Durham get things wrong at the Riverside

 Posted by Tony Hutton

The current round of County Championship games, sandwiched as they are in between the current plethora of T20 cricket, produced some fascinating results. A majority of the games were won by the teams batting last, one obvious exception being Nottinghamshire's innings victory over Leicestershire. So in most cases a close contest with both teams well in contention until the last afternoon.

Sadly the game where it all went wrong was the one at Riverside, where we spent the first three days watching Durham play Worcestershire. Durham did not seem to have learned from the recent game at Worcester where the home side batted throughout the last day losing only one wicket in a drawn match, after Ben Stokes' remarkable innings earlier in the game. The home side's tactics in batting on, and on, during day two here were hard to fathom.

Durham of course were weakened by the absence of Lees, Potts and Stokes all on England duty, as well as missing their prolific scorer Sean Dickson through injury. Keegan Petersen, the South African batsman has returned home and several second team players were also injured, which meant that Durham engaged the services of New Zealand batsman Ravi Ravindra. He is a member of the touring squad but apparently not in the reckoning for Test Match selection. In addition they brought in home grown product Jonathan Bushnell for his first class debut, after scoring well in the second eleven.

Worcestershire were also without two regulars in opening bat Ed Pollock and all rounder Joe Leach. They also gave a first team debut to Lancastrian opening bat Taylor Cornall who has done well with the seconds since joining from Leeds/Bradford University. Durham won the toss and batted. After Jones was caught behind early on the rest of day one was dominated by a partnership between Ravindra and skipper Borthwick. The New Zealander, a left hander, looked in confident mood and Borthwick, after a slow start, soon got in on the act.

Borthwick and Ravindra, not out at lunch.

The pair added 230 for the second wicket at over four an over against the four man seam attack of Morris, Gibbon (from Cheshire), Pennington and Barnard. The bowling completed by slow left armer Baker later in the day. Ravindra went to his century in mid afternoon and Borthwick looked likely to follow him until he unwisely attempted to sweep Baker on 96 and fell lbw. The distraught batsman left the field with bat clutched in front of his face realising he had missed out on a century once again.

Ravindra reaches his century.

Bedingham, who has been out of sorts, did not stay long and Bushnell came in with the score on 271-3. He played himself in cautiously but by the end of the day he had not only completed his half century, and added a century partnership with Ravindra who was 178 not out by the close when Durham  were 375-3.  Unfortunately Bushnell was out for 66 soon after the score had passed the 400 mark on Monday morning. However Ravindra passed the 200 mark before being caught behind off the persevering Gibbon, who also quickly disposed of Eckersley and Trevaskis.

The distraught Borthwick leaves the stage for 96.

So with the score on 429-7, some members of the rather thin crowd, braving the strong westerly breeze and overhead cloud, thought that the declaration might come at 450. Not so, surely 500 would be enough, not so. The two new batsmen Ben Raine and Paul Coughlin took full advantage of the obviously disheartened Worcestershire side. They matched each other run for run, completing their fifties, then both passing their previous best first class scores (Raine 82, Coughlin 90) the total by now well past 600 and still no sign of a declaration.

The scoreboard tells the story.

Two happy batsmen, Coughlin and Raine both with maiden centuries.

Both men completed their maiden first class centuries in the same over to well deserved celebrations, closely followed by the long delayed declaration on 642-7 at the tea interval on day two. In the process the two batsman had created a new eight wicket partnership record for Durham of 213.  Four of the unhappy Worcestershire bowlers had passed the century mark and Morris was only three short. One can only question Borthwick's tactics in batting the visitors out of the game, obviously in the hope of being able to bowl them out twice.

Paul Coughlin celebrates.

Initially, when Rushworth produced a trademark dismissal of debutant Cornall with the second ball of the Worcestershire innings, by removing one of his stumps, this distant prospect looked a possibility. However Libby, Azhar Ali and the in form Haynes showed determination to take Worcester to 140-3 at the end of the second day. Day three produced better weather, with the strong winds having dropped, but not much hope for the home side when Haynes making 68, followed by an almost 200 partnership between Worcester's stubborn captain Brett D'Oliveira and Ed Barnard, put all thoughts of an easy victory out of the window.

D'Oliviera, like his opposition captain, was visibly annoyed when given out lbw on exactly one hundred, but he had done his job well taking his side beyond 400. Barnard remained 116 not out at the close, by which time we were on our way home, quite pleased we had not decided to stay for day four. 

