Yorkshire seconds youngest ever side.

 Posted by Tony Hutton

While Yorkshire's first eleven were involved in a cliff hanger of a game at Headingley, losing by just one wicket at the end of day three yesterday, a very young second eleven side were in the process of gaining a resounding victory over Lancashire seconds at Stanley Park, Blackpool. We saw the first two days at Headingley with Yorkshire suffering from losing the toss and being inserted on day one, when they were bowled out for 134.

On day two Essex somehow managed to contrive a first innings lead of 91 thanks mainly to Dan Lawrence with 51 and Zimbabwean Shane Snater with a valuable 46. Snater it was who proved the match winner yesterday with an innings of 65 not out taking the visitors to the narrowest of victories with just one wicket remaining. Nice to see Steve Patterson taking 5-46 in one of his final performances for the county he has served so well.

Matthew Fisher's early morning pep talk to his young side at Blackpool.

We missed the finish at Headingley, having postponed our trip to Blackpool due to the first day being lost to rain and some uncertainty of day two. However day three was fine, with Yorkshire seconds already in a commanding position having scored 190 in their first innings and then taking four early Lancashire wickets when the home side batted. Matthew Fisher, returning to action after a long break through injury, took three of the first wickets and yesterday morning rounded things off with final figures of 11-8-9-6.

Matthew Fisher and Josh Sullivan enjoyed the morning session.

Lancashire were all out for 71 with apparently some resentment that they had been bowled out by an England bowler. However, after such a long break, it is quite usual for players to come back with a game or two in the second eleven. Fisher of course was the youngest ever first team player back in 2013 when only 15. Yet another 15 year old Will Bennison, an all rounder, was in the Yorkshire line up after a rapid rise from Ouseburn in the Nidderdale League to Sheriff Hutton Bridge in the Yorkshire Premier League North.

Distant view of Blackpool Tower.

Another view of the pavilion at Blackpool.

With several other teenagers in the side, along with others in their early twenties I am reasonably convinced that this must be the youngest ever side fielded by Yorkshire seconds, with Fisher senior man and captain. In Yorkshire's second innings Wharton and Duke, two with some experience, made 71 and 40 respectively before the two youngsters Noah Kelly and Will Bennison both played confident innings into the thirties. Yorkshire finally declared on 226-7, setting Lancashire an unlikely 345 to win.

Will Bennison hits a leg side four.

The two youngsters Kelly and Bennison undefeated at tea.

Yorkshire also fielded two pairs of brothers which must be another record of sorts with the Luxton brothers from Bingley joining the Sullivan brothers from Methley. The latter two are of course being released by Yorkshire at the end of the season, along with the tall all rounder Tom Loten, currently on trial with Nottinghamshire seconds. Sad to see all three go as Harry Sullivan in particular has had an outstanding record as a slow left arm bowler with both the Academy in previous years and the second eleven this season.

Two proud Dads - Messrs Luxton and Sullivan both with two sons playing.

Josh Sullivan, a leg spinner, also looks a fine prospect but has been out of action for most of this season with injury. However, the feeling is that the current Yorkshire management team are not interested in developing their own young players and are continuing the policy of bringing in rejects from other counties, many of whom are just not up to standard.

Harry Sullivan.

Harry Sullivan proved his point with a fine display on the final day taking 5-48, with brother Josh 2-59. Yorkshire bowling out Lancashire for 185 to win the game by 160 runs. Yorkshire have apparently arranged a further second eleven game next week against Kent at Folkestone, so the brothers may get one further chance of putting themselves in the shop window for other counties. Good luck to them both.

Double celebration for Lanercost

By Mike Latham

Last Saturday was quite a pivotal day for Lanercost Cricket Club on the last Saturday of the Eden Valley League season.

Their First XI was chasing championship honours in the Premier Division, while their Second XI faced a vital First Division relegation clash at Carleton.

