he made 110 not out from Leyland's reply of 199-8. For Leyland Chris Parkinson and Alex Unsworth both made 14, the next best efforts to Parker.
First Division results (home side in bold):
Blackpool 150-7 (Boucher 53, Croft 42), Morecambe 151-8 (Woodhead 40)
Blackpool 3 points, Morecambe 12 points
Carnforth 169 (Richardson 43, Ashraf 4-27), Darwen 172-2 (Semple 81*, Cordingley G 60*)
Carnforth 2 points, Darwen 12 points
Leyland Motors 79 (John 6-35), Chorley 80-2 (Richardson 52*)
Leyland Motors 0 points, Chorley 12 points
Fleetwood 135-7 (Harris 57, Hadwin 4-45), Netherfield 125-7 (Harris 4-61)
Fleetwood 6 points, Netherfield 3 points
Kendal 182 (Ullah 52, Griffiths 4-30, Baer 4-87), St Annes 160-7 (Qureshi 4-39)
Kendal 9 points, St Annes 6 points
Barrow 115 (Barnes 6-53, Barry 4-32), Lancaster 117-3
Barrow 0 points, Lancaster 12 points
Preston 267-6 (Asad 146*, Tennant 4-75), Leyland 199-8 (Parker 110*)
Preston 9 points, Leyland 5 points
SURRIDGE NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Lancaster |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
45 |
| Morecambe |
4 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
44 |
| Darwen |
4 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
41 |
| Netherfield |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
38 |
| St Annes |
4 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
16 |
37 |
| Fleetwood |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
35 |
| Blackpool |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
10 |
27 |
| Preston |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
26 |
| Carnforth |
4 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
16 |
24 |
| Chorley |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
18 |
| Barrow |
4 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
12 |
17 |
| Kendal |
4 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
11 |
15 |
| Leyland & Farington |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
10 |
| Leyland Motors |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
5 |
5 |
Bowling performance of the day in Division Two was Mick Brown's 7-38 that helped Leyland bowl Preston out for 122 and his brother Martin then scored 80 not out in his side's winning 123-5.
And Blackpool's Steve Mercer had a good all-round day with 52 not out and 5-63 with his leg spin but his efforts could not earn a win as Blackpool held on at 146-9 facing Morecambe's 203-6 to which Stuart Errington contributed 53.
Closest finish of the day came at Parkside Road where Netherfield lost by one run chasing Fleetwood's 207 all out.
Second Division results (home side in bold):
Barrow 113 (Milligan 4-16, Simm 4-54), Lancaster 117-9
Barrow 3 points, Lancaster 12 points
Carnforth 43 (Chatterton 6-26), Darwen 45-0
Carnforth 0 points, Darwen 12 points
Leyland Motors 129, Chorley 131-9
Leyland Motors 3 points, Chorley 12 points
Morecambe 203-6 (Errington 53, Mercer 5-63), Blackpool 146-9 (Mercer 52*)
Morecambe 10 points, Blackpool 3 points
Fleetwood 207-8, Netherfield 206
Fleetwood 15 points, Netherfield 5 points
Preston 122 (Mick Brown 7-38), Leyland 123-5 (Martin Brown 80*)
Preston 1 point, Leyland 12 points
Kendal 162-8 (Dugdale 52), St Annes 163-4 (Bradley N 50*, Kellett 44)
Kendal 2 points, St Annes 12 points
SURRIDGE NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| St Annes |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
48 |
| Fleetwood |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
39 |
| Chorley |
4 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
39 |
| Leyland Motors |
4 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
33 |
| Lancaster |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
31 |
| Darwen |
4 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
30 |
| Blackpool |
4 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
28 |
| Netherfield |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
16 |
28 |
| Kendal |
4 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
8 |
27 |
| Leyland & Farington |
4 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
27 |
| Morecambe |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
11 |
27 |
| Barrow |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
22 |
| Carnforth |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
16 |
| Preston |
4 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
7 |
11 |
MATCH ACTION
RAIN (OF THE LIGHTER VARIETY) THE ONLY WINNER
Fleetwood 135-7, Netherfield 125-7
By Gerry Wolstenholme
The clash of two of the leading sides in the Surridge Northern Premier League at Broadwater on Saturday looked likely to reach a thrilling climax until some very light rain forced the players from the field and, despite an attempt to restart, the game ended in a draw. Both sides found it difficult to score freely on a pitch taking some spin and Fleetwood were able to manage only 135-7 from their 50 overs to which Netherfield replied with 125-7 from 46 overs before the rain came in.
