By Michael Latham
Mark
Woodhead steered Morecambe to victory over
Kendal |
Division One leaders Leyland had a great
opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the Furness
Building Society Northern Premier Cricket League
(incorporating Readers Cricket Balls) when they entertained
Preston at Fox Lane.
David Makinson's side went into the
derby with a 12 points lead over defending champions St Annes
who had no game but were mindful that Preston pro Bilal Asad
had taken eight wickets in the corresponding fixture last
season.
This time around Bilal Asad led the way with the
bat, scoring a memorable 123 not out off 89 balls including 14
fours and two sixes as Preston reached 292 for 5. Openers
Sajid Patel (41) and Lukman Vahaluwala (46) set a solid
platform with a stand of 91 and skipper Adam Parker made 50
off 62 balls to move through the 500-runs barrier for the
season. Seven Leyland bowlers toiled in the sun, leg-spinner
Tayyab Afsar and Peter Cummings each taking two wickets.
There was no hint of the drama to come as
Leyland lost the in-form Chris Parkinson (29) and pro Brett
Pelser (24) in passing the hundred-mark as a draw looked on
the cards. But opener Luis Reece found the ideal partner in
Nathan McDonnell who justified his promotion from the Second
XI with an aggressive 53 off 66 balls before he was run out
after a century stand with Reece for the third
wicket.
Andrew Makinson then built upon the momentum
created by McDonnell with a blistering 58 off 31 balls
including three fours and four sixes as Leyland spied an
unlikely victory. Makinson was eventually superbly caught by
David Fisher at long on with the home side 16 runs short of
their target.
But Reece kept his head in the tense
situation and helped steer Leyland home, reaching a deserved
hundred in the penultimate over and finishing 111 not out off
125 balls (12 fours, two sixes) as Leyland achieved a famous
victory by six wickets with three balls to spare.
Leyland (139pts) and St Annes (115) lead the way
with consistent Blackpool in third place with 113 points. With
skipper Paul Danson unavailable, Steven Mercer took over the
reins for an intriguing clash against sixth-placed Darwen
(88pts) at Stanley Park, who were without captain John
Cordingley and Chris Lowe, both suffering from broken
fingers.
Blackpool welcomed back Steven Croft, the
Lancashire CC star for his first outing of the season but
despite Croft's outstanding all-round display were frustrated
by the last Darwen pair and had to settle for 10 points from a
winning draw. Croft had compiled a masterly 130 off 147 balls
including 17 fours and three sixes to dominate Blackpool's 238
for 7. Neil Cordingley, Lancashire Academy player Yakub Bhamji
and Chris Wade each took two wickets for Darwen.
The visitors were handicapped by opener Mark
Moore damaging a finger fielding but he bravely batted at no11
and staved off 12 balls to help force the draw at 173 for 9 in
partnership with the obdurate Nathan Jackson, who battled
through 23 balls. Mohammad Zaman Khan, the Darwen professional
looked in prime form as he made 55 off 38 balls with 13 fours
before he was bowled by Richard Gleeson, who took three for 37
off 15 hostile overs. Croft's off-spin yielded four for 49 off
15 overs but Alex Davies (32) and stand-in skipper Neil
Cordingley (41) led the resistance.
Barrow (104pts) went into the weekend with a
glorious chance to make up ground on the leaders in a double
home programme. They hosted Chorley having played a game fewer
than most of the other sides. They are at home to Lancashire
Colts on Sunday but will be missing Greg Platten, Jon Miles
and Graham Dawson on county duty as Cumberland begins a three
day game against Norfolk at neighbouring Furness CC.
Platten, the 19-year-old former Cockermouth
batsman hit a match-winning 108 off 114 balls including 14
fours and two sixes as Barrow cantered to a seven wickets win.
He shared an opening stand of 78 with Miles (43) while Liam
Livingstone, the Lancashire Academy all-rounder hit an
undefeated 36. Platten's innings, his second hundred for
Barrow, was described by one club stalwart as one of the best
he had seen by an amateur in league cricket with his placement
of shots through the field being especially
noteworthy.
Chorley had made 199 for 9, pro JJ Smuts being
trapped leg before by opposite number Pasan Wanasinghe for 5.
Wanasinghe continued his fine bowling form by extending his
wickets haul to 38 for the season by taking five for 41 off 22
overs. Kieran McCullagh helped rescue Chorley from 112 for 7
with 39 off 27 balls
Elsewhere bottom club Carnforth were at home to
Fleetwood, looking for their first win of the season. They
welcomed back last season's Castle Award bowling winner Warren
Quinn who has moved to London and has limited availability.
