PREVIEW AND TEAM NEWS FRI 13, SAT 14, SUN 15 JUNE First play third at Fox Lane St Annes' Atiq Uz-Zaman is currently the league's leading run maker TWENTY20 CONFIRMED FIXTURES Friday 13 June Barrow v Netherfield Carnforth v Lancaster Tuesday 17 June Leyland v Darwen Friday 20 June Kendal v Barrow - now postponed (TBA) Morecambe v Carnforth - now postponed (TBA) Darwen v Chorley Sunday 22 June Round Robin at St Annes (3 matches): St Annes v Blackpool (10-30am) St Annes v Preston (2pm) Blackpool v Preston (5pm) Wednesday 25 June Leyland v Chorley Friday 27 June Darwen v Leyland Lancaster v Morecambe Tuesday 1 July Chorley v Leyland Friday 4 July Chorley v Darwen Friday 11 July Carnforth v Morecambe THIS SATURDAY’S GAMES 14 JUNE 3D Sports Northern Premier League leaders Leyland entertain third-placed Kendal in arguably the match of the day on Saturday. Both teams will be smarting after losing last weekend, Leyland for the first time this season when they went down to a 51-run defeat at Preston while Kendal suffered a late batting collapse to go down to a 46-run defeat at St Annes. But both clubs quickly recovered to win cup games on Sunday, Leyland coming out on top by two wickets against Thwaites Cup holders St Annes while Kendal made further progress in the ECB Cockspur Cup with a home victory over Lytham. Steven Pallett leads Leyland's bowling attack against Kendal Blackpool were the main beneficiaries, coming out on top in a thrilling low-scoring game at Stanley Park against Netherfield to move into second place, five points behind the leaders and one place above Kendal. Pace bowlers Richard Gleeson and Luis Reece grabbed eight wickets between them as Netherfield were bowled out for 101, chasing 114 for victory. Blackpool followed that up with a high-scoring victory at Lancaster in the Thwaites Cup, Sri Lankan pro Seejewa Weekaroon hitting his first century for the club. But Paul Danson’s men face a stiff test when Mark Lomas’s fifth-placed Morecambe side visit Stanley Park on Saturday in what looks to be an intriguing encounter. Vishnal Goyal showed a welcome return to form for Morecambe at the weekend, taking some of the weight off the consistent Lomas as many of Morecambe’s famed batting line-up have so far failed to fire consistently. St Annes will not give up their title without a fight and they entertain resurgent Preston at Vernon Road. Atiq Uz-Zaman is currently the top runs-scorer in the league after his second century of the season against Kendal while Mansoor Ahmed is a well respected professional and a consistent performer with bat and ball. But successive 15-point victories over Fleetwood and Leyland have kick-started Preston’s season, timed as they were with the return of skipper Glenn Johnstone to action after a knee injury. Lukman Vahaluwala has recovered from a shoulder injury to hit top form with bat and ball in recent games, scoring 95 in the defeat of Leyland. Rhys Williams returns to the Preston team this weekend Darwen and Lancaster have the chance to each earn a welcome win when they meet at Birch Hall. Darwen, having lost several key players over the winter, are in the unfamiliar position of next-to-bottom while Lancaster, with a wealth of young talent in their ranks have slipped to seventh and need to find a replacement professional this weekend with Pakistan Test player Taufeeq Umar having returned home for personal reasons. Sixth-placed Chorley, with wicket-keeping opening batsman Josh Tolley in great form entertain Barrow for whom 14-year-old leg-spinning all rounder Liam Livingstone top-scored with 78 in last Saturday’s win over Darwen. Fridel de Wet, Chorley’s South African fast bowler, has already captured 30 league wickets. But without de Wet’s services Chorley bowed out of the ECB Cockspur Cup at Clifton’s hands last Sunday.Professionals are not eligible in that competition. Barrow captain Daryl Wearing takes his side to Chorley Netherfield entertain Carnforth at Parkside Road in what looks likely to be a runs feast. Netherfield’s