By Gerry Wolstenholme
League newcomers Carnforth gained their first victory of the season on Saturday and what a victory it was. At Netherfield's Parkside Road they faced a home total of 234-4 and rattled up 235-5 with more than two overs remaining to win by five wickets. Chris Parry top scored for Netherfield with 84 not out and Simon Little added 69 and Dirk Nannes 40 not out, as Darren Nelson with 2-27 was Carnforth's best bowler. Opening batsman Lyndell Richardson continued his good form with 50 and then Atiq Uz Zaman made a stunning 101 not out to take Carnforth to their victory. Scott Clement had 2-25 and Nannes 2-82 for Netherfield.
Lancaster lost top spot by dint of not being able to force a win against Leyland who held on at 114-5 in reply to Lancaster's 208-6 that was made up mainly of Chris Flintoff's 59, Luke Phillip's 51 not out and Tim Barry's 44 while Brian Tennant took 4-43 for Leyland. James Riley made 34 and Adam Parker 23 for Leyland as Graham Barnes and Jannisar Khan both took two wickets, for 27 and 37 runs respectively.
The new leaders are Morecambe who made short shrift of visitors Darwen, bowling them out for 148 after having made 208-5 to which Mark Lomas contributed 57, Garnett Kruger 51, Phil Thornton 37 and Phil Dennison 33 as Andrew Mercer took all the wickets for 50 runs. Only Atif Ashraf, 45, made much headway for Darwen for whom Neil Cordingley's 30 was the next best effort as Gareth Peddar took 4-45 and there were two wickets each for Kruger and skipper Tommy Clough.
Fleetwood made short work of Leyland Motors who were dismissed for just 66 at Sandy Lane with Peter Cummings making 18 and only one other batsman getting into double figures with 16. The Fleetwood bowlers shared the wickets, Steve Hill taking 3-13 with two each going to Tom Blundell, Dave Fish and Paul Harris while Zac Taylor took one. Motors fought back and dismissed five Fleetwood batsmen before they reached their target for a five-wicket victory at 67-5 with Michael Clinning 20 not out steering them home after Michael Dewhurst had made 18.
Preston were the day's other winners and they won a close contest against Kendal. Batting first Preston made a modest 167 with Paul Mann making 48 and Bilal Asad 30 as Kabir Khan, 4-53, and Chris Miller, 4-12, did the damage. Kendal never really got going and Terry Hunte's 31 was their top score, followed by Gareth Ashburner's 22 and Kevin Howarth's 21. Rhys Williams took 5-35 and Lukman Vahaluwala 3-24.
Barrow could only draw with Chorley after making 229-8 thanks to 57 from substitute professional Iqbal Imam, 50 from Jonathan Miles, 38 from Tod Bamber and 21 from Paul Wilcox. Stephen John bowled 22 overs to take 6-102 and then made a top score of 36 in the Chorley reply that was bolstered by 26 from Andy Holdsworth and 20 from Michael Critchley. But they could only manage a draw with 156-8.
The St Annes versus Blackpool game was ruined by rain and, after a 4-15 start, St Annes made 138-3 with dashing half-centuries to Ian Austin, 58, and Adrian Darlington, 52. But then the rain returned and it was all over.
First Division results (home side in bold):
Barrow 229-8 (Imam 57, Miles 50, John 6-102), Chorley 156-8
Barrow 9 points, Chorley 4 points
Lancaster 208-6 (Flintoff 59, Phillips 51*, Barry 44, Tennant 4-43), Leyland 114-5
Lancaster 8 points, Leyland 2 points
Leyland Motors 66, Fleetwood 67-5
Leyland Motors 1 point, Fleetwood 12 points
Morecambe 208-5 (Lomas 57, Kruger 51, Mercer 5-50), Darwen 148 (Ashraf 45, Peddar 4-45)
Morecambe 15 points, Darwen 3 points
Netherfield 234-4 (Parry 84*, Little 69, Nannes 40*), Carnforth 235-5 (Uz Zaman 101*, Richardson 50)
Netherfield 4 points, Carnforth 12 points
Preston 167 (Mann 48, Miller 4-12, Khan 4-53), Kendal 125 (Williams 5-35)
Preston 15 points, Kendal 3 points
St Annes 138-3 (Austin 58, Darlington 52) v Blackpool
Match abandoned - 4 points each side
SURRIDGE NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Morecambe |
5 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
59 |
| Lancaster |
5 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
53 |
| Fleetwood |
5 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
47 |
| Darwen |
5 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
44 |
| Netherfield |
5 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
10 |
42 |
| Preston |
5 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
41 |
| St Annes |
5 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
16 |
41 |
| Carnforth |
5 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
16 |
36 |
| Blackpool |
5 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
31 |
| Barrow |
5 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
17 |
26 |
| Chorley |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
8 |
22 |
| Kendal |
5 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
14 |
18 |
| Leyland & Farington |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
12 |
| Leyland Motors |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
6 |
6 |
In the Second Division Ian Oakes was the batsman of the day as he made 111 not out as his side, Chorley, beat Barrow by eight wickets with 172-2 in reply to 170-8.
