By Michael Latham
Ten man Blackpool line up minus opener Alex Smith who was indisposed
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Richard Gleeson's superb bowling display ensured Blackpool earned maximum points in the Furness Building Society Northern Premier League (incorporating Readers Cricket Balls).
The Cumberland County fast bowler, who has spent the last two winters in Australia collected five for 48 to hasten Chorley's demise for 150 in Blackpool's 33 runs victory.
Chorley looked set to overcome Blackpool's 183 for 6 when skipper Andy Holdsworth and Jack Catterall posted 74 for the first wicket. But Holdsworth's dismissal, caught behind by Rob Sissons off Andy Furniss for a fluent 54 off 51 balls changed the game.
Furniss bowled superbly to take three for 32 off 17 overs while Steven Mercer chipped in with the vital wicket of Catterall, fifth man out caught and bowled for 41 off 98 balls. Gleeson then came back for a fine second spell to demolish the tail.
Earlier Alex Smith with an impressive 54 off 85 balls led Blackpool's repost to being put in by Holdsworth. Sub-pro Dominic O'Brien (43) and Michael Moore (45 not out) also made valuable contributions.
Alex Smith hit a fluent half century for Blackpool
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Chorley pro Gaurav Dhar took four for 78 with his leg-spin and spin twin Iain Critchley bowled a miserly spell of 15 overs for 36 runs after Billy Smith whipped out the openers. Holdsworth made two sharp stumpings to complete an impressive captain's display.
Captain Andy Holdsworth had a fine all round game for Chorley
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Another Cumberland player was in form as Alex Atkinson made an unbeaten 72 off 79 balls at Lancaster as the visitors posted 185 for 6. Lancaster captain Mike Stevens led the reply with 72 off 136 balls and David Heywood made 44 off 111 balls in a fourth wicket stand of 101 but the home side finished 24 runs adrift on 161 for 7 and the game was drawn.
Barrow opener Rob Lightfoot made his maiden Division One half-century and went onto reach 82 as the home side amassed 225 for 9 against Carnforth at Ernest Pass despite pro Pieter Malan falling for 11. County all-rounder Graham Dawson made 42 off 65 balls before becoming one of Carnforth pro Gareth Pedder's five victims as he continued his fine start to the season.
Carnforth were reduced to 79 for 7 in reply as Dawson bowled superbly to take 6 for 62. But the tail wagged with Adam Cowperthwaite (34), Matt Weller (47) and Warren Quinn (21 not out) helping add 98 for the last two wickets before Carnforth fell 21 runs short on a valiant 204.
Former Darwen pro Atif Ashraf, who hit a league record 208 for the club in 2007 was the sub-pro for Kendal at Shap Road. He performed well, taking one for 26, having Darwen pro Zimmy Khan caught and bowled for 21 and hit 51 off 94 balls.But Darwen had far the best of a drawn game, Neil Cordingley (74 not out) and Chris Clarke (67) helping plunder 117 off the last ten overs after Alex Davies had earlier hit 47.
Kendal were never in the hunt to surpass the visitors' 254 for 4 and closed on 164 for 7 with pro Khan bowling 16 overs and taking two for 25.
St Annes recovered from a poor batting display to beat Morecambe by four runs in a thriller at Vernon Road. Despite an opening stand of 58 between Atiq Uz-Zaman and Charles Boucher St Annes were dismissed for 167 in only 35.1 overs as Morecambe pro Anwar Ali continued his impressive start with the club by taking six for 57. Jono Gates supported him superbly with a spell of four for 51.Atiq top-scored with 52 off 56 balls.
Morecambe were without captain Mark Woodhead through illness and Ikram Ullah and Lewis Edge were unavailable; Phil Dennison kept wicket and took three catches.
Danny Welbourne and Alex Thistlethwaite posted 60 for the first wicket before St Annes fought back, Atiq's off-spin claiming four for 34 and pro Dinuka Hettiarachchi bowling 26 overs to take two for 38. Ben Dowling claimed the final two wickets as Morecambe were dismissed for 163 despite a fighting 39 from Ryan Smith.
The earliest finish of the day was at West Cliff where James Rounding and Karl Cross steered defending champions Leyland to a tense five wickets win over Preston.
With captain David Makinson back after back trouble Leyland bowled out the home side for 102 in the 29th over, pro Brett Pelser and Andrew Makinson each taking three wickets.
Preston fought back, captain Lukman Vahaluwala claiming four wickets to reduce Leyland to 49 for 5 before Rounding (41 not out) and Cross (27 not out) combined to thwart his efforts.
A reminder that Fleetwood are in action against Lancashire Colts on Sunday.
On Bank Holiday Monday all 14 sides are in action in Division One.