Fleetwood engaged Ryan Senior, the Shaw CC professional as
deputy for their injured captain and professional Matthew
Frith.
Fleetwood
sub-pro Ryan Senior appeals for leg before against
Carnforth's Jason Cornthwaite |
Fleetwood looked set for a routine win as they
bowled out Carnforth for 92 on a green-looking pitch, Senior
and Ryan Smith sharing the wickets. Smith, who has been having
trials with Derbyshire in recent weeks is an Australian first
grade cricketer with a British passport. He bowled with
impressive hostility to take five for 26 while Senior, nephew
of former Chorley favourite Neil Senior, took five for 24 with
his off-cutters.
Fleetwood
sub-pro Ryan Senior is bowled by Gareth Pedder at Lodge
Quarry |
But Carnforth underlined that they are arguably
the best fielding side in the league with an outstanding
display of out cricket to back up bowlers Gareth Pedder (four
for 31), Darren Nelson (four for 47) and Quinn (two for 6) as
Fleetwood were dismissed for 84. Quinn, Adam Cowperthwaite,
Pedder (2), Rehman Shah and Darren Moore all made fine catches
with Pedder pulling off a sharp slip catch to wrap up the win
as Sam Bell was last man out. Opener Mark Emsley battled hard
to hit 11 boundaries in his 47 but he was sixth man out with
Fleetwood still 16 runs short.
Carnforth
pro Gareth Pedder strikes to bowl Fleetwood's Adam
Sharrocks |
Fifth-placed Morecambe (99pts) played Kendal at
Woodhill Lane with former Pakistan U19s star Arslan Mir
deputising as pro for Mandla Mashimbyi, who returns to the
club on Monday after attending his mother's funeral back home
in South Africa. Mir has created a good impression as sub-pro
for Kendal earlier in the season at Barrow but had only a
minor role in Morecambe's five wicket win.
Mark Woodhead anchored Morecambe's reply to
Kendal's 188 for 7 with 65 off 126 balls, sharing an opening
stand of 87 in 26 overs with former Kendal batsman Ikram Ullah
(41). Chris Williams (27) and Phil Dennison (30 not out)
helped see Morecambe home as Kendal, despite two superlative
catches by pro Ross McMillan and Chris Miller rued four
dropped catches.
Earlier Jack White (89 off 141 balls) and Gareth
Ashburner (47 off 94 balls) gave Kendal a solid start with an
opening stand of 120 in 35 overs but Graeme Cassidy then
picked up the vital wicket of McMillan and Reg Cupit ran out
Terry Hunte as the visitors attempted to accelerate. Skipper
Tommy Clough wheeled his way through 19 overs to take three
for 62.
Netherfield played Lancaster at Parkside Road
with a high-scoring game on the cards. But Lancaster
off-spinner Ben Simm produced a match-winning spell to take
five for 51 and help dismiss the home side for 157. Opening
bowler Iain Perrieman captured the prize wicket of Netherfield
pro Nick Kruger for 23 as Alex Atkinson top-scored with
32.
Despite losing openers Michael Stevens and Jamie
Heywood cheaply Lancaster romped to an eight-wickets victory
as Sri Lankan pro Roy Silva hit a blistering unbeaten 95 off
67 balls including 17 fours and one six. The in-form Tim
Barry, who had earlier taken three for 35 to help wrap up the
tail partnered him in an unbroken stand of 146 and finished
not out 60 off only 62 balls with ten fours.
