By Michael Latham
JJ Smuts
(left with helmet) returns to the pavilion after his
record-breaking innings |
Leyland maintained their 12-point lead over
reigning champions St Annes in the Furness Building Society
Northern Premier Cricket League (incorporating Readers Cricket
Balls) as third-placed Blackpool gained three points on the
top two clubs as the three leading sides all won.
Barrow
moved up to fourth after gaining maximum points at Fleetwood
while Darwen confirmed their improved form with a win over
Netherfield.
But the individual honours went to Chorley's
South African professional JJ Smuts who recorded the highest
score in his club's 59-year-old Northern League history with a
sensational unbeaten 177 in his side's emphatic victory at
Carnforth.
Leyland (127pts) reacted superbly last week's
one wicket defeat at the hands of St Annes as they fought hard
to win by five wickets at Kendal. Andrew Makinson, son of
captain Dave was the hero with an accomplished unbeaten 75 off
96 balls including three fours and five sixes.
Makinson
junior steered his side home with just four balls to spare in
partnership with James Rounding who finished 36 not out from
41 balls.
The pair came together with Leyland 123 for 5
chasing Kendal's 190. Leyland had been 26 for 3 with Luis
Reece and pro Brett Pelser falling to Kendal skipper and pro
Ross McMillan and Tom Foster adjudged leg before to Stu
Parkin. That became 34 for 4 as Karl Cross was caught behind
off McMillan. But opener Chris Parkinson grafted his way to 57
off 115 balls and helped revive the innings before Makinson
took centre stage.
Earlier, Terry Hunte top-scored for
Kendal with 53 off 56 balls, including five fours and two
sixes. Openers Gareth Ashburner (38) and Jack White (32) set a
solid foundation but McMillan was bowled by Reece for four.
Peter Cummings wrecked the tail with an inspired spell of five
for 29.
St Annes (115pts) romped to a nine wickets win
over fourth-placed Morecambe at Vernon Road. Atiq Uz-Zaman
cruised to a superb unbeaten hundred off 86 balls including 15
fours and one six and unselfishly blocked out to allow Charles
Boucher to compete an accomplished unbeaten 103 off 83 balls
against his former club including 19 fours and one six. The
pair shared an unbroken second wicket stand of 177 as St Annes
won with 14.5 overs in hand.
The consistent Chris Williams,
a fine acquisition from Westmorland League side Silverdale
made 68 off 85 balls in Morecambe's 226 for 6. Sub-pro David
Wiese, the former Darwen pro who was deputising for fellow
countryman Mandla Mashimbyi who has returned to South Africa
following a family bereavement made 56 off 60 balls. St Annes
pro Dinuka Hettiarachchi bowled unchanged to take four for
74.
Blackpool (103pts) earned 15 points for
defeating Lancaster at Lune Road. Opener John Mounsey made 55
and Sri Lankan pro Nimesh Perera 59 in Blackpool's 206 for 6.
A Lancaster side lacking captain Michael Stevens and the
experienced David Heywood then subsided to 129 all out despite
a defiant 71 from Tim Barry. Promoted from the Second XI after
several impressive performances, teenaged seam bowler Mike
Tidmas wrecked the Lancaster reply with an inspired spell of
five for 19.
JJ Smuts
hits Darren Nelson for one of his ten
sixes |
The most remarkable performance of the day came
at Lodge Quarry where Chorley's 21-year-old professional JJ
Smuts re-wrote the club's record books with a memorable
display.
Smuts will leave his Chorley engagement
prematurely after being called into the South Africa Emerging
Players squad for a tour of Australia that begins in late
July. But he left a lasting memory with an unbeaten 177 that
deleted Bob Yardley's 151 not out back in 1978 as the club's
highest individual score in the Northern League.
Smuts
reached a chanceless hundred off 46 overs including 12 fours
before cutting loose in remarkable fashion. In the last four
overs Smuts hit 77 runs off 22 balls including ten sixes and
three fours as Chorley reached 278 for 6.