This enabled us to listen to Test Match Special on the car radio to take in Jonny Bairstow's remarkable innings at Trent Bridge which saw England to an amazing victory over New Zealand.

For the record on day four Worcester batted on to make 550 all out and Durham batted a second time to make 102 for no wicket by ten to five when they declared. Match drawn. I assume even less people were there on the last day and hopefully Borthwick, and presumably his coaching staff, may have learned the lesson that the game should be played to win not just for a draw.

A day at Trent Bridge

By Nickolas Spachis

(Nick Spachis is a very welcome guest writer to the blog. He has been an outstanding member of the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation's Reminiscing series on Zoom during lockdown and beyond, with a great sense of humour and a real enthusiasm for cricket at all levels.)   

Eighteen years ago, as part of a birthday present, I visited Trent Bridge on Sunday, to watch England v New Zealand. At the time it was the best day of cricket watching by a mile. I drove to Nottingham, and parked at the prepaid car park, without having paid for a ticket. The steward took pity on me and let me through without paying. The car was dwarfed next to the Bentleys and Range Rovers of those higher up on the food chain.

The Radcliffe Road End at Trent Bridge

Walked to the ground, picked up my ticket from the office, how things have changed since, and proceeded into the ground. My seat was at the end of the Radcliffe Road End stand in the middle tier. The view was spectacular, the fellow spectators very vocal, and those six lads from Leeds, that came down on a minibus, were a laugh a minute all day. God help you if they found out you were from Lancashire or of the female persuasion (how things have changed). Having said that the only thing the stewards pull them up on, was the start and control of the beer snake, which kept us amused all day long.

My memory of the match stats has faded over the years, so it's a good thing Google is available. The main thing of that day was the enjoyment of the match, the excellent bating, and the weather, warmer than the Caribbean. So the journey continues to the present day.

Ordered and received a ticket, printed it, and pinned it in my office, and it was was the first thing that I saw when I went into work, counting the days to the match, Sunday 12th June. My wife asked me what would make it the ideal day watching cricket, and my reply was more in anticipation than expectations in the following order:

1. Good weather

2. Excellent cricket.

3. And see Joe Root bat.

Well, I could not have planned it any better. I decided to drive to Nottingham, which meant that I was restricted on my alcohol content, which is a good thing as I didn't miss a moment of an extraordinary day's cricket. The weather was great, temperatures in the high 70s and my umpire's hat came in very handy against the scorching sun. My decision to wear shorts was vindicated, but also I managed to work on my tan.

My seat, row D seat number 119 at the East Stand of the Radcliffe Road End, could not have been any better, close to the action, and surrounded by some characters. A couple from Birmingham, who worked and lived in Bradford and Leeds, members of Warwickshire. A chap from Holmfirth, with his German friend in tow attending his 2nd Test Match, always ready with questions, especially trying to understand Leg Byes and Silly Mid-on.

A couple of chaps from Newcastle; spent all day talking about Newcastle United football club, bemoaning their lack of trophies over the years. Also six New Zealand fans were sat in the front row, and I bet they wished they hadn't. The ribbing was relentless especially when Root was hitting it to all corners. To be fair to them, they gave as well as they got. Found my seat, settled down and play was called.

Joe Root

I was there to see Joe Root, and if truth was to be told, I was fearful that he might be out early doors, missing the opportunity to see the master bat. Well, he did not disappoint. His cover drive early on just set the tone. It's not his ability to hit the ball that I admire, but the way he hits the right ball, and always knows where his off stump is. In my mind he is the best player I have ever seen live, surpassing Petersen's knock at Headingley against the South Africans.

The day got hotter, the drinks were flowing all round me and I couldn't believe my luck. Test cricket does not get any better than this. You can keep your bish, bash, bosh of 20/20 or indeed the 100. I am writing this as I am listening to the conclusion of the Test Match, with England and especially Jonny Bairstow seeing them to a famous series win. I must admit that I was sceptical about England's ability to win Test Matches, but I am happy to be proven wrong.

Memories do not get any better than this, to some sitting watching a match of cricket is sheer madness, but not for me.  I am only sad that I wasn't there to witness the win, but one day watching Joe Root bat was a lot more than I could have wished.

I must say a few words about Trent Bridge; it is a fantastic venue to watch cricket, and God willing I will go again soon.

