By Michael Latham
Warren Quinn bowled Carnforth to victory at Chorley |
Furness Building Society Northern Premier Cricket League (in association with 3D Sports)
There can be precious little wrong with a league where the bottom-placed club can visit the top one and emerge victorious while last season's wooden spoonists can defeat the defending champions.
That was the case in the Furness Building Society Northern Premier Cricket League (in association with 3D Sports) after an outstanding afternoon of drama and entertainment on Saturday with Carnforth and Fleetwood sharing centre-stage.
Chorley CC |
Carnforth, who began the day in bottom place, repeated last season's success at Windsor Park and earned their first victory of the season after edging out leaders Chorley by eight runs.
Carnforth professional Gareth Pedder hit a battling 63 off 73 balls to help his side recover from 49 for 4 and post a competitive total of 168 for 9. Seamers Billy Smith, Jim Lee and Andrew Harty all bowled well for Chorley, each taking three wickets.
Carnforth's Tom Barnfield caught and bowled by Jim Lee |
Chorley pro Chris Hartley is stumped by Ryan Nelson |
Chorley looked well set for victory as they passed the 100-mark for the loss of openers Jack Catterall and Adam Peacock. But when Ryan Nelson superbly stumped Chorley's Australian professional Chris Hartley for 28 off the bowling of left-arm spinner Warren Quinn the game changed. The home side lost their last eight wickets for 58 runs.
Quinn bowled superbly to take 5 for 48 off 13.4 overs with 55-year-old veteran John Denwood applying the break with a typically miserly spell of one for 19 off 13 overs. Superb Carnforth fielding added to the mix, Robert Parker running out Mike Critchley and Nelson applying the coup de grace with the run out of last man Harty in a tense finish.
Chorley's Jack Catterall hits out |
Meanwhile Fleetwood's Anguillan star Chesney Hughes came up with a match-winning all-round performance to defeat champions Netherfield at Broadwater. The West Indies U19s star, who recently signed a two-year deal with Derbyshire, hit 68 off 100 balls to help his side reach 179 after being invited to bat. Skipper James Ellis made a valuable 32 as Scott Clement and Cumberland off-spinner Chris Miller each collected three wickets.
Netherfield fell 13 runs short despite a brilliant 105 from their Australian professional Glen Batticciotto whose innings included one six and 14 fours off 132 balls. Batticciotto was last man out, bowled by Hughes off the third ball of the 47th over after refusing singles from the first two balls. Hughes took three for 23 with his left arm spin while opener Tom Blundell finished with three for 65.
Chesney Hughes produced a match-winning performance for Fleetwood |
Ironically Chorley stretched their lead at the top to 11 points despite their defeat. While they collected five points second placed St Annes got just two after losing out in another tense finish against Leyland at Fox Lane.
Leyland were indebted to their Pakistan professional Ameer Khan whose leg-spin accounted for five St Annes batsmen at a cost of just 47 runs as the visitors toiled to 134 all out. Andrew Makinson and his father David, the Leyland captain each took two wickets.
Ameer Khan then provided the mainstay of Leyland's replay, making 51 off 77 balls before becoming one of Dinuka Hettiarachchi's four victims. Despite Hettiarachchi's fine figures of 4 for 40 from 19 overs of left-arm spin Leyland's ninth wicket pair of Tom Reece and James Rounding edged their side over the finishing line. St Annes wicket-keeper Duncan Whalley took five catches.
There was barely a dry eye in the house as Morecambe's popular Indian batsman Vishal Goyal enjoyed a fairytale end to his three-year stay at the club by steering his side to a five wickets win over Barrow at Woodhill Lane.
Goyal, who returns home on Monday after completing a university course, was run out for a magnificent 93 with Morecambe just 15 runs short of overhauling Barrow's 195 for 8. He hit 15 fours and richly deserved a century after a fine exhibition of classy batsmanship that has marked his stay at the club. Mark Woodhead's 42 off 45 balls helped provide early impetus to Morecambe's reply while Ikram Ullah marked his league debut for the club with 31 after joining from Kendal.