FIRST DIVISION SCORES
BARROW v CHORLEY
Barrow (12pts) defeated Chorley (3pts) by 7
wickets
Chorley 199 for 9 (P Wanasinghe 5 for 41),
Barrow 202 for 3 (G Platten 108, J Miles 43)
BLACKPOOL v DARWEN
Blackpool (10pts) winning draw; Darwen
(5pts)
Blackpool 238 for 7 (S Croft 130), Darwen 173
for 9 (MZ Khan 55, S Croft 4 for 49)
CARNFORTH v FLEETWOOD
Carnforth (15pts) defeated Fleetwood (3pts) by
8 runs
Carnforth 92 (R Smith 5 for 26, R Senior 5 for
24), Fleetwood 84 (M Emsley 47, G Pedder 4 for 31, D Nelson 4
for 47)
LEYLAND v PRESTON
Leyland (12pts) defeated Preston (3pts) by 6
wickets
Preston 292 for 5 (Bilal Asad 123no, A Parker
50, L Vahaluwala 46, S Patel 41), Leyland 293 for 4 (L Reece
111no, A Makinson 58, N McDonnell 53)
MORECAMBE v KENDAL
Morecambe (12pts) defeated Kendal (4pts) by 5
wickets
Kendal 188 for 7 (J White 89, G Ashburner 47),
Morecambe 190 for 5 (M Woodhead 65, I Ullah 41)
NETHERFIELD v LANCASTER
Lancaster (12pts) defeated Netherfield (1pt)
by 8 wickets
Netherfield 157 (B Simm 5 for 51), Lancaster
162 for 2 (R Silva 95no, T Barry 60no)
St Annes no game
SUNDAY
20th June
Building Society Northern Premier Cricket League
(incorporating Readers Cricket Balls)
Division One
BARROW v LANCASHIRE COLTS
Barrow (12pts) defeated Lancashire Colts
(3pts) by 6 wickets
Lancashire Colts 191 (A Arumagam 47, L Wolfenden
40, P Wanasinghe 4 for 35), Barrow 192 for 4 (C D'Leny 48no, D
Clark 42)
FURNESS BUILDING SOCIETY
( INCORPORATIN READERS CRICKET
BALLS )
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Leyland |
12 |
3 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
139 |
| Barrow |
12 |
2 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
13 |
116 |
| St Annes |
11 |
1 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
115 |
| Blackpool |
12 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
9 |
113 |
| Morecambe |
11 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
16 |
99 |
| Darwen |
11 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
24 |
88 |
| Lancaster |
12 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
2 |
23 |
75 |
| Netherfield |
11 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
17 |
69 |
| Chorley |
12 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
1 |
21 |
66 |
| Kendal |
12 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
33 |
65 |
| Fleetwood |
12 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
1 |
26 |
50 |
| Lancashire Colts |
7 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
13 |
48 |
| Preston |
12 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
21 |
48 |
| Carnforth |
11 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
8 |
1 |
22 |
42 |
Match Report by Michael Moore
Blackpool v Darwen
In the absence of inspirational skipper Paul
Danson Blackpool were fortunate to have the services of County
star Steven Croft to assist them in their bid to overcome a
resurgent Darwen today at Stanley Park. And "assist" is just
what he did although the home side were unable to completely
overcome the opposition and had to settle for a 10 point
draw.
Invited to bat first Blackpool suffered the
early setback of losingopener John Mounsey to Lancs Colts
player Yakub Bhamji who found enough pace and bounce in the
pitch to see Max glove one behind to Jordan Clarke to put the
home boys on just 7 for 1in the 2nd over.
Alex Smith helped
Croft take the score to 46 before he fell to a fine catch by
Anwar off the bowling of pro Zaman Khan for 10 and Croft found
reluctant partners in the bulk of the Blackpool middle order
as he almost single-handedly set about posting a challenging
total for Darwen to chase.
Croft`s innings was a masterclass of batting in
every respect - how to assess the conditions and progress the
innings, how to take control over the Darwen attack , how to
find the gaps in the field and how to run between the wickets.
Anything pitched short to the homegrown hero was summarily
despatched to the boundary and his innings of 130 from 147
balls including 3 sixes and 17 fours was one of the finest
seen at Stanley Park for some considerable time. He genuinely
is an inspiration to his team mates and when he was finally
dismiissed , caught at long on by Mark Moore in the 44th over
he had given stand-in skipper Mercer`s side a tremendous base
to strike for victory.
In the final 6 overs of the innings, all
rounders Andy Hogarth( 22not out) and Rick Gleeson(25 not out)
added an unbeaten partnership of 50 runs to take the home boys
to a very respectable 238 for 7 in their 50 overs.
In reply paceman Gleeson struck in his first
over to claim the wicket of Niall Burke lbw for 0 and then had
the dangerous Zaman Khan dropped at 2nd slip by Crofty the
very next ball. It appeared that this was going to be a very
costly miss as the prolific Darwen pro advanced quickly to 55
off only 38 balls but Gleeson , now back to his former self
and bowling with great determination dismissed the potential
match winner by clipping his off pole with the score on
71.
Darwen continued to look for victory but found the
going tough in the face of some good tight bowling from
Gleeson (15o. 6m. 37r. 3w.),off spinner Steven Croft (15o.
