Readers Cup starts on Sunday
Leyland's Andrew Makinson hit a match-winning 75 not out against Kendal |
The Round 12 fixtures in the Furness Building Society Northern Premier Cricket League (Readers Cricket Balls) are played this coming Saturday, 19 June and Division One leaders Leyland have a chance to extend their lead The Round 12 fixtures in the Furness Building Society Northern Premier Cricket League (incorporating at the top.
David Makinson's side host Preston at Fox Lane with a 12 points lead over St Annes who have no game. Andrew Makinson and James Rounding were the batting heroes of a tense runs chase to beat Kendal last Saturday as Leyland bounced back from their agonising one wicket defeat at the hands of St Annes the week before.
Leyland (127pts) and St Annes (115) lead the way with consistent Blackpool in third place with 103 points. Paul Danson's side are at home to sixth placed Darwen (83pts) in an intriguing game at Stanley Park.
Barrow have a glorious chance to make up ground on the leaders in a double home programme. Currently they are in fourth place with 92 points but have played a game fewer than most of the other sides. They host Chorley at Ernest Pass on Saturday and Lancashire Colts on Sunday.
Elsewhere Carnforth are at home to Fleetwood, fifth-placed Morecambe play Kendal at Woodhill Lane with Arslan Mir deputising as pro for Mandla Mashimbyi and Netherfield play Lancaster at Parkside Road.
Four batsmen have already hit the 500-runs mark with St Annes' Atiq Uz-Zaman leading the way with 598 at 119.60. Darwen pro Mohammad Zaman Khan has hit 574 at 71.75, Netherfield pro Nick Kruger 530 at 66.25 and Chorley pro JJ Smuts 500 at 71.43.
Preston captain Adam Parker is closing in on the milestone with 485 runs at 53.89 with Barrow's Jon Miles (415 runs) closing in on his own club record of 545 set last year.
Smuts' remarkable 177 not out against Carnforth last Saturday saw him hit his last 77 runs off only 22 balls with ten sixes. Though he will end his Chorley career prematurely having been called up for the South Africa Emerging Players tour of Australia at the end of July he still has realistic hopes of beating Stuart Duff's club record of 719 runs set back in 1987.
In the bowling stakes Barrow's pro Pasan Wanasinghe has 33 wickets and has hit eye on Rawl Lewis's club record of 53 set in 2005. St Annes' Dinuka Hettiarachchi also has 33 with Leyland's Luis Reece leading the way for the amateurs on 30. Fellow amateurs Steven Mercer (Blackpool) and Darwen's Kamran Anwar have taken 25 and 23 wickets respectively.
Darwen's Kamran Anwar- 23 wickets at 14.43 so far |
Netherfield's John Huck leads the wicketkeeping table with 19 dismissals with Barrow's Chris D'Leny in hot pursuit on 17. Kendal's Chris Miller and Stu Parkin are topfielders so far with seven catches apiece.
In Division Two leaders Leyland are away to Preston looking to build on last Saturday's emphatic win over Kendal. Australian guest player Daniel Hall hit 100 not out, his second 50 coming from only 14 balls. The sequence was as follows: 3-6-1-1-6-4-6-6-1-4-1-4-4-4.
Leyland (played 9, 104 points) lead Darwen (10-98) by six points with Chorley third (10-95). Darwen are at home to fourth-placed Blackpool (9-93) while Chorley host Barrow.
Stu Naden has hit 372 runs for Chorley in Division Two |
Chorley's Stu Naden leads the way in Division Two with 372 runs at 46.50. Kendal captain Donovan Du Plessis (370 runs) and Leyland's Hall (368) are next in the runs charts.
Barrow's Gary Collins has taken 26 wickets in Division Two |
Barrow spinner Gary Collins has 26 wickets at 13.04 with fellow spinner Nick Milner (Morecambe) next in the list with 22 wickets at 12.32 and Leyland legspinner Tayyab Afsar having taken 20 wickets at 6.85.
On Sunday the first round ties in the Readers Cup are played. Holders Netherfield face a tricky tie at Leyland while last season's runners-up Kendal host Chorley.
In Division Two cup holders Leyland travel to Netherfield while last season's runners-up Chorley are at home to Kendal.
Fixtures Saturday
Round 12
Division One
Start 1-00pm
Barrow v Chorley
Blackpool v Darwen
Carnforth v Fleetwood
Leyland v Preston
Morecambe v Kendal
Netherfield v Lancaster
St Annes no game
Division Two (2nd XI)
Start 1-00pm
Chorley v Barrow
Darwen v Blackpool
Fleetwood v Carnforth
Kendal v Morecambe
Lancaster v Netherfield
Preston v Leyland
St Annes no game
Sunday Fixtures
League
1pm start
Barrow v Lancashire Colts
Readers Cup
Division 1
Round One
Start 2-00pm
40 overs
Blackpool v Carnforth
Darwen v Preston
Fleetwood v St Annes
Kendal v Chorley
Leyland v Netherfield
Byes: Barrow, Lancaster, Morecambe
Division 2
Round One
Start 2-00pm
40 overs
Carnforth v Blackpool
Chorley v Kendal
Netherfield v Leyland
Preston v Darwen
St Annes v Fleetwood
Byes: Barrow, Lancaster, Morecambe