Earlier Cumberland county player Jon Miles returned to form with 77 off 114 balls while Sri Lankan professional Pasan Wanasinghe made 44 off 74 balls for Barrow, whose skipper Daryl Wearing has earned a richly deserved call-up for the Cumberland county side
Lancashire's 2008 Player of the Year Steven Croft hit an imperious undefeated 115 to see Blackpool to a resounding nine wickets win over Lancaster at Stanley Park. Croft faced 144 balls and hit 14 fours and one six in a magnificent display of batting on his first Northern League appearance of the season. It was his seventh Northern League century for Blackpool. Croft and Sri Lankan professional Sajeewa Weerakoon each took two wickets as Lancaster closed on 157 for 8, captain Tim Barry making a defiant 57 off 121 balls. Richard Gleeson, the league's leading amateur bowler in 2009 took 4 for 42 including Barry caught-and-bowled.
Lancashire's Steven Croft hit an undefeated century for Blackpool |
Finally Darwen dug in for a hard-earned draw to deny Kendal their second successive 15-point win. Kevin Howarth's 125 off 150 balls had provided the cornerstone of the home side's 216 for 5 at Shap Road. Dismissed off the penultimate ball of the last over by Darwen's South African professional David Wiese Howarth hit 16 fours and two sixes and put on 98 for the third wicket with McMillan (42).
Darwen looked dead and buried at 55 for 6 after 19 overs with all six wickets falling to McMillan (6 for 55). But Kamran Anwar and Jordan Clarke then put on 40 in 17 overs for the seventh wicket and Yakub Bhamji and Stuart Hampson 21 in eight overs for the ninth Darwen claimed an honourable draw with last pair Bhamji and captain Andrew Cook defying the home side in another nail-biting finish.
FIRST DIVISION SCORES:
BLACKPOOL v LANCASTER
Blackpool (12pts) defeated Lancaster (1pt) by 9 wickets
Lancaster 157 for 8 (T Barry 57, R Gleeson 4 for 42), Blackpool 160 for 1 (S Croft 115no)
CHORLEY v CARNFORTH
Carnforth (15pts) defeated Chorley (5pts) by 8 runs
Carnforth 168 for 9 (G Pedder 63), Chorley 160 (W Quinn 5 for 48)
FLEETWOOD v NETHERFIELD
Fleetwood (15pts) defeated Netherfield (5pts) by 13 runs
Fleetwood 179 (C Hughes 68), Netherfield 166 (G Batticciotto 105)
KENDAL v DARWEN
Kendal (10pts) winning draw; Darwen (3pts)
Kendal 216 for 5 (K Howarth 125, R McMillan 42), Darwen 140 for 9 (R McMillan 6 for 55)
LEYLAND v ST ANNES
Leyland (12pts) defeated St Annes (2pts) by 2 wickets
St Annes 134 (Ameer Khan 5 for 47), Leyland 135 for 8 (Ameer Khan 51, D Hettiarachchi 4 for 40, D Whalley 5 catches)
MORECAMBE v BARROW
Morecambe (12pts) defeated Barrow (4pts) by 5 wickets
Barrow 195 for 8 (J Miles 76, P Wanasinghe 44), Morecambe 196 for 5 (V Goyal 93, M Woodhead 42)
Preston no match
FURNESS BUILDING SOCIETY
( INCORPORATING 3D SPORTS )
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Chorley |
11 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
16 |
104 |
| St Annes |
10 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
11 |
93 |
| Preston |
10 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
88 |
| Blackpool |
10 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
19 |
75 |
| Leyland |
10 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
18 |
74 |
| Netherfield |
10 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
24 |
69 |
| Kendal |
10 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
20 |
68 |
| Morecambe |
10 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
16 |
64 |
| Fleetwood |
11 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
20 |
58 |
| Darwen |
10 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
12 |
58 |
| Carnforth |
10 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
22 |
54 |
| Barrow |
10 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
13 |
49 |
| Lancaster |
10 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
11 |
48 |
Divison Two
Leaders have nail-biting win in division two
Lancaster are 28 points clear at the top of division two after a nail-biting one wicket win over second-placed Blackpool at Lune Road. 15-year-old Oliver Carter's unbeaten 72 helped steer Lancaster home after Phil Sparrow and Tim Lambert bowled out Blackpool for 159. Sparrow took 6 for 46 and Lambert 4 for 42 with John Caunce's 42 the main contribution to Blackpool's 159.