Queen's Park Delights

 posted by John Winn

I have spent the last two days with two good friends watching an endangered species, county championship cricket, on what in the opinion of many is the most beautiful out ground in the country, namely Queen's Park, the home of Chesterfield CC. 

With my friends John Gawthrope and Arthur Bartle I travelled down to north east Derbyshire on Monday morning where on the first day Middlesex had been bowled out for 251, with Pettman, on a short term loan from Notts, taking three wickets. By stumps  Derbyshire had eased to 28 without loss and we were in plenty of time to see them resume their innings on Monday. With the splendid Shan Mahood a delight to the eye receiving good support from Godleman, Guest and Madsen, Derbyshire reached a strong position by mid afternoon at 170 for 2. Enter TS Roland Jones who blew the middle order and tail away with five wickets to leave the hosts all out for 229 and we had seen ten wickets fall before tea time. 

Middlesex extended their lead to 117 by the close mainly from the bat of Mark Stoneman, formerly of Durham and Surrey, who hit nine fours to be 60 not out at stumps. A slightly later start still saw us in our seats in good time before the third day's call of play. Rather like Derbyshire's innings the previous day Middlesex slid down the hill in quick time assisted by some poor shots and a crazy run out which saw Simpson on his way. 157 for 4 became 196 all out, three wickets apiece for Reece and and Anuj Dal. 

So Derbyshire needed 219 to win and the Lower Ure Valley trio, deciding that a finish was likely in the day, especially taking into account the possibility of an extra half hour being taken, changed our plans and determined to see the match through. We were treated to another gem of an innings from Mahood, whose family were present to watch him. He lost opening partner Godleman, another run out, for just two, and when Guest went to make it 49 for 2, the game seemed evenly balanced but Madsen joined Mahood and by the time the latter was dismissed for 98, leaving him 9 short of his 1000 for the season, it had become Derbyshire's to lose. Aggressive innings from du Plooy and Reece made it clear that The Peakites fancied a day off and Middlesex began to look resigned to leaving the delights of a Holiday Inn behind them and returning to London that evening. 

In the event there was no need for the additional 30 minutes as Reece hit 35 off 34 balls and Madsen was content to keep him company until the target was reached and Middlesex suffered their first defeat of the championship campaign. Notts, after crushing Leicestershire yesterday, are now top ten points clear of Middlesex and Derbyshire with their second win are third. 

Leaving Chesterfield an hour later than on Monday meant we avoided the heavy traffic in the town centre and despite some congestion on the M1 we were back on home ground a little after 7:30 content in our minds that we could not have had two better days cricket watching but uneasy as to what the ECB plans to do next in its plan to step by step kill off championship cricket.

Braving wind and rain at glorious Berwick

By Mike Latham

The Northumberland & Tyneside Cricket League covers a vast area, from Berwick-upon-Tweed in the far north-east to Hexham (home of Tynedale CC) and Allendale west of Newcastle upon Tyne.

The league has an excellent Play Cricket website and operate six divisions, divisions five and six being split into north and south.

Despite recently losing several clubs, including Ashington, Shotley Bridge and Lanchester to the North-East Premier League the league continues to offer a fine range of opportunities for cricketers of every ability. The top two divisions, from my experience, provide some good, competitive cricket played in fine spirit. The further down you go the standard of play drops, as you’d expect, but it’s still fun to watch and there are some glorious grounds to enjoy.

This year division one, the top division, operates with 11 clubs after Leadgate CC stood down after the fixtures were compiled. Happily, their Second XI competes in Division 5 South and they still run junior teams so hopefully they will build up again. Newcastle City currently head the league with Tynedale in second and recent champions Alnmouth & Lesbury and Consett in mid table.

On a day of very windy and mixed weather I chose to go to the division two game at the Pier Field between Berwick and Bedlington. Cricket has been played here since the 1840s and it’s a great ground for spectators, who can watch from the comfort of their cars should they so desire.

Some spectators brave the strong wind, others watch from their cars

Having two Collies, I always try to choose a dog friendly ground, and this ticks all the boxes for them. The Pier Field is located high above the sea and there are glorious views down the coast to Tweedmouth, Spittal, and towards Holy Island and on a warm and sunny day there are few better places to watch cricket.

The famous painter LS Lowry spent many holidays in Berwick and there’s a Lowry trail around the town that features some of the landscapes he painted. The distinctive red and white lighthouse, which can be seen from the cricket ground, features on the trail.

