By Michael Latham
A Rainbow over Blackpool |
Chorley and Preston took advantage of leaders St Annes's game falling foul of the weather to move closer to the top of the Furness Building Society Northern Premier Cricket League (in association with 3D Sports).
St Annes had made 50 for 1 off only ten overs against Morecambe at Vernon Road when the match was abandoned after heavy downpours which also accounted for two other first division games.
Defending champions Netherfield had moved to 14 without loss in a 40-over game against Leyland at Parkside Road when play was ended for the day. At Lodge Quarry Carnforth's scheduled game with Darwen failed even to make a start and play was abandoned for the day just before 4 o'clock.
But in the three remaining games there was plenty of exciting cricket with Chorley and Preston both recording 12-point wins batting second and Blackpool earning their first maximum 15-points haul of the season.
At Windsor Park Chorley's Australian wicket-keeping professional Chris Hartley made a winning start just hours after stepping off the plane.
Queenslander Hartley, 26, rated as one of the best keepers in Australia, claimed two catches as visitors Fleetwood were dismissed for 149 with seamer Nigel Eastham wrapping up the innings in fine style.
Newcastle University student Eastham, back in the Chorley team after finishing his rugby union commitments, claimed five wickets in 25 deliveries to finish with 5 for 29.
Fleetwood were indebted to opener Nick Coultas who made 52 off 78 balls with seven fours and two sixes while skipper James Ellis, relegating himself down the order made 26 off 25 balls. Matt Parry and Jim Lee each claimed two wickets while Kieran McCullagh accounted for West Indies U19s representative Chesney Hughes.
Opener Josh Tolley hit 49 off 84 balls in Chorley's reply but Hartley, batting first wicket down, was bowled by the promising Adam Breakell for 15. Fleetwood fought hard in the field, deputy professional Mohammed Sadiq taking four for 52 from 19.1 overs and Hughes claiming two wickets. McCullagh (12no) and Lee (3no) edged their side to a tense two wickets win in an unbroken ninth wicket stand, a heavy hail storm engulfing the ground just as the game finished.
Chorley now trail leaders St Annes by five points, with Preston a further three points adrift. Bilal Asad's men made short shrift of Lancaster at Lune Road, bowling out the home side for just 45 in 30.2 overs.Bilal Asad returned outstanding figures of 6 for 11 off 14.2 overs and was supported by Darren Nelson who took 4 for 18 from 16 overs.Wicket-keeper Brendan Hetherington (22) was the only Lancaster player to reach double figures.
Preston opener Sajid Patel was the only visiting batsman to fall after hitting a quick-fire 31 off 36 balls to steer his side to the verge of their victory target.
Blackpool moved up to joint fourth in the table alongside Leyland after a thrilling four runs win against Barrow at Stanley Park.
In a match initially reduced to 38 overs the home side were struggling at 35 for 5, returning professional Sajeewa Weerakoon being run out for 3 on his seasonal debut. But James Smith (24), skipper Paul Danson (22) and Andy Hogarth (15no) helped Blackpool reach 105 for 8 on a difficult pitch.
Leg-spinner Liam Livingstone claimed three late victims for Barrow with skipper Daryl Wearing and Matthew Studt each taking two wickets.
Blackpool paceman Richard Gleeson bowled superbly to take 4 for 25 and with Weerakoon weighing in with 4 for 43 Barrow were dismissed for 101 with 2.1 overs of their further rain-reduced 32 overs innings remaining.
Chris D'Leny |
Former Cumberland batsman Chris D'Leny hit 35 in the middle order, receiving good support from Tod Bamber (21). But when D'Leny was superbly caught by Matthew Brown at mid-wicket off Gleeson the visitors, playing without a professional, collapsed. Wicket-keeper James Smith claimed four victims, including the match-clinching stumping to dismiss Studt off Weerakoon.
Jonathan Miles ct James Smith bowled Andy Hogarth |
Rob Lightfoot is caught by Ashit Jarawala |
Barrow's Anesh Patel is run out at Stanley Park |
James Smith stumps Matthew Studt to win the game for Blackpool |
FIRST DIVISION SCORES:
BLACKPOOL v BARROW
Blackpool (15pts) defeated Barrow (2pts) by 4 runs
Blackpool 105 for 8, Barrow 101 (R Gleeson 4 for 27, S Weerakoon 4 for 43)
CARNFORTH v DARWEN
Match abandoned (4pts each)
No play possible
CHORLEY v FLEETWOOD
Chorley (12pts) defeated Fleetwood (3pts) by 2 wickets
Fleetwood 149 (N Coultas 52, N Eastham 5 for 29), Chorley 150 for 8 (J Tolley 49, M Sadiq 4 for 52)
LANCASTER v PRESTON
Preston (12pts) defeated Lancaster (0pts) by 9 wickets
Lancaster 45 (Bilal Asad 6 for 11, D Nelson 4 for 18), Preston 46 for 1
NETHERFIELD v LEYLAND
Match abandoned (4pts each)
Netherfield 14 for 0
ST ANNES v MORECAMBE
Match abandoned (4pts each)
St Annes 50 for 1
FURNESS BUILDING SOCIETY
( INCORPORATING 3D SPORTS )
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| St Annes |
6 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
58 |
| Chorley |
6 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
53 |
| Preston |
6 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
50 |
| Leyland |
5 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
9 |
40 |
| Blackpool |
6 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
12 |
40 |
| Morecambe |
6 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
37 |
| Kendal |
5 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
35 |
| Darwen |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
34 |
| Fleetwood |
6 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
29 |
| Carnforth |
6 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
13 |
29 |
| Lancaster |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
22 |
| Netherfield |
5 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
8 |
21 |
| Barrow |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
9 |
14 |
Divison Two
Netherfield claim second Division 2 win in a row
Just two games survived the weather in division two with the other four games abandoned.