Bowler of the day was Preston's Roger Kaye who 7-43 helped his side bowl Kendal out for 141 to which Preston replied with 142-3.
Second Division results (home side in bold):
St Annes 224-8 (Kellett 62), Blackpool 21-3
Match abandoned 4 points each side
Carnforth 201-8 (Potter 72, Hartley 4-69), Netherfield 206-3 (Dodds 94*, Haddrick 46*)
Carnforth 3 points, Netherfield 12 points
Barrow 170-8 (Halfpenny 41), Chorley 172-2 (Oakes 111*, Catterall D 43)
Barrow 2 points, Chorley 12 points
Darwen 92-7 (Stephens 5-38), Morecambe 93-2 (Maje 66)
Darwen 0 points, Morecambe 12 points
Leyland Motors 167-9 (Whiteside 5-35), Fleetwood 172-3 (Stanhope 81*, Coultas 44*)
Leyland Motors 2 points, Fleetwood 12 points
Kendal 141 (Killiner 52, Kaye 7-43), Preston 142-3 (Jefferson 41*)
Kendal 1 point, Preston 12 points
Leyland 138-6, Lancaster 142-6 (Atkinson 64*)
Leyland 1 point, Lancaster 12 points
SURRIDGE NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| St Annes |
5 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
52 |
| Fleetwood |
5 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
51 |
| Chorley |
5 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
51 |
| Lancaster |
5 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
43 |
| Netherfield |
5 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
16 |
40 |
| Morecambe |
5 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
11 |
39 |
| Leyland Motors |
5 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
10 |
35 |
| Blackpool |
5 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
32 |
| Darwen |
5 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
30 |
| Leyland & Farington |
5 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
28 |
| Kendal |
5 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
9 |
28 |
| Barrow |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
8 |
24 |
| Preston |
5 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
7 |
23 |
| Carnforth |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
7 |
19 |
MATCH ACTION
A POINTLESS EXERCISE IN THE END
St Annes 138-3 v Blackpool
Gerry Wolstenholme
The efforts to get this game started at 4-15pm were all in vain as ultimately the weather closed in again and the match had to be abandoned at 5-50pm with two overs and three balls still remaining of the St Annes innings.
It was bitterly cold and miserably damp all the time at Vernon Road and when Blackpool won the toss it was no surprise to see them put St Annes in to bat. Gareth Evans and Adrian Darlington had to chase runs from the start and when the former had made four he swung at Chris Taylor only for Paul Danson to take a head-high catch at extra cover and that was 13-1. Darlington was batting superbly well and Ian Austin who also attacked the bowling joined him. The pair added 111 runs in no time at all with cricket that warmed the hearts of the three spectators who had braved the elements to watch from outside!
Austin struck two massive sixes, the longer of the two with consummate ease over long-on and into the adjacent gardens, before Chris Taylor removed Darlington's leg stump as he tried to force the ball away. He had made 52 from 63 balls with four fours and that was 124-2. Austin, after one more thunderous blow down the ground that rattled the sight screen, was then well caught by Chris Taylor at long-on off Louis Reece for 58 made from 54 balls with two sixes and three fours so that was 129-3.
There was just time for Adam Griffith to thump one huge six in his 12 not out and with Adam Cotton on one not out the umpires mercifully called it a day and the brave few retired to the warmth of the pavilion, or their hearths!
St Annes batsman Adrian Darlington plays Luis Reece to leg
Ian Austin St Annes Captain hits a staight six
Blackpool Professional wrapped up well against the cold
Lancashire and Blackpool Steven Croft restricted to patrolling the boundary