John Wright won the toss for Fleetwood and, opening with Michael Dewhurst, made most of the early running with a flurry of strokes. He had made 17 of the 25 runs on the board when he chased a wide ball from Marc Hadwin and spooned a shot to Simon Little at extra cover. Michael Clinning made six before he too perished to Little at extra cover off Hadwin when he carved another widish ball to the grateful fielder and that was 35-2. The batsmen crossed as the ball was in the air and that was fatal for Dewhurst for he was dismissed from the following ball when Darren Moore caught him at backward point for nine and that was 35-3.
In the following over it was 36-4 when Dirk Nannes produced his fastest ball of the day to superbly york James Ellis before he had scored. Wayne Clarke then assisted Harris to add 34 runs for the fifth wicket and both batsmen were looking comfortable although Hadwin was still posing problems. But it was a bowling change that broke the partnership when Stuart Nixon was introduced into the attack and he trapped Clarke leg before wicket for a well-made 18 with the total then 70-5.
Zac Taylor got his head down and helped Harris to take the total to 103 before Nannes knocked his leg stump back for 10. Youngster Tom Wilson held firm to make nine not out and Harris, having been dropped at deep mid-wicket on 42, attacked the bowling to pass his half century before he was caught by Grahame Clarke at wide long-on off Hadwin from the final ball of the innings for 57 made from 92 balls with one six and five fours. Hadwin finished with 4-45, Nannes 2-54 and Nixon 1-18.
Craig Walmsley opened the Netherfield innings in his usual style, playing some glorious shots as he raced to 30 at which point he tried one shot too many, did not connect properly and was caught by Wilson off Fish at deep mid-off with the total on 40. Chris Parry followed him back to the pavilion almost immediately as he did not score and was caught at silly mid-off by Wright off Harris at 43-2.
Tommy Prime made 25 steadily before, having been tied down, he played a rash shot and lofted to backward point where Michael Dewhurst took the catch off Harris to make Netherfield 67-3. A subdued Clarke made 10 before Ellis stumped him off Harris as he lifted his back foot and that was 90-4. One run later, and in the same over, Simon Little, 19, was gone as he edged Harris through to Ellis.
Nannes and Moore then put on 33 runs to take Netherfield to the verge of victory when the former did not quite get to the pitch of a ball from Taylor and found the safe hands of Clinning at extra cover and he was gone for 17 at 123-6. Scott Clement made two before a throw from Fish beat his desperate dive to the crease and he was run out at 125-7 and that was more or less the final action of the game.
At 7.08pm the light rain that had been falling for some 10 minutes brought a decision from the umpires to leave the field with Netherfield 125-7 and the game very nicely poised. The rain eased somewhat, the covers were removed and the players returned to the middle but before any play could begin the rain, lighter than ever, brought them in again and the game was abandoned at that point as a draw. Harris had taken 4-61, Taylor 1-11 and Fish 1-28 for Fleetwood while Moore remained 16 not out and Lawson nought not out.
The Battle of the Professionals
Dirk Nannes bowls to Paul Harris
Paul Harris plays the square cut
Drinks all round
Paul Harris acknowledges the crowd on reaching his half century.
Wayne Clarke as an orange drink
Netherfield Professional Dirk Nannes
Fleetwood Professional Paul Harris walks off in reflective mood