JJ Smuts
reaches his century with an on drive against Darren
Nelson |
With professional Gareth Pedder restricted to
just two overs by a groin injury sustained in the warm-up
Carnforth bowlers Darren Nelson and John Denwood bore the
brunt of Smuts' remarkable assault. Both had bowled tidily
until the onslaught as Nelson finished with four for 122 off
25 overs and Denwood with one for 133 off 23 overs.
The
consistent Ryan Nelson led bottom club Carnforth's response,
opening with 38 off 82 balls until he was superbly caught by
Will Moulton off Smuts for 38 in the 24th over. Carnforth lost
four wickets with the score on 94 and were bowled out for 139
with 8.3 overs remaining, Kieran McCullagh, Smuts, Billy Smith
and James Reynard each taking two wickets.
Chorley
close in on victory at
Carnforth |
Barrow (92pts) moved above Morecambe (87pts)
into fourth after defeating Fleetwood at Broadwater. The home
side were without their injured professional and captain Matt
Frith through a shoulder injury but fought doggedly before
being dismissed for 170 to lose by 46 runs.
Barrow captain
Daryl Wearing was the hero with an inspired spell of seven for
44 off 13.3 overs after coming on as second change. Wearing
claimed the important wickets of opener Mark Emsley (34) and
Mark Wilkinson (35) to help break Fleetwood's
resistance.
Former Cockermouth opener Greg Platten
continued his impressive start to his Northern League career
with an accomplished 86 off 121 balls in Barrow's 216 for 7.
Fellow opener Jon Miles made 44 and Darren Clark 32 as Ryan
Smith returned three for 59 off 19 hostile overs.
Darwen continued their impressive recent run
with a 12-points win over Netherfield at Birch Hall. Kamran
Anwar (four for 23) and Neil Cordingley (four for 35) helped
reduce the visitors to 16 for 5 but Ben Haddrick fought hard
to make 54 off 63 balls and take his side to a competitive 119
in partnership with skipper Marc Hadwin (34 off 36 balls). The
pair shared an eighth wicket stand of 50.
Darwen were
indebted to a mature unbeaten 49 off 81 balls from Alex Davies
as they got home by six wickets, Davies sharing in an unbroken
fifth wicket stand of 51 with skipper John Cordingley.
FIRST DIVISION SCORES
CARNFORTH v CHORLEY
Chorley (15pts) defeated Carnforth (1pt) by
139 runs
Chorley 278 for 6 (JJ Smuts 177no, D Nelson 4
for 133), Carnforth 139
DARWEN v NETHERFIELD
Darwen (12pts) defeated Netherfield (0pts) by
6 wickets
Netherfield 119 (B Haddrick 54, K Anwar 4 for
23, N Cordingley 4 for 35), Darwen 120 for 4 (A Davies
49no)
FLEETWOOD v BARROW
Barrow (15pts) defeated Fleetwood (4pts) by 46
runs
Barrow 216 for 7 (G Platten 86, J Miles 44),
Fleetwood 170 (D Wearing 7 for 44)
KENDAL v LEYLAND
Leyland (12pts) defeated Kendal (4pts) by 5
wickets
Kendal 190 (T Hunte 53, P Cummings 5 for 29),
Leyland 193 for 5 (A Makinson 75no, C Parkinson 57, R McMillan
4 for 55)
LANCASTER v BLACKPOOL
Blackpool (15pts) defeated Lancaster (1pt) by
77 runs
Blackpool 206 for 6 (N Perera 59, J Mounsey 55),
Lancaster 129 (T Barry 71, M Tidmas 5 for 19)
ST ANNES v
MORECAMBE
St Annes (12pts) defeated Morecambe (3pts) by
9 wickets
Morecambe 226 for 6 (C Williams 68, D Wiese
56, D Hettiarachchi 4 for 74), St Annes 232 for 1 (C Boucher
103no, Atiq Uz-Zaman 100no)
Sunday 13th June
Preston v Lancashire Colts
Lancashire Colts (5pts) winning draw; Preston
(1pt)
Lancashire Colts 133 for 4 (36o) (A Arumagam
58no), Preston 124 for 5 (22o) (A Parker 46)
FURNESS BUILDING SOCIETY
( INCORPORATIN READERS CRICKET
BALLS )
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Leyland |
11 |
3 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
127 |
| St Annes |
11 |
1 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
115 |
| Blackpool |
11 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
