Match Day 6th July 2002 PRESTON SPRING A SURPPRISE By Gerry Wolstenholme There was a major surprise in the round of games that opened the second half of the season, and it was sprung by Preston. They entertained leaders Morecambe who had won the first encounter comfortably by nine wickets and who had gone on to remain undefeated in the first 11 games. That record came unstuck at West Cliff as Preston defeated them by 64 runs. Preston batted first and with Ian McDonnell showing good form to make a top score of 34 and professional Raouf Akbar contributing 28 they made a rather modest 139-7 from their 57 overs. Peter Stephens bowled all through the innings to have 1-59 from his 29 overs while Ramesh Powar took 6-60. Morecambe got off to a good start with openers Mark Woodhead and Phil Dennison making 21 and 14 respectively. But thereafter no other batsman reached double figures as Preston bowled Morecambe out for only 75. Rudra Singh took the first three wickets to finish with 3-22 but it was Manoj Parekh who wrapped things up with an impressive 5-21. Darwen took advantage of Morecambe's slip-up to move to the top of the table courtesy of a comfortable victory over Leyland. Andrew Mercer was in fine form for Darwen and added another seven wickets to his already impressive season. His 7-30, along with Jeff Hacking's 3-22, was instrumental in Leyland's dismissal for only 73 to which Munaf Bavla contributed almost half with 36. Darwen did not find winning that easy but Gary Jackson's 36 put them well on the way and it was Michael Horsfield at the crease with four not out when Darwen reached their target of 74 with six wickets down, Pieter Koortzen having taken 4-26. Netherfield made short shrift of Fleetwood at Broadwater where Pieter Strydom was in magnificent form with both bat and ball. When Fleetwood batted he took 5-34 to dismiss the home side for only 117 with Gulam Bodi making 44. And then when Netherfield lost two early wickets he strode to the crease and displayed his immense talent with 60 not out made with some audacious shots. He was still there when Netherfield cruised home at 120-3. Netherfield's neighbours Kendal meanwhile disposed of Blackpool to take revenge for their opening day defeat at Stanley Park. Batting first Kendal made 211-8 and Blackpool's Chris Barrow committed the cardinal sin of dropping Terry Hunte twice on his way to 119 not out. Kevin Howarth ably assisted with 46 and Kendal declared with two overs remaining on 211-8. Although Mark Lomas made 55, no-one else could stay and only Barrow reached 20 as Blackpool subsided, but with only three overs of the game left, to 137 all out and defeat by 74 runs. Kabir Khan took 4-31 and Howarth added to his batting with 2-22. Chorley were the afternoon's other winners as they rolled over Leyland Motors for 78 with ex-Motors professional Stephen John having a good day with 4-31. Only David Makinson with 37 put up any resistance. Chorley then lost five wickets in reaching their target at 81-5 and it was the experienced pair of Neil Senior and Jim Fazackerley, both 14 not out, who saw them home. Ali Raza took 4-27 for Motors. The final game of the afternoon ended in a draw as St Annes threw away a golden opportunity to defeat Lancaster who had batted first and made 190. David Heywood top scored with 55 and Luke Phillips made 45 while Geoff Love had his second successive seven-wicket haul with 7-47. St Annes lost two early wickets in reply but Jack Kelleher, who made a maiden First Division half century, and Russ Bradley put them back on track with a good partnership. Only 75 were needed from the final 20 overs with eight wickets in hand but once Kelleher, a cultured 57, was dismissed, wickets fell regularly and it was Lancaster who finished in the ascendency having all fielders round the bat with St Annes hanging on at 158-9. Fortunately skipper Sean Bickerdike was there with 20 not out and it was a relief to see that more than accomplished batsman James Ellis come out at number 11. He resisted all that Rennier Munnik could send down at him and St Annes held on. Scores in brief (home side in bold): Leyland 73 (37.3 overs) (Bavla 36, Mercer 7-30), Darwen 74-6 (31.4 overs) (Jackson 36, Koortzen 4-26) Leyland 1 point, Darwen 12 points Fleetwood 117 (48.2 overs) (Strydom 5-34), Netherfield 120-3 (23.4 overs) (Strydom 60*) Fleetwood 0 points, Netherfield 12 points Kendal 211-8 dec (53 overs) (Hunte 119*, Howarth 46), Blackpool 137 (51 overs) (Lomas 55) Kendal 15 points, Blackpool 2 points Leyland Motors 78 (35.2 overs) , Chorley 81-5 (39 overs) Chorley 12 points, Leyland Motors 0 points Preston 139-7 (57 overs) (McDonnell 34, Powar 6-60), Morecambe 75 (37.3 overs) (Parekh 5-21) Preston 15 points, Morecambe 1 point Lancaster 190 (55.3 overs) (Heywood 55, Phillips 44, Love 7-47), St Annes 158-9 (57 overs) (Kelleher 57, Munnik 5-48) Lancaster 8 points, St Annes 5 points BAY 96.9 NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE DIVISION ONE Club P W15 W12 D4 D1 L NR4 BP Pts Darwen 12 2 5 3 0 0 2 9 119 Morecambe 12 1 8 0 1 1 1 2 118 Netherfield 12 2 3 2 0 2 3 11 97 Kendal 12 3 1 1 1 3 3 9 83 Fleetwood 12 1 2 2 2 3 2 16 73 Chorley 12 1 2 1 3 3 2 9 63 Blackpool 12 2 0 2 2 5 2 13 61 St Annes 12 1 1 0 5 2 3 16 60 Lancaster 12 1 0 3 3 3 2 22 60 Preston 12 2 0 1 0 6 3 9 55 Leyland 12 0 2 0 0 7 3 14 50 Leyland Motors 12 