I managed to catch action in both of their games on a distinctly autumnal day with rain threatening from dark low clouds. I’ve always worked on the theory that the best games towards the end of the season are those with something at stake, and these both fit the bill.

Lanercost’s ground is beautiful, located in a peaceful, rural village in the Irthing valley, close to the Augustinian Lanercost Priory and Hadrian’s Wall, about 12 miles north-east of Carlisle. I’d last visited during their time as a club in the North Lancashire & Cumbria League a dozen years or so ago, and since then they’ve made various impressive ground improvements.

Lanercost CC’s impressive pavilion

The pavilion has had a major makeover while an electronic scoreboard proudly stands at the far end of the ground near the sightscreen. Car Parking is available at the adjoining primary school. For such a sparsely populated area, the club does superbly well to run two senior teams on a Saturday as well as a Sunday academy team.

Defending champions Lanercost began the day nine points clear of second placed Appelby Eden and ten points ahead of Wetheral. Lanercost were at home to already relegated Penrith Seconds while Wetheral entertained Appelby Eden a few miles away, with 12 points available for a win and four for an abandoned game.

Dark clouds hover over Lanercost

Despite the threatening weather Lanercost’s game started and their bowlers quickly made inroads, with Callum Kennedy, Ryan Proud and Doug Hope all among the wickets and a run out contributing to Penrith’s problems.

It took a hard-hit, unbeaten 33 from captain Martyn Crouch to help his side post a decent total. Coming in at 65 for 4, Crouch saw his side reduced to 84 for 7 before adding 39 with Stefan Carp whose innings of 8 was far more valuable than the scorecard initially suggests. Penrith reached 123 for 8 in their 40 overs, a total considered by the locals to be well within Lanercost’s compass.

So it proved after my departure as Ross Wilson’s 45 and unbeaten 20s from captain Matthew Brown and Jack Mitchelson saw the home side safely defend their title, despite the early alarm of being reduced to 21 for 2. Their victory, with six wickets in hand, was completed in the 23^rd over.

Meanwhile Appelby Eden confirmed runners-up spot by defeating Wetheral by 58 runs.

Along the A69 into Carlisle, a vital game at Carleton was developing.

Carleton’s ground, located just off the A6 Scotland Road, is shared with the Creighton rugby union club and known as the Parklands.

Carleton CC’s Parklands ground, shared with Creighton RU club

I’d been to the area in the past to visit the county archives where many of Cumberland CCC’s scorebooks and other historical documents are held. The former ground of the defunct Carlisle Border Raiders Rugby League side, at Gillford Park, now the home of Northern League soccer club Carlisle City is also not far away.

The Creighton rugby club, whose pitch is railed-off and separate to the cricket field, had started their season with a home game against Cockermouth and many of the spectators had stayed behind to watch a fascinating cricket match unfold as the weather brightened.

Carleton began the game second bottom with 102pts, while Lanercost Seconds had 110pts. At tea the visitors had been bowled out for 101 in 32.5 overs, no3 bat Lawrence Baldwin making a valuable unbeaten 35.

Carleton began their reply confidently with several of their batters making starts but unable to convert the into the big score needed to see them to a comfortable victory.

Carleton looked set for victory until a late collapse

Lanercost bowled and fielded tightly and keenly but at 92 for 4 Carelton looked home and hosed. In a remarkable finish, however, the Lanercost opening bowler Sam Bradshaw came back for a second spell and wreaked havoc. He finished with seven wickets, including the last two in two balls, as Carleton were bowled out for 99 to lose by two runs.

It was therefore a double celebration for Lanercost as their first team retained the title, while their seconds staved off relegation in a dramatic fashion.

The Eden Valley League includes two Scottish sides, Langholm and the Dumfries-based St Michaels, who won the second division title in their second season in the competition. The league covers a wide geographical area and among its member clubs are some of the most picturesque grounds in the country. I aim to write more about this excellent league in the coming months.