At Fox Lane Netherfield recorded their second away win in succession, as Ryan Wilson took 4 for 26 to help dismiss for 68. Earlier Stephen Cartwright claimed a five-wicket haul and veteran seamer Monty Cottam four victims as the visitors struggled to reach 117 for 9.
Lancaster had the best of a draw against Preston at West Cliff. skipper Danny Welbourne top-scoring with 52 in their total of 180 for 7 declared. But Preston held out and closed on 114 for 9.
SECOND DIVISION SCORES:
BARROW v BLACKPOOL
Match abandoned (4pts each)
DARWEN v CARNFORTH
Match abandoned (4pts each)
FLEETWOOD v CHORLEY
Match abandoned (4pts each)
LEYLAND v NETHERFIELD
Netherfield (15pts) defeated Leyland (3pts) by 49 runs
Netherfield 117 for 9 (S Cartwright 5 for 37, M Cottam 4 for 42), Leyland 68 (R Wilson 4 for 26)
MORECAMBE v ST ANNES
Match abandoned (4pts each)
PRESTON v LANCASTER
Lancaster (10pts) winning draw; Preston (3pts)
Lancaster 180 for 7 (D Welbourne 52, L Phillips 44), Preston 114 for 9
Kendal no game
FURNESS BUILDING SOCIETY
( INCORPORATING 3D SPORTS )
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Lancaster |
5 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
50 |
| Kendal |
5 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
47 |
| Morecambe |
6 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
45 |
| Chorley |
6 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
43 |
| Blackpool |
6 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
41 |
| Netherfield |
5 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
33 |
| St Annes |
6 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
32 |
| Carnforth |
6 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
29 |
| Darwen |
5 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
28 |
| Preston |
6 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
26 |
| Leyland |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
6 |
25 |
| Barrow |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
25 |
| Fleetwood |
6 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
22 |
Michael Latham's Featured Match of the day
Blackpool v Barrow
Richard Gleeson bowls to Barrow's Liam Livingstone |
Thrilling win for Danno's men
We have kindly received the following report of the thrilling Blackpool-Barrow game on Saturday from the Blackpool CC coach Michael 'The Colonel' Moore.
Weather appeared to have the upper hand at Stanley Park yet again for the third time this season and it looked as if Danno`s boys might have to settle for a four- all points share. But hard work from the home club meant that despite standing water on the ground early morning plus several interruptions for rain during the game, the match was played to conclusion with the result favouring Blackpool.
Starting on time and batting first, Blackpool got off to a nightmare start, losing their first five wickets for only 34 runs in the first 12 overs.Tight bowling on a seamer-friendly wicket from Barrow captain Daryl Wearing ( 2 for 26) and teenager Matthew Studt (2 for 19) kept Blackpool well in check.
Add to that the untimely run out of pro Sajee Weerakoon for only 3 runs on his seasonal debut and the Stanley Park boys were floundering. Only Adrian Darlington of the front five batsmen managed double figures.
Once more, as happened so often last season, captain Paul Danson (22) shored up the innings with some invaluable support from second-in-command, keeper James "Mr. Cool" Smith (24). Their partnership of 45 for the 6th wicket gave the Seasiders a little ray of hope. A lusty 15 not out from the ever-improving Andy Hogarth and a timely little cameo from Ashit Jariwala, helped Blackpool to an interesting 105 for 8 from their 38 overs.Young Barrow leggie Liam Livingstone finished with 3 for 33 from his five overs at the end of the innings.
Further heavy rain during the tea interval meant that the visitors` innings was reduced to 34 overs. Surely no problem with such a small target! But they were playing without a professional as they await the return of Pasan Wanasinghe from Sri Lanka.
Despite a healthy mid-innings partnership of 47 between Chris D`Leny (35) and Tod Bamber (21) which took Barrow to within 22 runs of victory, some top-class bowling from paceman Rick Gleeson who took 4 for 25 in three fiery spells and 4 for 43 from proud new dad, professional Weerakoon led Blackpool to a nail-biting 15-points victory.
Andy Hogarth had earlier removed the dangerous Cumbrian
opening batsman Jon Miles (0) with his second delivery of the innings, caught down the leg-side by James Smith. Smith kept wicket superbly, snaring four victims behind the timbers as his opposite number D'Leny had earlier.
Andy Hogarth celebrates the dismissal of Barrow opener Jon Miles |
This was a superb fighting effort from Blackpool but we will have to dig deeper if we are to continue our progress in the League.
The two vital moments were the sharp stumping by James Smith of Bamber off Weerakoon and the catch of the season so far by teenager Matty Brown to dismiss the talented Barrow wicket-keeper/ batsman D'Leny. Brown kept his cool under the high, swirling ball. It was a truly magnificent catch of epic proportions.
The rain briefly returned at 7-15pm and the covers were applied, but only two overs were lost. When play resumed Barrow skipper Wearing was LBW to Weerakoon to leave the last pair at the crease. Studt was dropped in the deep and the batsmen ran two to leave their side just five short of victory. But then Studt was stumped by Smith off Weerakoon in the tensest of finishes.
Great credit to Barrow for the way they approached the game and wanted to get on with playing cricket when it would have been all too easy to let the weather win. Their luck will surely turn soon because they have many talented cricketers in their ranks.
Chris D'Leny top-scored for Barrow with 35 |
Barrow skipper Daryl Wearing falls lbw to Saj Weerakoon |