LS Lowry’s lighthouse

To the north of the cricket ground the Magdalene Fields Golf Club is situated, then a large caravan park that recently featured on a television programme featuring Julie Walters, the famous actress. As part of his series on railway journeys the former MP Michael Portillo also featured Berwick in some detail.

The town walls run just inland from the cricket ground and within them a charity football tournament operates during the summer. This attracts many entrants and provides excellent entertainment. I was mindful that a game was due to kick off at 6-30pm, so had a ‘Plan B’ should the cricket end early.

On two sides of the football pitch are sheer drops from the town walls, at the top of which spectators perch looking down on the action. It’s a remarkable sight to behold. Known as the Stanks, the tournament has a long history, and its excellent Facebook page provides a lot of information on fixtures and results. For football enthusiasts it’s not to be missed.

Despite threatening weather, the cricket started on time at 1pm, Berwick batting. I was keen to see how they were adapting to life in the second tier after promotion last season.

Bedlington bowled and fielded keenly but Berwick got a lightning start from their overseas amateur, Lakhvir Singh, who comes from New Zealand and is known in these parts as Lucky. He hit 36 of the opening 39 runs before he was run out. The home side eventually were bowled out for 200, just short of their 46 overs, four having been lost to a heavy downpour.

Jordan Woodcock, who I saw score a fine century last season, top scored with 56 and skipper Elliott Keenan made 41. There was a famous name in the Bedlington line-up, young Charlie Harmison, son of Ashes hero Steve, who bowled impressively in his six over spell.

Jordan Woodcock acknowledges his 50

It was great to see the Bedlington team give lots of encouragement to their younger players and plenty of opportunities to be involved in the action.

The wind, if anything, got even stronger as Bedlington batted and dark cloud built up in the southwest. With one eye of the weather the visitors went for quick runs and left-handed opener Connor Leason looked in fine nick, making 29 in quick time before he was caught behind.

The Berwick bowlers mastered the tricky conditions well and the fielding was sharp. The opening bowler James Thompson captured wickets of three of the top four and when Singh replaced Michael Shearer from the golf club end, he quickly made light work of the match.

Michael Shearer bowling from the golf club end

Bowling a lively medium pace he took five for 25 off only 4.3 overs and Bedlington’s innings concluded on 96 in the 22^nd over.  I got the impression that Bedlington had some talented players in their ranks but hadn’t really done themselves justice on this occasion. Berwick’s win lifted them to fourth in the table and was accomplished just before the heaviest and most prolonged downpour of the afternoon.

A glorious rainbow out to sea

Berwick’s ground looks immaculate, their scorer maintains live scoring on the Play Cricket website, and they are a friendly and welcoming club. If you’re in the area I’d recommend a visit to the most northerly cricket ground in England. Thanks too to the umpire, not named on the scorecard, who officiated at both ends while the batting team provided the square leg umpire. He was an unsung and anonymous hero of the afternoon.

Football at The Stanks

The match had finished in time to catch the football at the Stanks between Longamble from down the coast and a team from Prudhoe. Despite the heavy rain and continuing wind, the standard of football was excellent but, wet to the skin, and weary of braving the wind I called it a day and soon headed homewards.

A gem from 1923

 posted by John Winn

My mother in law died in January since when my wife and her brother have spent much time emptying the family home in Derbyshire. Liz's great grandfather was a printer, photographer and newsagent, his son and grandsons kept up the tradition,with a thriving business in Tideswell, near Buxton and clearance of the house that has been the family home since the 1960s has turned up some wonderful memorabilia in the form of old newspapers, some dating back to the Crimean War, photographs taken at a time when very few people had cameras and copies of items that were printed for customers. Amongst the things that have turned up and one which caught my eye very quickly was this scorecard from 1923. 

The GRAND CRICKET MATCH referred to is between Gentlemen of England and Players of England played over three days at Scarborough in September 1923. Until the abolition of the distinction between Amateurs and Professionals sixty years ago such matches were important events in the English cricketing summer, none the less so in 1923 when there were games at The Oval and Lord's in July, the first ending in victory for the paid ranks, the second drawn as was the Scarborough match. The sides were chosen by MCC and those picked released by their counties. 