A Derbyshire double

Posted by Tony Hutton

The belated return of County Championship cricket took us to the County Ground at Derby on Monday for the visit of Durham. Despite the rather mixed forecast, with much mention of thundery showers for the next three days, we decided to stay around for those three days with the added bonus of a second eleven game just up the road at the attractive Denby village ground, where Derbyshire seconds were taking on Middlesex seconds. 

Derbyshire batting on day one at Derby.

Contrary to the forecast we managed a full day's cricket on day one when Derbyshire batted first at the County Ground. We were delighted to see Chris Rushworth's party piece, taking a wicket with the second ball of the day, having Reece caught behind by Mackintosh. Ben Raine then removed Godleman in the second over and when Rushworth also dismissed the prolific Wayne Madsen in the eleventh over Durham were very much on top at 31-3.

Guest and Du Plooy, who have both been in the runs this season, came to the rescue initially and when Guest was out for 33 Du Plooy was joined by Harry Came in a partnership of 143 for the fifth wicket. Du Plooy eventually fell for 62 when caught behind by Mackintosh off Trevaskis and Gibson, the young pace bowler bowled Came for a well made 78. 

A sunny afternoon at Derby with the home side batting.

We decided to up sticks at the tea interval and took the short journey to Denby to find Derbyshire seconds batting against Middlesex. Following a late start due to overnight rain, we were fortunate to see a full session in the early evening sunshine. Derbyshire were approaching 200 with four wickets down when we arrived. It soon became five when young Harrison, who captained the county's Under 18s last month, was unlucky to be given run out. From our vantage point on the high grassy bank it looked a rather debatable decision.

Middlesex seconds take the field after tea at Denby.

The pavilion at Denby.

However skipper Alex Hughes and former Warwickshire spinner Alex Thomson set about improving the position, both reaching fifties before Thomson was bowled by left arm spinner Walallawita for a rapid 67, which included twelve fours. Hughes was a little slower but was still there at the close of play having also lost under 18 wicketkeeper Hawkins in the process. Derbyshire seconds closed on 326-7 in the eighty overs allowed in a slightly truncated day.

Derbyshire seconds piling on the runs at Denby.

Back to Derby for day two where the home side had been dismissed for 306 after Dal had chipped in with a useful 56 after tea on day one. Mackintosh who has impressed since his recent introduction as wicketkeeper for Durham ended with four catches.  Rain caused a delay in proceedings, but the sun came out after lunch and we had a pleasant afternoon and evening session. We were rather surprised to hear the news that no play had been possible at Denby. Durham made a good start to their innings with Jones and Dickson putting on 79, but when Dickson was caught behind off the accurate Aitchison things began to go wrong.

The lights were on for all of day two at Derby.

Borthwick and the Australian Maddinson both went for single figures and when Jones, on 78, was bowled by a beauty from Derbyshire's Nick Potts (not to be confused with Durham's Matt Potts), Durham were in trouble on 138-4. Bushnell got his head down for two hours, making 35, but only Trevaskis with 25 put up any more serious resistance. Coughlin was run out by a brilliant direct hit throw from Potts and the tail subsided to leave Durham 80 behind with nine wickets down.

Durham were looking good at lunch on day two.

Next morning (day three in both games) dawned rather damp again and hopes were not high as we set off for Denby again. However the sun came out when we arrived and play started promptly at 10.30. The comment in the club house was that they should have played yesterday afternoon and that play for the day had been abandoned much too early. We were able to enjoy an entertaining morning session of two hours ten minutes, before deciding it was time to make for home after lunch to avoid the early evening rush hour on the M1.

Attractive scene at Denby.

After some early morning hitting from the tail involving Ben Hutchinson from Australia, Justin Watson from South Africa and Adam Sylvester from South Wales, Derbyshire were all out for 381, leaving skipper Hughes 78 not out. Best bowler for Middlesex was Walallawita, who finished with 4-76, having last man Sylvester stumped by some distance. A bit different from our last sighting when he bowled just one ball against Durham seconds at Riverside, before falling down, retiring injured not to be seen again!