The shock of the day was at Lodge Quarry where Carnforth defeated last season's runners-up Chorley by 106 runs. Wayne Barclay made 65 of Chorley's dismal reply of 99.
Defending champions St Annes were resoundingly beaten at home by Leyland. Nathan McDonnell's unbeaten 77 was the main contribution for the visitors after Stephen Cartwright took 6 for 37 to bowl out the home side for 143 despite David Watson's 58.
Mark Emsley hit 86 as Fleetwood posted the day's highest total, 241 at Parkside Road. Netherfield hung on for a draw with Ban Barrow making 51 despite Joe Bell's spell of 5 for 38.
Last season's leading wicket taker, Darwen's Christian Davies took 5 for 40 to set up a nine wicket win over Kendal at Birch Hall. Niall Burke hit 46 in Darwen's reply.
Adam Cartmell made a superb century, hitting 104 off 133 balls with 15 fours to deny Morecambe skipper Nick Milner at Ernest Pass, Milner collected 7 for 52 with his left-arm spin and then saw Alex Thistlewaite hit 68 off 110 balls as the visitors edged home with three wickets in hand.
SECOND DIVISION SCORES:
BARROW v MORECAMBE
Morecambe (12pts) defeated Barrow (5pts) by 3 wickets
Barrow 193 for 8 (A Cartmell 104, N Milner 7 for 52), Morecambe 194 for 7 (A Thistlethwaite 68, S Cockburn 41)
CARNFORTH v CHORLEY
Carnforth (15pts) defeated Chorley (2pts) by 106 runs
Carnforth 205 for 7 (W Tomlinson 42, J Cornthwaite 42no), Chorley 99 (W Barclay 65)
DARWEN v KENDAL
Darwen (12pts) defeated Kendal (0pts) by 9 wickets
Kendal 124 (A Thompson 41, C Davies 5 for 40), Darwen 126 for 1 (N Burke 46)
LANCASTER v BLACKPOOL
Lancaster (12pts) defeated Blackpool (4pts) by 1 wicket
Blackpool 159 (P Sparrow 6 for 46, T Lambert 4 for 42), Lancaster 162 for 9 (O Carter 72no)
NETHERFIELD v FLEETWOOD
Fleetwood (10pts) winning draw; Netherfield (7pts)
Fleetwood 241 (M Emsley 86, M Clark 41, J Stafford 4 for 66), Netherfield 191 for 9 (B Barrow 51, S Hyland 45, J Bell 5 for 38)
ST ANNES v LEYLAND
Leyland (12pts) defeated St Annes (1pt) by 6 wickets
St Annes 143 (D Watson 58, S Cartwright 6 for 37), Leyland 147 for 4 (N McDonnell 77)
Preston no match
FURNESS BUILDING SOCIETY
( INCORPORATING 3D SPORTS )
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Lancaster |
10 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
112 |
| Blackpool |
10 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
10 |
84 |
| Chorley |
11 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
3 |
9 |
81 |
| Leyland |
10 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
16 |
79 |
| Morecambe |
10 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
15 |
71 |
| Kendal |
10 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
7 |
65 |
| Darwen |
10 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
11 |
62 |
| St Annes |
10 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
13 |
62 |
| Fleetwood |
11 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
15 |
60 |
| Carnforth |
10 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
19 |
57 |
| Netherfield |
10 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
17 |
53 |
| Preston |
10 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
8 |
48 |
| Barrow |
10 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
3 |
18 |
46 |