I suspect this card was printed on the ground after the fall of the fourth wicket on the first day, a Thursday, for the score at stumps was Players 220 all out, Gentlemen 55 for 3 and the purchaser of the card had added in pencil the rest of the Players' batting but got a bit mixed up late in the day, perhaps Laughton's Ales took a hand, for the three wicket to fall before the six o'clock closure were those of Stevens, Chapman and Fender for 7, 8 and 2 respectively. Things got little better for the Gentlemen on the second day for they were bowled out 128, MacBryan top scoring with 33, 6 wickets for Maurice Tate (including his 200th of the season) and the Friday crowd were treated to a Hobbs' century and those there on Saturday, one from Hendren. Wisden tells us that 'Left to get 390, the Gentlemen had no possibility of winning in the time that remained, but by dint of consistently good batting they warded off defeat'. MacBryan and Gubby Allen top scored with 53 apiece. 

The reverse of the card is devoted to an advertisement for Boyes' department store, a company still with shops in Yorkshire and County Durham. They were pleased to announce that the men's department had purchased 6000 pairs of pants and vests retailing at a halfpenny under four shillings, (20p) and in Ladies' Glove Department a special purchase from London of about 500 pairs of Ladies' Fringed Gauntlet Gloves reduced from 6/11d to 4/11d. 

Back to the cricket and it worth noting that one of the umpires in 1923 was Frank Chester. Chester played first class cricket for Worcestershire when only 17 but lost an arm in WW1. He took up umpiring in 1922 and in this role he gave decisions 'without fear or favour'. He went on to officiate in over 1000 first class matches including 48 tests. 

The last Gentlemen v Players match was at Scarborough in 1962 and was won by the Players by seven wickets. Rain fell as the match ended, perhaps a fitting end to a tradition that had begun in 1806. Wisden lamented its passing for only four years earlier a committee consisting entirely of amateurs considered 'the distinctive status of the amateur cricketer was not obsolete, was of great value to the game and should be preserved.' Remarkable then that whilst in  Australia covering the 1962/63 Ashes EW Swanton, a staunch defender of the distinction, should receive a telegram simply stating 'Amateurs abolished". I would like to have been a fly on that wall, albeit one close to an open window. 

Burley celebrate Queen's Jubilee in style

Posted by Tony Hutton

The Saturday of the long Bank Holiday weekend to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee proved not to be an ideal day for watching cricket, the cold weather changing our plans to travel further afield. Scarf and gloves were the order of the day (in flaming June!) and we travelled no further than North Leeds cricket club, who were hosting Burley-in-Wharfedale in the Airedale and Wharfedale League division one. Jubilee celebrations were going on in the neighbouring Soldiers' Field with all the fun of the fair and loud music in evidence.

A rare push for a single during an avalanche of boundaries.

However this did not deter the visitors from putting on a fireworks display of their own. The club that helped produce Yorkshire batting star Harry Brook, and are in fact captained by his uncle Richard Brook, always seem capable of scoring runs and today they did it with a vengeance. The two openers Jason Wright and Alfie Webb were well on their way to a century partnership when we arrived. The pair were dismissed almost together, Wright having made a quick fire 70 (8 x 4 and 4 x 6).  His younger partner having gone first for a more sedate but well made 37.

A modest contribution of 15 from next man Matthew Hastings did include just one six, but number four Redmond Bolton really got things going with 62 runs in a mere 36 balls (6 x 4 and 4 x 6). The shortish straight boundary proved the main attraction and one or two parked cars made a quick exit before a passing cyclist, completely oblivious, just escaped serious injury. Redmond was out soon after the total passed the 200 mark in only 28 overs and it was obvious a huge total was on it's way.

At this point another tall blue helmeted batsman, presumably the brother of Matthew Hastings, with the unlikely Christian name of Danger, entered the fray to join Nicky Bulcock. This pair did not mess about, adding a further 161 runs, nearly all of them in boundaries, in double quick time. The pair kept pace with each other but were running out of overs when both moved into the 80s. Bulcock was in fact dismissed for 80 (11 x 4 and 2 x 6) but Danger Hastings continued to hit out and eventually reached his century with one over remaining, having hit 16 x 4 and 3 x 6 in only 69 balls. An amazing innings. 

Danger Hastings celebrates his century.

The scoreboard tells the story.

The final over was something of an anti-climax with skipper Brook taking a single from the first ball and Hastings, despite several huge swings unable to make contact to an unlikely five dot balls. The final total of 382-5 was just short of the 411 achieved last weekend in Division three of the league by Kirkstall Educational. However a tremendous performance which must have left the North Leeds bowlers somewhat shell-shocked. We will gloss over the bowling figures and enough to say that Jack Harland and Aftab Karim both took two wickets and Karim also bowled the only maiden over of the innings.