On paper the Middlesex batting order looked pretty strong, but they very quickly lost Josh de Caires, son of Mike Atherton, caught behind by Hawkins off the lively Sylvester and Max Holden, caught  by Hutchinson from the bowling of Watson. Middlesex 10-2 was certainly not the start we had expected.

Davies and skipper White got things back on an even keel until Davies who had been in for just over the hour was well caught by Harrison, high above his head at mid-on off Hutchinson's bowling for 23.

On it's way for six before lunch.

White began to look at home and helped himself to the last over before lunch from leg spinner Lawton, by despatching him to the mid-wicket boundary for a six and a four. Time for us to depart after another enjoyable session at this very attractive ground, which we have visited regularly in the past when second eleven cricket has been staged there. Sadly there was not a lot more play, the Middlesex innings cut short later that afternoon at 166-7 (White 52, Prasad 34). Yet again there was no play on the following day (day four) and the game was abandoned as a draw.

Rain also had the final say at Derby where we were able to watch the final stages of day four on live streaming, again after several rain delays. For the record Derby made 306 and 214-9 declared and Durham 223 and 176-5. Trevaskis and Coughlin seeing Durham to a draw with a stand of 70 at the end.

Yorkshire under 18s win Northern Group.

 Posted by Tony Hutton

The Northern Group of the Under 18s county championship came to a conclusion yesterday with wins for Derbyshire over Durham at Brandon and Lancashire over Leicestershire at Uppingham School. Yorkshire managed to win the group after quite an exciting finish to their drawn game with Nottinghamshire at Weetwood, Leeds. The major theme of this competition has been of high scoring batsmen and this certainly continued throughout the last games.

This was very much the case at Brandon where Derbyshire's openers put on 376 for the first wicket against Durham. Sheryaar Ali making 188 and Mitchell Wagstaff 198. Durham, despite a valiant 392 in their second innings could not match this and lost by an innings and 23 runs. At Uppingham Lancashire had first innings centuries from Keshana Fonseka and Jack Carney in their ten wicket win over Leicestershire.

Meanwhile at Weetwood Yorkshire's captain Yash Vagadia, who had made centuries in each innings against Lancashire at Widnes last week, followed by 179 not out for Hartlepool on Monday, had a relative failure with 62 for Yorkshire against Nottinghamshire. Top scorer for Yorkshire was Noah Chapman from the Lightcliffe club with an impressive 74, which included thirteen fours. His partnership of 77 for the ninth wicket with Charlie McMurran (40) helped Yorkshire to a first innings score of 305.

Yash Vagadia (Yorkshire)

The two Nottinghamshire spinners Drew Owen (4-81) and Farhan Ahmed (3-31) were the pick of the bowlers and a recent addition to the Yorkshire side, Harvey Round from the Haxey club, near Doncaster, soon impressed with his opening spell. He dismissed both Notts openers with the total on 19-2 and some time later got rid of top batsman Ben Wilcox (already a double centurion in this competition) to make it 68-3. However that was to prove Yorkshire's last success for some considerable time.  

Freddie McCann reaches his century.

The next pair of captain Sam Seecharan and Freddie McCann proceeded to take the game away from Yorkshire completely. They added 220 during which they both passed the century mark before McCann was out for 111. Seecharan, from Tonbridge School in Kent, had not finished yet and thanks to good support from the middle order, in which Holland (36), Sylvester (30), Hatton-Lowe (45) and Ahmed (20) all did well, he batted on to complete his double century, at which point Nottinghamshire declared on 519-9 shortly before the end of day two.

Double centurion Sam Seecharan.

The final day saw a backs to the wall effort by Yorkshire to avoid defeat, although already assured of their place as group winners. Star of the show during the morning session was Alex Cree who had reached 98 not out when lunch came at one p.m. He may have thought it would still be 1.15 as on the previous two days. However the interval obviously unsettled him and he was caught behind when play resumed without adding to his score. Meanwhile the situation was tailor made for Noah Kelly, whose club Driffield have just won the Yorkshire Premier League North.