103 |
| Barrow |
10 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
13 |
92 |
| Morecambe |
10 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
16 |
87 |
| Darwen |
10 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
20 |
83 |
| Netherfield |
10 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
16 |
68 |
| Chorley |
11 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
18 |
63 |
| Lancaster |
11 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
2 |
23 |
63 |
| Kendal |
11 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
29 |
61 |
| Fleetwood |
11 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
1 |
23 |
47 |
| Lancashire Colts |
6 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
10 |
45 |
| Preston |
11 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
18 |
45 |
| Carnforth |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
8 |
1 |
22 |
27 |
Match Report by Michael Moore
Lancaster v Blackpool
Blackpool swept to an impressive77 run victory
at Lune Road on a beautiful warm and sunny afternoon,a result
which keeps up the pressure on 2nd placed St. Annes, as
Danno`s Boys narrowed the gap to just 12 points.
Invited to bat by stand-in skipper Brendan
Hetherington, Blackpool`s opening pair of John Mounsey and
Alex Smith got the visitors off to a commanding start putting
on 86 for the first wicket. The 2 batsmen looked well set for
an even bigger partnership until Perrieman ran Smith out for
44 with some sharp fielding in the covers.
Next man in ,
Andy Furniss looked to be settling in nicely when he walked
across a straight one from veteran all rounder Tim Barry to be
adjudged lbw for 14 (108 for 2).Mounsey(55) then completed his
half century with a boundary 4 from off spinner Ben Simm,
before scooping one up to mid off (148 for 3)
Blackpool
professional Nimesh Perera contributed a fine half century
(59), striking 6 fours in his positive 57 ball innings to help
his side to a very respectable 206 for 6 in the allotted 50
overs. Lancaster`s most succesful bowler was Sri Lankan
professional Roy Silva, returning 3 for 54 in his 15
overs.
Former Blackpool player Tim Barry set about the
reply as if he had a train to catch as it looked like he
intended finishing the game in record quick time, taking a
particular liking to paceman Richard Gleeson.
But the introduction of Blackpool`s teenage
bowler Mike Tidmas in the 11th over of the innings turned the
game completely on its head.With the last ball of his first
over he trapped opener Heywood lbw for 7 (48-1) and the first
ball of his second over found the edge of professional Silvas
bat for a comfortable catch through to keeper Rob Sissons
meaning the young paceman was on a hat trick. Hirst survived
that delivery but it was not long before
Tiddy was wreaking havoc amongst the Lancaster
batsmen. In 7 stunning overs he reduced the opposition to 76
for 5 for personal figures of 5 for 19. At this stage Skipper
Danson was forced to remove the youngster from the attack in
line with ECB bowling restrictions for under 19 year olds.
Otherwise I feel sure that the home side would not have
reached three figures
Only stalwart Barry(71) showed any real
resistance until the naggingly accurate Steve Mercer produced
an edge for pro Perera to take a decent low catch at first
slip. The same combination removed keeper Hetherington(1) and
the Lune Road Gang subsided to a paltry 129 all out.Another
superb performance by Danno`s Boys who now have 103 points for
the season and are now just a win away from second spot.
Well done Fellers. Keep that momentum going. Big
weekend coming up .
See you at the 20/20 Mick
DIVISION 2
In Division Two leaders Leyland wrapped up an
emphatic 197 runs win over Kendal before four o'clock.