Chorley CC 2011 |
FIRST DIVISION SCORES
Barrow v Carnforth
Barrow (15pts) defeated Carnforth (6pts) by 21 runs
Barrow 225 for 9 (R Lightfoot 82, G Dawson 42, G Pedder 5 for 56), Carnforth 204 (M Weller 47, G Dawson 6 for 62)
Chorley v Blackpool
Blackpool (15pts) defeated Chorley (4pts) by 33 runs
Blackpool 183 for 6 (A Smith 54, M Moore 45no, D O'Brien 43), Chorley 150 (A Holdsworth 54, J Catterall 41, R Gleeson 5 for 48)
Kendal v Darwen
Darwen (9pts) winning draw; Kendal 3pts
Darwen 254 for 4 (N Cordingley 74no, C Clarke 67, A Davies 47), Kendal 164 for 7 (Atif Ashraf 51)
Lancaster v Netherfield
Netherfield (9pts) winning draw; Lancaster 4pts
Netherfield 185 for 6 (A Atkinson 72 not out), Lancaster 161 for 7 (M Stevens 72, D Heywood 44)
Preston v Leyland
Leyland (12pts) defeated Preston (1pt) by 5 wickets
Preston 102 , Leyland 106 for 5 (J Rounding 41no, L Vahaluwala 4 for 41)
St Annes v Morecambe
St Annes (15pts) defeated Morecambe (5pts) by 4 runs
St Annes 167 (Atiq Uz-Zaman 52, Anwar Ali 6 for 57, J Gates 4 for 51), Morecambe 163 (Atiq Uz-Zaman 4 for 34)
Sunday 1st May
Fleetwood v Lancashire Colts
Lancashire Colts (12pts) defeated Fleetwood (4pts) by 4 wickets
Fleetwood 199 - 7 (Adam Parker 43, Dean Bell 43), Lancashire Colts 200 - 6 (Alex Davies 63, Scott Kirwin 54*)
FURNESS BUILDING SOCIETY
( INCORPORATIN READERS CRICKET
BALLS )
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Balckpool |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
30 |
| Netherfield |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
28 |
| Leyland |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
27 |
| St Annes |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
26 |
| Barrow |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
24 |
| Morecambe |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
22 |
| Darwen |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
21 |
| Carnforth |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
9 |
21 |
| Preston |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
20 |
| Lancaster |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
19 |
| Fleetwood |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
16 |
| Kendal |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
14 |
| Lancashire Colts |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
| Chorley |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
9 |
Match Report by Michael Moore
Chorley v Blackpool
Following on from their success at home to Kendal last week, Danno`s Boys travelled to Windsor Park to face Andy Holdsworth`s Chorley,
always a difficult task but especially so early season.
Blackpool were invited to bat and were soon in trouble, losing opener John Mounsey(9) caught behind off left arm seamer Billy Smith (2 for 38) and no.3 Steven Twist followed in the same over for no score leaving the visitors on a precarious 14 for 2 in 5 overs.
However a timely 3rd wicket partnership between opener Alex Smith (54) and stand in pro Aussie Dominic O`Brien produced an invaluable 78 runs. Smith`s positive 88 ball innings contained 7 boundary fours and one superb 6 over long on off the leg spin of pro Gaurav Dhar to take him past the 50 mark, before he popped the next ball up to Bentham at mid wicket.
O`Brien faced 66 deliveries and found the boundary on 7 occasions. He looks an accomplished bat and we wish him well for his fothcoming season with Lytham.
Dhar bowled a marathon 20 over spell and finished with figures of 4 for 78 , whilst new recruit SLA Ian Critchley bowled a tight 15 overs 0 for 36.
When O`Brien was 4th man out, caught at long off by captain Michael Critchley, Blackpool were 115 for 4 from 32 overs, still some distance from a decent total.
Middle order men Andy Furniss (24) and Michael Moore (45 not out) took the score to a reasonable 163 before Furnie became Dhar`s 3rd victim stumped by skipper Holdsworth.
Prashant Aga , a late replacement for the bed-ridden Mike Tidmas, followed quickly in similar fashion (172 for 6) as skipper Danson joined Moore at the crease for the last 4 overs and these two moved Blackpool`s score onto a challenging 183 for 6 from their 50 overs, probably about 20 runs short of the total they should have achieved.
Moore`s attacking innings covered 62 deliveries and contained 7 boundary fours.
35 overs of spin from Chorley cost just 114 runs at a fraction over 3 per
over.
Chorley openers Jack Catterall (41) and Andy Holdsworth (54 at better than a run a ball) set about their task with gusto, Captain Holdsworth`s innings containing 11 fours as he took a particular liking to left arm paceman Steven Twist (0 for 29 in 4) . He was first man out in Andy Furniss`s 2nd over, caght behind by the impressive Rob Sissons.
The opening stand of 74 in just 16 overs really set up the home boys` charge for victory. But Furniss`s 3 for 32 in a fine 17 over spell was the perfect response from Blackpool. Paceman Rick Gleeson followed hard on his bowling partner`s heels to remove Michael Critchley lbw for 0 in the next over to make it 79 for 2.