Alex Cree batting for Yorkshire.

The left hander, another recent double centurion of course, has just the right powers of concentration to play for a draw, which he demonstrated for over two hours in a marathon innings of just 13 runs from 110 balls. Harry Allinson was forced to retire hurt after being hit on the helmet and there was much debate as to whether Yorkshire would be allowed a concussion substitute batter. Bennison and Chapman both fell to Drew Owen and defeat looked well on the cards for Yorkshire.

Nottinghamshire's two centurions fielding in the slips.

Not to be fazed however Isaac Light, who opens the batting for Harrogate, came in at number seven and went onto the attack. He completed a brisk half century before being caught, again off Owen, for a splendid 61 from 68 balls. Nottinghamshire were in sight of victory, but with Yorkshire's slender lead growing only slowly numbers nine and ten some how managed to survive as the last hour began.

Yorkshire's lead eventually crawled into the nineties as the last sixteen overs gradually ticked away and finally when the target had reached 98 to win in effectively seven overs, with still the substitute batsman to come, the visitors called it a day and shook hands on the draw as the Weetwood season came to an end in pleasant early evening sunshine. Certainly a competitive game of cricket throughout, which will have given some of the younger players good experience of how hard three day cricket can be.

1st September sees the last day of cricket at Weetwood this season.

So an excellent competition, which sadly cannot find time for a play off between the other group winners. Worcestershire won the Midlands and West Group and Middlesex won the Southern Group. Finally just a few names to look for in the future amongst the many high scorers thrown up by this competition. Noah Thain 293 for Essex v Kent, Reehan Edavalath, Worcester v Somerset, Tim Lloyd 200 not out Surrey v Sussex and Nathan Fernandes 167 Middlesex v Hampshire.

High scoring draw for England under 19s.

 Posted by Tony Hutton

Sunday 28th August was the first day of the four-day Second Under 19 Test Match between England and Sri Lanka at the County Ground, Derby. A disappointingly small crowd were present to take advantage of free admission and free parking. Sri Lanka had managed to win the first game of the series last week by three wickets at Chelmsford, by chasing down 276 on the final day after high scoring first innings by both sides.

Captains about to make the toss at Derby.

Umpires Warren and Lungley ready with boxes of spare balls.

Play gets underway at Derby.

Several team changes by England and our interest was very much in the three Durham players, skipper Ben McKinney, Ross Whitfield and Stanley McAlindon, together with Ben Cliff the Yorkshire opening bowler. Two Lancastrians also present in Harry Singh and Matt Hurst, who both made a major contribution after rather a poor start by England. They came together when England had lost McKinney, Whitfield and Rew from Somerset, with the total on 60.

McKinney and Singh open for England.

The two both started carefully against the varied Sri Lankan bowling attack, in which left arm spinner Kumara took two early wickets, having McKinney caught at slip and Whitfield caught and bowled. They batted for most of the rest of the day with Hurst the more adventurous of the two. He reached his century during a partnership of 202 and was out for 116 shortly before the end of the day. Singh, played the sheet anchor role and was left stranded on 98 not out overnight, with the total on 268-4.

The Lancastrian pair of Singh and Hurst.

We were not present during the remainder of the game, but were pleased to see Singh complete his century on the live stream the following morning. England were all out for 381, with a useful 52 from Sales of Northamptonshire (son of a famous father). However they were then batted out of the game by Sri Lanka who totalled 542, with a century from Daniel together with four other half centuries and a 49. England managed to bat out for a draw without too much trouble on the final day with 249-5.

Two Sri Lankan bowlers acknowledge the applause.

Good to see runs for the two Durham boys - 74 from McKinney and 63 from Whitfield. We did not get the chance to see England bowl, but obviously the two spinners Majid from Surrey and Foreman from Sussex both got a long bowl with 36 and 41 overs respectively during the long Sri Lankan innings.

