Gerry Wolstenholme
On a day when three sides failed to reach 50, Kendal were the day's lowest scorers with an extremely modest 29 all out. It would seem that the recovery from the recent traumas of the rain was not as complete as it could have been and the dampness perhaps had an adverse effect on teams that batted first as every one that did so in the First Division lost.
Fleetwood made every effort to get Broadwater fit for play and perhaps when leaders Netherfield won the toss they might have wished that they hadn't done so. This was particularly so after four wickets were lost before there were 10 runs on the board. Only Adam Sharrocks with 15 and John Wright with 12 reached double figures while Chris Stanhope and Tom Blundell were next best with six each as Fleetwood were bowled out in 28 overs for just 46. Charl Langeveldt, who had started the rot by bowling his compatriot Kyle Smit for nought, finished with 5-19 as Scott Clement took 3-17 and Marc Hadwin 2-8. Netherfield did lose two early wickets in reply but Chris Parry, 19 not out, and Simon Little, 14 not out, saw them home by eight wickets at 49-2 with Dave Fish taking 1-10 and Smit 1-20.
Kendal meanwhile made an absolute hash of it at Shap Road. They began reasonably enough with Ikram Ullah, 10, and Kevin Howarth, eight, putting on 14 for the first wicket but once the former was out it was a procession. Terry Hunte made five but there was only six runs from the rest of the batting as they were bowled out in 24.4 overs for a season's lowest total of 29. Shane Harwood, 5-18, and Ian Austin, 5-11, bowled unchanged for St Annes, who then took just nine overs to win the game by seven wickets at 33-3. But it did look at one time as though they might have a struggle as they were 6-3 but Adrian Darlington, 17 not out, and Harwood, nine not out, saw them home. Graeme Aldridge took 2-18 and Stuart Parkin 1-12. It was Harwood's swansong for St Annes as he returns home early next week at the request of his state side Victoria who want to monitor his injury before their season begins.
Another team bowled out for less than 50 were one-time leaders Barrow whose 48 presented little challenge to Lancaster who won by seven wickets with 51-3. Extras with 14 contributed the most to the Barrow total with Iain Kermode making 13 and Chris D'Leny nine as they were bowled out in 33.1 overs with Jannisar Khan taking 4-12, Danny Milligan 2-8 and Tim Barry 3-17 in 16.1 overs. And it was Barry who saw Lancaster home with 25 not out and Khan 8 not out as Lancaster reached their target in 17.2 overs.
On a day when low scores prevailed, Preston's 126 all out was not a bad effort at Fox Lane but thanks to some solid lower order batting Leyland managed to overhaul it and win by two wickets with 129-8. Bilal Asad top scored for Preston with 55, Paul Mann made 29 and Jonathan McDonald 10 not out as they were dismissed in 49.3 overs. Ameer Khan continued his amazing season with the ball and took 7-45 so it is no surprise that Leyland have resigned him for next season. Leyland left it late to win and did so with one ball left as the top order, apart from Khan with 17, let them down but David Makinson, 30 not out, Andrew Makinson, 12, Matthew Watkinson, 15, Steve Pallett, 12 not out, and 15 extras saw them sneak home. Asad took 4-32 and Lukman Vahaluwala 3-37.
Carnforth were the day's top scorers when batting first but their 144 all out did them no good as Darwen won by five wickets with 147-6. Lyndell Richardson led the way for Carnforth with 42, Ryan Nelson made 32 and Atiq Uz Zaman 22 as they were dismissed in 45.2 overs with Jeff Hacking having a superb day with 7-28. Atif Ashraf dominated the Darwen reply with 74 not out and although Chris Lowe made 19, they were grateful for the 38 extras that Carnforth provided. Irfan Fazil bowled unchanged for 11 overs to take 4-64.
At a very wet Stanley Park, Blackpool made exactly 100 in 49.5 overs with Tom Reece's 26 being the top score as Werner Coetsee took 5-21. Morecambe took just 21.1 overs to win by nine wickets with 101-1 as Vishnal Goyal made 38, Andy Armstrong 36 not out and Coetsee a quick 22 not out.
Blackpool 100 ( Coetsee 5-21), Morecambe 101 - 1
Blackpool 0 points, Morecambe 12 points
Carnforth 144 (Richardson 42, Hacking 7-28) , Darwen 147 - 6 (Ashraf 74* , Fazil 4-64)
Carnforth 2 points, Darwen 12 points
Fleetwood 46 (Langeveldt 5-19) , Netherfield 49 - 2
Fleetwood 0 points, Netherfield 12 points
Kendal 29 (Austin 5-11, Harwood 5-18) , St Annes 33 - 3
Kendal 0 points , St Annes 12 points
Barrow 48 (Jannisar Khan 4-12) , Lancaster 51 - 3
Barrow 0 points, Lancaster 12 points
Preston 126 (Asad 55, Ameer Khan 7-45), Leyland 129 - 8 (Asad 4-32)
Preston 2 points, Leyland 12 points
3D SPORTS NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Netherfield |
16 |
2 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
15 |
138 |
| Morecambe |
16 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
25 |
130 |
| Darwen |
16 |
0 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
20 |
122 |
| St Annes |
15 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
37 |
121 |
| Kendal |
16 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
2 |
14 |
116 |
| Leyland |
16 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
3 |
16 |
106 |
| Barrow |
16 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
30 |
104 |
| Fleetwood |
16 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
16 |
100 |
| Lancaster |
15 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
25 |
100 |
| Preston |
15 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
7 |
2 |
31 |
96 |
| CARNFORTH |
16 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
2 |
33* |
91 |
| Chorley |
15 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
4 |
23 |
83 |
| BLACKPOOL |
16 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
8 |
2 |
34* |
73 |
Teams in BLOCK CAPITALS have had points deducted,
* 2 points deducted for slow over rate from the Bonus Points Column
< palign=left>Bowling honours for the day in the Second Division went to Morecambe's Warren Quinn whose 8-34 helped bowl Blackpool out for 81 as his side went on to win by seven wickets. Batting honours belong to Netherfield's Rishi Girdhari who made 75 not out as his side defeated Fleetwood by six wickets after Stuart Nixon had taken 6-30 in Fleetwood's 138 all out.