In reply North Leeds managed a respectable 222 all out in 42.2 overs, but were never really in with a chance of chasing down such a large total. Asif Iqbal top scored with 90 not out and there were three wickets apiece for Nicky Bulcock and Shane Etherington. However the message for Aire Wharfe bowlers for the remainder of the season must be look out for Dangerman Hastings.

A successful pyramid built in Lancashire

 By Mike Latham

Firstly, thanks to Tony Hutton for his kind words in his previous blog.

One week on from the excitement of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium I was back in familiar surroundings, watching local league cricket.

I chose the Palace Shield Division 1A game between Standish and Carnforth, and on a lovely sunny day it was great to be among friends watching a good game played in excellent spirit.

Standish is a fast-growing village between Wigan and Chorley that has seen an amazing growth in housing developments in recent years. The cricket club surroundings, though, at the end of Green Lane have remained largely unchanged.

Standish Cricket Club sign welcoming visitors

I first got to know the people at Carnforth during my time as an official of the Northern League and have followed their fortunes ever since.

It got me thinking about my time with the Northern League and the changes that have taken place in the last ten years or so.

The Northern Cricket League, it’s fair to say, was reluctant to embrace change as the ECB encouraged premier leagues in each county to form feeder leagues and promote a pyramid system.

As an official of the League between 2008 and 2011 I could sense that several members of the executive were far-sighted and could see the way the wind was blowing, knowing that failure to comply could see the league lose its Premier League status.

Others were very conservative in their thinking. “We are the Northern League,” one told me. “We don’t merge with anyone.”

We had constructive talks with the Palace Shield competition during my tenure, but they never went past the discussion stage, even though the junior teams of Northern League clubs competed in the Palace Shield competition.

The match gets underway at Standish

The Palace Shield is a long-standing amateur cricket league, superbly administered, catering for a wide range of cricketing abilities and ages. Based around Preston and extending into much of the Fylde, it seemed an ideal partner. The Palace Shield currently has 46 clubs in membership.

Finally, in 2017 the two leagues got together and formed a pyramid system and five years on the results and benefits are there for all to see.

With a system of two up and two down between the two leagues and a promotion and relegation system throughout the Palace Shield, ambitious clubs can rise through the ranks. Clubs experiencing a fallow period can drop down a level and re-group.

The Northern League now has four traditional Palace Shield clubs in its ranks and three of them- Garstang, Longridge and Fulwood & Broughton- currently occupy three of the top five places in the table. Vernon Carus, promoted this year, are currently in 12^th and last place- but then that’s only to be expected that a newcomer takes time to find its feet.

In the Palace Shield Premier Division can be found Morecambe, Fleetwood and Preston, all founder members of the Northern League in 1952, together with Barrow.

Carnforth in the field at Standish

In Division 1A Carnforth, who voluntarily left the Northern League in 2012 are in their first season of the Palace Shield, having successfully regrouped and then dominated the Westmorland League.

Standish is another club that has been in a period of consolidation in the Palace Shield. In their case they chose to join the league after 25 years as members of the Bolton & District Association.

Standish batted first and reached 170 for 8 in their 45 overs. Batting was never easy on a green pitch that gave assistance to the bowlers, and this was reckoned to be a competitive total.

A keenly fought game at Green Lane

So, it proved as even Carnforth’s best bat, Chris Parry- who I once saw share a brilliant, unbeaten partnership of 260 with future Australian international Callum Ferguson while playing for Netherfield- struggled for fluency.

Another stalwart of Carnforth’s Northern League days, former first team captain Adam Hornby, made a battling half century and young Louis Rogerson a highly promising 30-odd, but Standish kept plugging away and the visitors fell seven runs short.

Reigning champions Blackpool currently lead the Northern League with Penrith and Vernon Carus occupying the bottom two places. Fleetwood have a 22-point lead at the top of the Palace Shield with Preston and Barrow both too close to the bottom for comfort. In the second tier Carnforth’s first defeat left them in second place with a trip to leaders Rufford in prospect next Saturday.

Though I’m something of an outsider, not involved in league cricket administration these days, the pyramid system seems to be working well and congratulations to those who had the foresight to make this happen.