Australian pro Callum Ferguson has so far scored 444 runs at 63 while Carnforth’s South African pro Ryan Bailey has hit 459 runs at an average of 91. Fleetwood, buoyed by their first win of the season at Lancaster last Saturday, will perhaps be rueing the fact that it is their turn to take a weekend off league action. STATISTICS (LEAGUE GAMES ONLY): Batting Name Club Runs Atiq Uz-Zaman St Annes 478 Ryan Bailey Carnforth 459 Callum Ferguson Netherfield 444 Ross Mc Millan Kendal 378 Pasan Wanasinghe Barrow 366 Josh Tolley Chorley 360 Ameer Khan Leyland 340 Stephen Twist St Annes 338 Mike Stevens Lancaster 321 Mark Lomas Morecambe 311 Bowling Name Club Wickets Ross McMillan Kendal 31 Friedel de Wet Chorley 30 Mansoor Ahmed St Annes 29 Ameer Khan Leyland 27 Pasan Wanasinghe Barrow 25 Stephen Twist St Annes 24 Nisitha Rupasinghe Fleetwood 23 Scott Clement Netherfield 22 Richard Gleeson Blackpool 21 Bruce Martin Morecambe 21 Ben Simm Kendal 20 Fielding Name Club Catches Mark Lomas Morecambe 10 Wicketkeepers Name Club Total Duncan Whalley St Annes 18 10ct/8st Ikram Ullah Kendal 15 12ct/3st James Smith Blackpool 14 12ct/2st Lee Jones Fleetwood 13 7ct/6st Damien Gudgeon Morecambe 12 7ct/5st TEAM NEWS FIXTURES AND TEAM NEWS DIVISION ONE BLACKPOOL v MORECAMBE Blackpool spokesperson Andy Griffiths reports: Our 1st XI host an in-form Morecambe on Saturday, captained by former player Mark Lomas, with 2 changes to the side which took the field for the cup win at Lancaster last Sunday. Captain Paul Danson returns alongside Michael "Bash" Moore. They replace Luke Melville (who is on holiday) and veteran David Newton who is relegated to the 2nd XI. Jamie Hogarth retains his place after promising scores of 19 and 24 last weekend, whilst Steven Mercer suffers for being unavailable for both victories last weekend and will resume in the 2nd XI. The first XI will be looking to consolidate their position at the top of the table, and will be looking to develop some consistency in the batting department, to go with the consistently impressive bowling performances (Andy Hogarth, who didn't bowl last Saturday, leads the way with 26 wickets at 10.27, with opening pair Luis Reece 23 wickets at 13.74 and Richard Gleeson 23 wickets at 18.43 both having their best seasons so far!). Professional Sajeewah Weerakoon will take the confidence of his first century for the club (a swashbuckling innings of 111 not out against Lancaster in the cup) into the game, and will be looking to continue his fine form with the bat (276 runs at 69.00) and pick up a few more wickets(15 wickets at 19.07) to challenge the amateur bowlers. Saturday's 1st XI - Danson (capt), Darlington, Gleeson, Hogarth (A), Hogarth (J), Moore, Outram, Reece, Smith (A), Smith (J) (w/k), Weerakoon(pro) Morecambe’s team is: Lomas (capt), Goyal, Dennison, Woodhead, Thornton, Pedder, Clough, Smith, Gudgeon (WK), Lee, Martin(p) CHORLEY v BARROW Barrow team: D Wearing (capt), I Allington, L Livingstone, J McMenemy (WK), G Smith, G Dawson, D Clark, J Miles, I Kermode, R Adams, P Wanasinghe (pro) DARWEN v LANCASTER The Darwen team is: A Cook (Capt), A Ashraf (pro), C Clarke, J Clarke (WK), G Cordingley, J Cordingley, M Emery, S Hampson, N Burke, K Anwar, Y Bhamji. The Lancaster team is: R Nelson, T Umar (pro), M Stevens, J Heywood, T Barry, M Walling, L Sparks, B Hetherington (WK), D Heywood (capt), L Moffat, D Milligan. LEYLAND v KENDAL Chris Parkinson returns from holiday to open the batting for Leyland in an otherwise unchanged side: C Parkinson, K Cross, Ameer Khan (pro), P Cummings, A Makinson, I Farrington, T Reece, J Rounding, D Makinson (WK), M Watkinson (WK), S Pallett. The Kendal team is: Ikram Ullah (Cap/Wk); Kevin Howarth; Terry Hunte; Oliver Killiner; Donovan Du Plessis; Gareth Ashburner; Nick Lewthwaite; Ben Simm; Stuart Parkin; Mark Phillips; Ross McMillan (Pro). NETHERFIELD v CARNFORTH The Netherfield sideis: C Parry (capt), C Walmsley, C Ferguson (pro), B Haddrick, S Little, G Baker, C Miller, S Clement, T Prime (WK), J Huck, R