Castle and Scratching Shed Awards go down to the wire
St Annes
pro Dinuka Hettiarachchi need six wickets to reach 100
for the season |
A highly successful season in the Furness
Building Society Northern Premier League (incorporating with
Readers Cricket Balls) is concluded this coming Saturday with
the last round of league games.
With the major team prizes already decided
attention switches to individuals in their pursuit of club and
league records. Leyland wrapped up both Division One and
Division Two titles last Saturday to spark a double
celebration at Fox Lane that went on well into the evening.
David Makinson's side conclude their campaign at home to
Darwen (12.30pm).
On Sunday Chorley lifted the Readers Cup
Division Two with victory over St Annes.
Earlier in the season Darwen won Readers Cup
Division One and Netherfield were crowned Twenty20 champions
in the Latham Baxendale Cup.
In Division One Barrow, who have finished in
their highest position since joining the league in 2004 should
make sure of the runners-up spot. Barrow (244pts) lead
outgoing champions St Annes (232) by 12 points. Leyland have
an unassailable 261 pts with Darwen (205pts) fourth, Blackpool
(205pts) fifth and Morecambe (178pts) sixth.
Barrow will farewell professional Pasan
Wansinghe who will leave the club at the end of the season
following four successful seasons at Ernest Pass. The popular
Sri Lankan all-rounder will take a well deserved benefit at
the ground on Sunday when a series of events and games are
planned, starting at 11am.
Wanasinghe has taken 72 wickets in league games
and is second only to fellow countryman Dinuka Hettiarachchi
who goes into St Annes' home game against Fleetwood needing
six wickets to become only the third bowler in league history
to take 100 Division One wickets in a season.
Morecambe pro Colin Hilton took 113 wickets in
1968 and St Annes pro Shane Harwood took 100 in 2005.
Graham Dawson has set a new Barrow amateur
bowling record in Northern League cricket with 43 wickets at
16.93, surpassing Peter Lawson's 42 wickets in 2005.
Barrow's
Graham Dawson has set a new club bowling
record |
Fleetwood pro Matthew Frith, who has been
playing for Derbyshire Seconds in recent weeks alongside
club-mate Ryan Smith says his farwells after a highly
successful debut season in the league. But for a mid-season
shoulder injury Frith may well have reached the coveted 1,000
runs mark and he currently has 849 to his name. Fleetwood have
confirmed that Ryan Smith will be the club professional in
2011.
Darwen pro Mohammad Zaman Khan leads the run
charts with 965 runs and after a lean spell by his high
standards got back to form with a century as sub-pro for
Crompton in the CLL last Sunday.
A total of 20 players have hit 500 runs in the
league including nine professionals. In the race for the
Castle Batting Award St Annes' Atiq Uz-Zaman is a clear leader
with 927 runs, followed by Barrow openers Jon Miles (820) and
Greg Platten (734).
Chris Miller, the Kendal off-spinner, faces an
anxious afternoon in the race for the Castle Bowling Award.
Miller has finished his season with 60 wickets at 15.90 but
Lancaster's Ben Simm is breathing down his neck. Simm has
taken 56 wickets at 20.50 and goes into Saturday's game at
Carnforth needing five wickets to take the award outright. The
off-spinner has been bowling unchanged for Lancaster in recent
weeks.
Blackpool's Richard Gleeson reached 50 wickets
for the second season in a row last weekend and Darwen's
Kamran Anwar has also reached the half-century mark.
Morecambe's Tommy Clough and Leyland all-rounder Luis Reece
have 44 wickets apiece.
Barrow's Chris D'Leny has a clear lead in the
Castle wicketkeeping Award with 34 victims followed by John
Huck (Netherfield) with 29 and Leyland's Matthew Watkinson
(27).
Ryan Smith of Fleetwood is top fielder with 19
catches, ahead of Luis Reece (14).
In Division Two Leyland (244pts) and Blackpool
(225pts) are champions and runners-up respectively. League
President Mr Brian Standing will present the runners-up trophy
to Blackpool captain Kevin Reid before their home game against
Morecambe.
Reid and team-mate Ross Parker have both taken
over 50 wickets this season and there is a battle for the
Scratching Shed Publishing D2 bowling award with Parker (54
wickets), Reid (51) and Morecambe's Nick Milner (54) all in
contention.
Ross
Parker and Kevin Reid have each taken 50 wickets in
D2 |
In the Scratching Shed D2 Batting Award
Leyland's Dan Hall is a clear leader with 846 runs at 60.43.
The young Australian guest player broke John Pallett's
long-standing Leyland club record last weekend.
John
Pallett congratulates Dan Hall on beating his Leyland D2
batting record |
Chorley's Stu Naden has 716 runs and needs a
further six to beat Bob Dickinson's club record. Donovan Du
Plessis (603 runs) has set a new Kendal D2 batting record.
Morecambe's Milner (582 runs), Blackpool's Adrian Darlington
(581) and St Annes' Adam Taylor (518) have also scored over
500 runs in D2 league matches.
James Smith leads the Scratching Shed
wicketkeeping award table. The Blackpool 'keeper has 31
victims with Leyland's Stu Parker second on 26 and
Netherfield's Shane Hyland third on 25.
Yasin Patel (Preston) leads the fielding table
with 12 catches with Chorley skipper Ian Mawdesley second on
11.
On Sunday St Annes CC host the final of the
Barclays Wealth Lancashire LCB Knock-Out Cup when Farnworth
take on Denton St Lawrence. The final is scheduled to start at
11am.
Fixtures
Saturday 11th September
Division One
(Round 26 of 26)
12-30pm start
Barrow v Preston
Carnforth v Lancaster
Leyland v Darwen
Morecambe v Blackpool
Netherfield v Chorley
St Annes v Fleetwood
Kendal no game
Division Two
(Round 26 of 26)
12-30pm start
Blackpool v Morecambe
Chorley v Netherfield
Darwen v Leyland
Fleetwood v St Annes
Lancaster v Carnforth
Preston v Barrow
Kendal no game