Lancaster 174 - 8 ( Kermode 4-17), Barrow 105
Lancaster 15 points, Barrow 2 points
Carnforth 108 (Davies 5-18) , Darwen 109 - 9 (Jackson 48*)
Carnforth 3 points, Darwen 12 points
Blackpool 81 (Quinn 8-34) , Morecambe 82 - 3
Blackpool 0 points, Morecambe 12 points
Fleetwood 138 (Nixon 6-30) , Netherfield 142 - 4 (Girdhari 75*)
Fleetwood 0 points , Netherfield 12 points
Leyland 162 - 7 , Preston 95
Leyland 15 points, Preston 2 points
Kendal 60 , St Annes 64 - 3
Kendal 0 points, St Annes 12 points
3D SPORTS NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Netherfield |
16 |
2 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
10 |
152 |
| Lancaster |
15 |
5 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
11 |
151 |
| Morecambe |
16 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
25 |
143 |
| Chorley |
15 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
25 |
120 |
| Darwen |
16 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
21 |
120 |
| St Annes |
15 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
24 |
117 |
| Blackpool |
16 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
3 |
27 |
110 |
| Barrow |
16 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
2 |
23 |
99 |
| Leyland |
16 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
3 |
26 |
98 |
| Kendal |
16 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
3 |
17 |
83 |
| Preston |
15 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
3 |
20 |
83 |
| Carnforth |
16 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
2 |
34 |
78 |
| Fleetwood |
16 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
3 |
17 |
75 |
MATCH ACTION
ALMOST A WHITEWASH!
Blackpool 100, Morecambe 101-1
By Gerry Wolstenholme
After the rains of the last few weeks and particularly the Wednesday and Thursday before the game, it was a credit to Blackpool that the game at Stanley Park was played, even if some of the outfield was like a bog, so much so that lofted shots were plugging when landing.
Not surprisingly on winning the toss Morecambe put Blackpool in to bat and it was a move that paid off handsomely as they were bowled out for just 100 with one ball of the 50 overs remaining. Morecambe then made easy meat of the target and only the loss of Vishnal Goyal at 74 prevented a whitewash as they reached their target in 21.1 overs to win by nine wickets with 101-1.
Charles Boucher cried off at the last minute for Blackpool so youngster Alex Smith was drafted in to open the innings on his debut. He made two before Gareth Peddar bowled him with the total on five to start the rot that was never overcome. It was 17-2 when Jono Gates had Luis Reece caught behind by Damian Gudgeon for 10 and 26-3 when Justin Kreusch holed out to Werner Coetsee at point off Gates after he had made just eight.
It was 49-3 at the halfway point when Adam Parker and Tom Reece were making a modest stand for the fourth wicket. They had put on 29 runs when the off-spin of Coetsee, who was keeping a teasing line and length, defeated Parker who was bowled for 16 and that was 55-4. There was a slight flurry of runs from Tom Reece before Coetsee repeated the dose and bowled him for 26 at 72-5.
No-one else reached double figures as the lower order capitulated with only a last wicket stand of 11 from Richard Gleeson, five not out, and Andy Armstrong, five, taking Blackpool to three figures. Prash Aga was superbly caught by Goyal who ran in from a shortish long-on to dive full length and hold a spectacular catch and he was gone for seven at 75-6. It was a symmetrical 77-7 when Paul Danson was the third player to be bowled by Coetsee, this time for three, before James Smith, four, and Dave Newton, six, took the total to 89 at which point both were dismissed. Coetsee trapped James Smith back on his stumps and Graham Lee had Newton stumped by Gudgeon.
Andy Armstrong and Gleeson then made something of a mockery of what had gone before by seemingly scoring 11 runs fairly comfortably, although Armstrong was dropped off an overhead return catch to Coetsee before he had scored. The innings then ended with one ball remaining when Armstrong was run out going for a second run after Peddar's throw to Coetsee found him short of his ground. Blackpool therefore finished on 100 with Coetsee taking 5-21 from 13.5 overs, Gates 2-16, Peddar 1-16 and Lee 1-20.
At the interval Morecambe skipper Mark Lomas was understandably cautious when he said, "We still have them to get." But he need not have worried because right from the start Goyal and the other Andy Armstrong in the game began scoring freely. Goyal in particular played some delightful shots and the pair had put on 74 and looked in no danger when Kreusch reverted to a spot of off-spin, a la Coetsee. And with his first ball he trapped Goyal leg before wicket for a fine 38. But this just hastened the end as in came Coetsee to make batting look very easy and in a little cameo he quickly knocked up 22, including the day's only six, and with Armstrong 36 not out, Morecambe were home but not quite dry, because of the conditions, by nine wickets at 101-1. Kreusch, who reverted back to his pace bowling when Coetsee went to the crease, took 1-24 otherwise the Blackpool bowling was undistinguished.