Model forward defensive shot perfected by Harry Singh.

Difficult to predict which of the England players might make the grade in the future. Many of the first choice players were absent due to either Royal London Cup commitments with their counties or appearing in the 100 competition. However the Northern contingent certainly did themselves no harm and will hopefully get further opportunities in the one day competitions with Sri Lanka coming up shortly.

Yet another T20 final in Bradford.

 Posted by Tony Hutton

Many thanks to Mike Latham for his comprehensive coverage of two T20 finals on either side of the Pennines. Thanks also to Nick Spachis, who has supplied a third T20 final report from none other than the Bradford Mutual Sunday School Cricket League, which obviously continues to thrive. This certainly breaks new ground for the blog and we are delighted to be able to bring this to you.

There may be some confusion among followers of league cricket in Yorkshire by the name of one of the finalists. TABS cricket club, based in Bradford, were founded in 2013 and the name derives from the four initial letters of the names of the four friends who started the club. It has no connection with Thorp Arch and Boston Spa cricket club of the York Senior League, which uses the same initials in it's name.

Saturday 20 August, Park Avenue Cricket ground, Bradford

 Girlington crowned Rizues T20 Cup Champions

Girlington have won the first Rizues T20 Cup after beating TABS by 36 runs at a bright and breezy Park Avenue Cricket Ground on Saturday 20th August. Rizwan Mustaq struck an unbeaten 51 not out and Khurram Rasheed hit 42 to help Girlington to an intimidating 181-5 in their 20 overs, a total which proved too much for TABS as they could only reach 145-6 in reply with Farhad Raja claiming 4/34 for the winners.

Girlington won the toss and decided to bat first on an excellent surface prepared by the groundsman. Man of match Rizwan's stylish half-century comprised a mix of elegant stroke play and power hitting as he struck four boundaries and two sixes. He was supported by Khurram Rasheed (42) who struck four boundaries and three sixes in a quickfire knock which ultimately took the game away from TABS.

In the second innings, TABS had a decent opening stand of 40 but were unable to keep up with the required scoring rate and then lost wickets at regular intervals ultimately hindering their chase. Resultantly, the final few overs were played out in hope rather than conviction with the absence of any real batting firepower at the crease. A telling spell from off-spinner Farhad Raja did the damage for Girlington as he finished with 4/34 to go with his figures of 4/20 in the semi-final.

In the end, Girlington's strength proved too much, their victory fully deserved. It capped an excellent tournament for the team. As the final delivery was bowled by Girlington, their supporters cheered, and the celebrations commenced. Majid Zia became the first captain to hold aloft the impressive Rizues Cup, presented to him by Anna Potjakina of The Rizues Ltd. along with a record prize cheque of £1700 no less. He was surrounded by his ecstatic players and supporters.

It was the climax of an entertaining Finals Day which began at 10 a.m. with the first semi-final between Girlington and Hallfield producing a good game which was in the balance for a while before Girlington came through by 20 runs. That was followed up by the second semi-final at 1.15 p.m., where the eventual finalists, TABS, strung a surprise by beating a lacklustre Apperley Bridge by four wickets.

There were many supporters present for the teams that competed, as well as players and fans from most Bradford Mutual Sunday School Cricket League clubs in attendance throughout the day. They were joined by chief Guest Dr Manoj Joshi MBE DL, Chair of the Bradford District Economic Partnership, who was present at the final presentation alongside his wife.

Overall, there was a sense of satisfaction for everyone at the conclusion of what has been a fantastic new addition to the BMSSCL - the Rizues T20 Cup. League Chairman, Dr Rizwan Hameed, addressed the crowd a the final presentation saying 'I must thank everyone involved for helping to make this competition a resounding success. When I became Chairman, I wanted to do something to help enhance the image of the BMSSCL and we have managed to do that by firstly securing this sponsorship from Rizues and then organising and delivering this fantastic tournament'.