Australian teenaged guest player Daniel Hall hit an unbeaten
100 off 46 balls, including 14 fours and four sixes and Nathan
McDonnell 80 off 46 balls including 17 fours as Leyland
rattled up 234 for 3 declared off only 25 overs. Kendal were
dismissed for just 37 in reply, Steven Pallett taking six for
four.
Leyland (104pts) lead Darwen (98pts) by six
points after Gary Jackson's men won by five wickets at
Netherfield, Mark Bennett anchoring their reply to the home
side's 157 with 69 not out. Former First XI skipper Andrew
Cook made a welcome return to form with five for 50 off 17.5
overs.
Chorley (95pts) remained in third place after
romping to a eight wicket win over Carnforth, Stu Naden (49)
and Jack Bentham (49 not out) leading the way. Chris Harty
took five for 22 as Carnforth were dismissed for 149 despite a
battling 44 from skipper Lee Potter.
Adam Taylor hit an undefeated 67 and Matt
Grindley 57 in St Annes' 187 for 6 at Woodhill Lane. Ashley
Ward then took six for 29 as Morecambe were dismissed for 159
despite Nick Milner's battling 67.
Blackpool skipper Kevin Reid took four for 31
and Ross Parker three for 49 to help dismiss reigning
champions Lancaster for 153 at Stanley Park and spearhead his
side's three wicket win. Reid was 22 not out at the close
after Prashant Aga (36) and Harrison Clark (34) made valuable
contributions with the bat.
At Ernest Pass Barrow left arm spinner Gary
Collins returned six for 40 in his side's four wicket win over
Fleetwood, Ashley Mowat (39 not out) and Glenn Kermode (31 not
out) combining in an unbroken seventh wicket stand of 72.
SECOND DIVISION SCORES
BARROW v FLEETWOOD
Barrow (12pts) defeated Fleetwood (3pts) by 4
wickets
Fleetwood 165 (J Partington 43, G Collins 6
for 40), Barrow 168 for 6
BLACKPOOL v LANCASTER
Blackpool (12pts) defeated Lancaster (3pts) by
3 wickets
Lancaster 153 (K Reid 4 for 31), Blackpool 154
for 7
CHORLEY v CARNFORTH
Chorley (12pts) defeated Carnforth (1pt) by 8
wickets
Carnforth 149 (L Potter 44, C Harty 5 for 22),
Chorley 152 for 2 (S Naden 49, J Bentham 49no)
LEYLAND v KENDAL
Leyland (15pts) defeated Kendal (0pts) by 197
runs
Leyland 234 for 3 (D Hall 100no, N McDonnell
80), Kendal 37 (S Pallett 6 for 4)
MORECAMBE v ST ANNES
St Annes (15pts) defeated Morecambe (2pts) by
28 runs
St Annes 187 for 6 (A Taylor 67no, M Grindley
57), Morecambe 159 (N Milner 67, A Ward 6 for 29)
NETHERFIELD v DARWEN
Darwen (12pts) defeated Netherfield (2pts) by
5 wickets
Netherfield 157 (A Cook 5 for 50), Darwen 160
for 5 (M Bennett 69no)
Preston no game
FURNESS BUILDING SOCIETY
( INCORPORATING READERS
CRICKET BALLS)
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Leyland |
9 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
11 |
104 |
| Darwen |
10 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
12 |
98 |
| Chorley |
10 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
18 |
95 |
| Blackpool |
9 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
93 |
| St Annes |
9 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
15 |
78 |
| Preston |
10 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
18 |
70 |
| Lancaster |
10 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
9 |
67 |
| Morecambe |
10 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
10 |
65 |
| Netherfield |
10 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
1 |
12 |
61 |
| Barrow |
9 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
14 |
55 |
| Fleetwood |
9 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
17 |
49 |
| Kendal |
10 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
19 |
43 |
| Carnforth |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
1 |
10 |
14 |