4m.49r.4w.) and skipper for the weekend, Steve Mercer who
returned 1 for 24 in his 13 over stint
Unfortunately Blackpool were unable to remove
the final pairing of Nathan Jackson and Mark Moore both of
whom were batting well below their usual positions in the
order as a result of hand injuries sustained from taking fine
catches during the Blackpool innings.
However 10 points to
Blackpool keeps them in touch at the top in 3rd position with
another tough fixture next Saturday against title chasers
Morecambe at The Park
Once again Rob Sissons had a fine game behind
the the timbers but was unable to emulate his exploits of last
week when he pulled off the most stunning of catches against
Lancaster. He did however manage to fulfill his potential as
Blackpool`s Programme Seller when he completely sold out of
match programmes before 2.30pm! Well done Rob Keep it
up!
Good day Fellers. Danno should be pleased with this
result (hopefully!) Bring on Carnforth in the Cup . See you
there .....Mick
SECOND DIVISION
In Division Two leaders Leyland were at Preston
looking to build on last Saturday's emphatic win over Kendal.
But they suffered a shock defeat after being bowled out for
just 128, Amer Abbas taking four wickets as opener Wes Royle
battled his way to 40. Preston reached their target for the
loss of five wickets.
Chorley hosted Barrow at Windsor Park and took
advantage of their rivals' failure to achieve victories by
wrapping up a maximum 15-points haul and going to the top of
the table with 110 points ahead of Leyland (105), Darwen (104)
and Blackpool (102). Jack Bentham (78) and Adam Peacock (54)
led the way as Chorley reached a testing 211 for 9 before
bowling out Barrow for 94, Matthew Critchley and Matt Parry
each taking three wickets
Ryan Pearson hit an unbeaten 102 off only 97
balls for Morecambe including 15 fours and one six, sharing an
unbroken fifth wicket stand of 151 with Nick Milner (56 not
out) as the visitors reached 262 for 4 at Shap Road. But
Darren Braithwaite's unbeaten 85 off 92 balls helped Kendal
reach safety at 185 for 5.
Defending champions Lancaster overhauled
Netherfield's challenging 208 for 9 thanks to a brilliant 134
from opener Andrew Fletcher as they won by six wickets at Lune
Road. Tom Burrow had taken a five-wicket haul in the first
innings.
Steve Metcalfe's unbeaten 62 steered Fleetwood
home against Carnforth after Adam Breakell had taken five for
42 to dismiss Carnforth for 143 at Broadwater.
SECOND DIVISION SCORES
CHORLEY v BARROW
Chorley (15pts) defeated Barrow (3pts) by 117
runs
Chorley 211 for 9 (J Bentham 78, A Peacock
54), Barrow 94
DARWEN v BLACKPOOL
Blackpool (9pts) winning draw; Darwen
(6pts)
Blackpool 220 for 9 (A Darlington 73, P Aga
55, C Davies 6 for 35), Darwen 163 for 8
FLEETWOOD v CARNFORTH
Fleetwood (12pts) defeated Carnforth (2pts) by
4 wickets
Carnforth 143 (A Breakell 5 for 42), Fleetwood
147 for 6 (S Metcalfe 62no)
KENDAL v MORECAMBE
Morecambe (8pts) winning draw; Kendal
(4pts)
Morecambe 262 for 4 (R Pearson 102no, N Milner
56no, I Izzet 40), Kendal 185 for 5 (D Braithwaite 85no)
LANCASTER v NETHERFIELD
Lancaster (12pts) defeated Netherfield (3pts)
by 6 wickets
Netherfield 208 for 9 (D Davidson 47, R Lambert
40, T Burrow 5 for 43), Lancaster 212 for 4 (A Fletcher
134)
PRESTON v LEYLAND
Preston (12pts) defeated Leyland (1pt) by 5
wickets
Leyland 128 (W Royle 40, A Abbas 4 for 34),
Preston 130 for 5
St Annes 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 |
| Chorley |
11 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
18 |
110 |
| Leyland |
10 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
12 |
105 |
| Darwen |
11 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
17 |
104 |
| Blackpool |
10 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
102 |
| Preston |
11 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
18 |
82 |
| Lancaster |
11 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
9 |
79 |
| St Annes |
9 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
15 |
78 |
| Morecambe |
11 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
14 |
73 |
| Netherfield |
10 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
1 |
15 |
64 |
| Fleetwood |
10 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
17 |
61 |
| Barrow |
10 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
17 |
58 |
| Kendal |
11 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
2 |
22 |
47 |
| Carnforth |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
12 |
16 |