Twenty20 Finals showcase two top leagues

 

By Mike Latham

The highlight of many major cricket leagues' season is their Twenty20 final, and I had the pleasure of attending two such occasions recently.

The Bradford League, which is sponsored by Gordon Rigg Garden Centres, staged theirs under the permanent floodlights of the Bradford & Bingley ground on a Thursday evening.

The multi-purpose sports ground will be familiar to many readers of these pages and is a splendid facility, well maintained.

The intended 7pm start was not possible due to difficulties posed by the setting sun and play finally got underway an hour later.

Bradford & Bingley CC under the floodlights

 

And on a normal Saturday match day

The final pitted Woodlands, fresh from a season defining championship win over New Farnley, against Hanging Heaton and attracted a big crowd of spectators, including representatives and players from many of the league’s 48 participating clubs.

Woodlands batted first in fading natural light and the floodlights only came into full effect during the second innings.

Even so, their total of 171 for 8 looked to be a good one in the circumstances. Captain Brad Schmulian, as he so often has been, was top scorer with 41. Born in Cape Town, he moved to New Zealand at the age of nine and has represented Central Districts. He clearly is a class act.

Thomas Clee with 30 and Elliot Richardson (24) were the other main contributors as Hanging Heaton’s concession of 37 extras, including 27 wides, proved crucial.

The large crowd enjoy the Bradford League’s Twenty20 showpiece

Though the standard of play was very good, as you’d expect from two of the top clubs in the Bradford League, the inability of some of the bowlers to consistently find the disciplined line needed in this form of cricket was surprising.

Hanging Heaton lost Adam Patel and Ben Kohler-Cadmore early in their reply and at 37/4 and 98/8 they never seriously looked like challenging, finishing 135/9 thanks to the tailenders providing some defiance. Woodlands crucially conceded only six wides and ran out winners by 36 runs.

Two days later, in the penultimate round of fixtures, they cliched the Bradford League championship by virtue of a victory over Pudsey St Lawrence, so congratulations to them. Schmulian’s 996 league runs at an average of 55 has played a large part in their success, but they are clearly far more than a one-man team.

Hanging Heaton, by the way, rediscovered their batting form and amassed 423/9 in their resounding 245-run victory over Methley, Kohler-Cadmore leading the way with 124.

Before leaving the Bradford League, I must pay tribute to Reg Nelson, whose superb club histories, historical articles, weekly previews and round-ups, coupled with Ray Spencer’s photos, and the contributions of many other volunteers, make the league website such a great source of information.

Lancashire League finals are well supported, such as this one, at Lowerhouse

The Lancashire League get great support for their major finals, and after a huge crowd at Ramsbottom for the Worsley Cup Final there was another big gathering at Lowerhouse CC for their JW Lees sponsored Twenty20 Finals Day.

Carried over from Rochdale, where only the first semi final was able to be played because of rain, Clitheroe awaited the winners of the Crompton-Lowerhouse semi-final. Crompton’s five-wicket win disappointed the home supporters, but the vast majority stayed on to enjoy the final on Bank Holiday Monday.

Lowerhouse CC on Finals Day

Clitheroe posted an imposing 187-3 built upon opener Stuart Lemon’s unbeaten 64 and left-handed sub-pro Azim Kazi’s explosive 60 off 34 balls, the pair adding 109 for the third wicket. Crompton were 85 all out in reply, Cole Hayman taking 4-13.

Lowerhouse’s Brooks Foundation Ground, situated on Liverpool Road in Burnley, is one of my favourite grounds. If ever someone tells you cricket is dying, bring them along here and see the sheer enthusiasm for the game from two-year-olds to 92-year-olds in a friendly and welcoming environment with great facilities.

And about club websites, Lancashire League webmaster Nigel Stockley has chalked up yet another season (lancashireleague.com). Nigel does a simply outstanding job, and his website is unequalled in league cricket in my opinion. The archive section has details of every league game and player, a quite extraordinary labour of love and a rich historical resource.