When Ian Critchley was adjudged lbw to Furniss for 5 and Dhar was clean bowled by Gleeson for 3, Blackpool were right back in the game with their opponents reeling on 91 for 4.
Will Moulton (27) joined opener Catterall and showed determination to pull the score round to 120 before Catterall was brilliantly caught and bowled by Steve Mercer (1 for 32 in 8).
Moulton was next man to depart courtesy of an outstanding stumping by the super quick Sissons off the bowling of all rounder Furniss.
Strike man Rick Gleeson then returned to rip the heart out of the Chorley lower order and finish with a very impressive 5 for 48 off 17.3 overs to polish off the Windsor Park boys for 150 and leave his team victors by a 33 run margin. A sound all round team performance .
15 valuable points for Danno`s Boys taking the tally so far this season to 30, 27 more than @ the same point last season and top of the league.
Barrow provide the opposition at Stanley Park on Monday, in what should be a fascinating contest.
Great effort today Fellers. See you Monday.....Mick
Division Two (2nd XI)
In Division Two defending Champions Leyland continued their fine start with a resounding win over Preston at Fox Lane. Former Croston all rounder Ian Dickinson made 101 in the home side's 226 for 9 before spin aces Stephen Cartwright and Alex Williams combined to reduce Preston from 80 for 2 to 108 all out despite 55 from Ameer Abbas. Cartwright took five for 16 and teenaged leg-spinner Williams claimed four for 26.
Richard Flood took four wickets to help dismiss Blackpool for 126 at Stanley Park and Stu Naden hit 44 to steer visitors Chorley to victory by four wickets.
Carnforth held out for a draw against Barrow at Lodge Quarry, Rob Horsfall leading the resistance with 44. Carnforth closed on 161 for 9, their last pair of Craig Broadbent and Mark Bradley surviving 49 balls between them. Earlier Glenn Kermode hit 62 off 85 balls in Barrow's 249 for 8, Lewis Bradley taking three for 60 off 18 overs.
Opener Danny Fradd (80 off 84 balls), Mark Emery (76 not out off only 37 balls) and skipper Gary Jackson (48 not out off 49 balls) took Darwen to a commanding 271 for 3 against Kendal at Birch Hall. Stuart Hampson then captured four for 18 as the visitors were dismissed for 160 despite a fluent 62 off 83 balls from skipper Paul Dodds. Kendal veteran Adrian Potts took two for 57 off 15 overs and then hit 32 off 41 balls.
Teenaged opening bowler Ben Willis captured six Morecambe wickets for 25 as the home side were dismissed for 58 at Woodhill Lane. St Annes won by eight wickets as the game lasted only 33.4 overs.
Netherfield captain Shane Dixon hit 86 and Ollie Hill 60 in the home side's 229 for 6 declared at Parkside Road. Lancaster were dismissed for 138 in reply despite a valiant undefeated 61 from Dinesh Ranga, Steven Beck taking six for 45.
SECOND DIVISION SCORES
Blackpool v Chorley
Chorley (12pts) defeated Blackpool (1pt) by 4 wickets
Blackpool 126 (R Flood 4 for 41), Chorley 127 for 6 (S Naden 44)
Carnforth v Barrow
Barrow (10pts) winning draw; Carnforth 5pts
Barrow 249 for 8 (G Kermode 62), Carnforth 161 for 9 (R Horsfield 44)
Darwen v Kendal
Darwen (15pts) defeated Kendal (2pts) by 111 runs
Darwen 271 for 3 (D Fradd 80, M Emery 76no, G Jackson 48no), Kendal 160 (P Dodds 62, S Hampson 4 for 18)
Leyland v Preston
Leyland (15pts) defeated Preston (3pts) by 118 runs
Leyland 226 for 9 (I Dickinson 101), Preston 108 (Ameer Abbas 55, S Cartwright 5 for 16, A Williams 4 for 26)
Morecambe v St Annes
St Annes (12pts) defeated Morecambe (0pts) by 8 wickets
Morecambe 58 (B Willis 6 for 25), St Annes 59 for 2
Netherfield v Lancaster
Netherfield (15pts) defeated Lancaster (1pt) by 91 runs
Netherfield 229 for 6 (Shane Dixon 86, O Hill 60), Lancaster 138 (D Ranga 61no, S Beck 6 for 45)
Fleetwood free date
FURNESS BUILDING SOCIETY
( INCORPORATING READERS
CRICKET BALLS )
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Leyland |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
45 |
| Netherfield |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
42 |
| Barrow |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
28 |
| Chorley |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
27 |
| Darwen |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
27 |
| Blackpool |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
25 |
| Preston |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
19 |
| St Annes |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
17 |
| Lancaster |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
16 |
| Kendal |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
14 |
| Carnforth |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
10 |
11 |
| Morecambe |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
| Fleetwood |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