Wilson. The Carnforth team is: A Hornby (capt), R Bailey (pro), T Barnfield (wkt), L Bradley, B Hornby, G Denwood, R Forsyth, R Parker, J Denwood, J Relph, A Benson ST ANNES v PRESTON The St Annes side is: D Whalley (Capt/ WK), Mansoor Ahmed (pro), G Evans, A Cotton, R Bradley, J Musgrave, A Taylor, D Taylor, S Twist, A Uz-Zaman, G Whitehead. For Preston, Rhys Williams returns from holiday and replaces Sajid Patel who is away at a family wedding.Team: G Johnstone (Capt), Bilal Asad (pro), M Bavla, P Mann, L Vahaluwala, J McDonald, J Davies, Y Patel, C Williams (WK), J Hussain, R Williams Fleetwood no game DIVISION TWO (SECOND XI) Barrow v Chorley Barrow team: R Mowat (capt), G Heffernan, G Reynolds, R Lightfoot, G Kermode, J Tweddle, T Bamber, P Renney (WK), P Bayman, J Nicholson, A Cartmell. CARNFORTH v NETHERFIELD Carnforth team: L Potter (capt), J Whincup (wkt), M Bradley, M Preston, L Barnes, G Baxendale, G Russell, J Gibson, W Tomlinson, P Jones, R Bragg KENDAL v LEYLAND Leyland team: C Dovey (capt), S Parker (WK), T Afsar, M Brown, S Cartwright, T Coxhead, M Cottam, C Kelly, N McDonnell, S Prince, A Richardson LANCASTER v DARWEN The Lancaster team is: D Welbourne, R Child, D Smith, K Moffat, I Parkinson (capt), P Sparrow, J Sparks (WK), S Sparks, P Moralee, B Akrigg, I Burstow. The Darwen team is: 1. G Ainslie (Capt), 2. D Bonner 3. C Davies 4. M Clarkson 5. N Jackson 6. A Brown 7. G Lawrenson 8. S Jackson 9. A Davies 10. G Jackson 11. M Grant MORECAMBE v BLACKPOOL Blackpool CC spokesperson Andy Griffiths reports: Our 2nd XI travel to Morecambe looking to bounce back from the league defeat at Netherfield, and buoyed by a gripping one wicket win at home to Lancaster in the Thwaites Cup last Sunday. Promising young wicket-keeper Ben Heath retains his place after two excellent performances with both bat and gloves last weekend, scoring a match-winning 33 not out in the Cup win and taking a couple of outstanding catches. Steve Mercer and Dave Newton drop down from the 1st XI, Michael Penney is allowed to continue in the 2nd XI after his fine 76 last weekend, and we welcome Chris Taylor back from University. Will Norris (unavailable), Mike Hartley (unavailable), Kevin Reid and Ross Parker (both relegated to the 3rd XI) make way. With John Caunce and Prashant Aga returning from injury and work commitments, the strength of our team is highlighted by the fact that they are asked to return via the 3rd XI. Saturday’s 2nd XI - Griffiths (capt), Armstrong, Booth, Bracewell, Heath (w/k), Mercer, Newton, Penney, Taylor (C), Taylor (M), Wall PRESTON v ST ANNES Preston 2nd XI team: 1. Johnny Winter (c), 2. Mike Beevor (wk), 3. Fayaz Ughradar, 4. Dipesh Patel, 5. Omar Malik, 6. Faruq Saiyed, 7. Mark Jefferies, 8. Danny Hall, 9. Mohsin Patel, 10. Usman Alam, 11. Andrew Starkie St Annes: A Kellett (capt), S Bickerdike, D Bartholomew, N Bradley, G Costin, S Hurst, L O'Dea, R Thomas, D Watson, P Wilks, B Willis Fleetwood no game SUNDAY’S CUP GAMES Morecambe were due to play Spring View CC in the Lancashire Cup but Spring View have had to concede the tie due to commitments in their own league. On Sunday Barrow are at home to Caldbeck CC in the Cumbria Cup. The Barrow team reads: D Wearing (capt), I Allington, N Lauderdale, T Bamber (WK), G Smith, G Dawson, D Clark, J Miles, I Kermode, P Wanasinghe (pro), AN Other. On Sunday Preston CC are at Prestwich in the Lancashire Cup second round. They select from a squad of twelve (Saturday’s side plus Sajid Patel). There is an all NPCL clash between St Annes and Kendal at Vernon Road in the Lancashire Cup. For Kendal there are two changes from Saturday’s selection with Adrian Potts replacing Kevin Howarth and Tony Yasin coming in for Mark Phillips with Mark travelling as 12th man. he St Annes side reads: D Whalley (capt/ WK), Mansoor Ahmed (pro), A Kellett, G Evans, A Cotton, J Musgrave, S Hurst, B Willis, D Taylor, A Uz-Zaman, G Whitehead. On Sunday Netherfield are away at Carlisle in the Cumbria Cup.    Click Here to send your comments.