1 0 2 0 7 2 15 46 ACTION REPLAY(S)! STRYDOM SUPREME Fleetwood 117, Netherfield 120-3 St ANNES LOSE THE PLOT Lancaster 190, St Annes 158-9 By Gerry Wolstenholme It was the Pieter Strydom show at Broadwater on Saturday afternoon as he bowled and batted his side to a comfortable victory against unpredictable Fleetwood. The home side won the toss, batted first and made heavy weather of making 117 all out in 48.2 overs. The Netherfield reply was far more cultured and they had no difficulty in reaching 120-3 from only 23.4 overs so the game ended around 5-30. Fleetwood began quite well with John Wright in good scoring form and David Wheatman not bowling at his best for Netherfield. But at the other end Scott Clement had a grip on the Fleetwood batsmen and it was he who broke the opening partnership when he had Wright leg before wicket for 22 out of 33. Michael Dewhurst made 11 before the introduction of the spinners undid him as he went to sweep Mark Hadwin only to find his team-mate Steve Hill lurking at short backward square leg taking a comfortable catch. Hill was on the field as substitute fielder for Graham Dodds who suffered a hamstring injury in chasing a ball to the boundary. That was 37-2 and Fleetwood never really recovered despite a fighting 44 from professional Gulam Bodi. Michael Clinning made 10 before he fell to an excellent running-backward catch at mid-on by Clement off the bowling of Pieter Strydom. That was 72-3 and the remaining seven wickets were then lost for just 45 runs. Most of those came from the bat of Bodi for others perished to the combined spin of Strydom and John Eccles. Nick Coultas was leg before wicket to Strydom for one, 73-4, and it was 78-5 when Eccles had big hitting Mark Wilkinson held at deep backward square leg by Ryan Wilson for five. Zac Taylor was the sixth wicket to fall at 81 when stand-in, and excellent, wicketkeeper Tommy Prime smartly stumped him off Strydom for nought. Alex Laird made eight before Eccles bowled him at 94-7 and then a few runs from Bodi and a swept four from Keith Riley took the total to 107. Then Grahame Clarke caught Riley at silly mid-off and Steve Hill was leg before wicket to Strydom for nought and it was 107-9. Bodi managed 10 further runs to take him to 44 before he edged Eccles through to Prime who took a good catch and Fleetwood were all out for 117. Strydom had 5-34, Eccles 3-15 and Hadwin 1-26. Netherfield's reply began none too well for both openers were back in the pavilion by the time the total had reached 17. Craig Walmsley was caught at mid-on by Bodi off Hill for four and Prime was bowled by Hill for 12. Clarke and Strydom added 42 before the former squirted Taylor straight to Hill at point and he was gone for 10, greatly annoyed with himself as he returned to the pavilion. There were no further wickets as Strydom and Eccles proceeded to put on 61 runs in 33 minutes to take Netherfield to their target of 120-3. Strydom had so much time to play his shots that he seemed to have options even as the ball was approaching him and he ended with 60 not out from 59 balls with three sixes, one straight onto the bonnet of a car, and seven fours. Eccles, who outscored the professional 29 to 27 in the final partnership, faced only 25 balls and hit two fours. Netherfield's 12 points plus Morecambe's defeat closed the gap between them and the second placed side but there is still almost half a season to go - with surely better weather to come with it! The 5-30 finish allowed time for a quick dash to Vernon Road to catch the end of the St Annes versus Lancaster fixture and on arrival it looked as though St Annes were going to cruise home. They were 88-2 in reply to Lancaster's all out 190 with plenty of overs in hand. Young Jack Kelleher looked a fine prospect as he moved effortlessly to his maiden first team half century and in partnership with Russ Bradley looked as though he would see his side home. At drinks, with 20 overs remaining, St Annes needed a mere 75 runs with eight wickets in hand. Then the picture changed completely as Kelleher fell to a catch by David Heywood off Rennier Munnik for a well made 57. As often happens after a prolific partnership, the other batsman quickly followed as Bradley was leg before wicket to Munnik for 38. Wickets then fell steadily. Adrian Darlington, five, was leg before wicket to Graham Barnes and Joe Davies fell to a superb tumbling catch by Atkinson in the deep for four. Adam Taylor, seven, was run out going for a second, Roger Banks was stumped by Brendan Hetherington off Barnes for two and when Duncan Whalley had his stumps rearranged by Munnik before he had scored there were still almost three overs remaining. Fortunately skipper Sean Bickerdike had young James Ellis as his partner and Munnik must have wondered what sort of number 11 played straight down the line to his fastest bowling. That is exactly what Ellis did while Bickerdike at the other end also held firm and Lancaster were thwarted with St Annes finishing on 149-4. But for the home side it was still a case of what might have been but all credit to Lancaster for fighting back with Munnik taking 5-48 and Barnes 3-33. Second Division results in brief (home teams in bold): Blackpool 168 (Lamb 53, Brown 7-55) (47.2overs), Kendal 72 (Parker 4-2) (21.3 overs) Blackpool 15 points, Kendal 3 points Chorley 105-9 (50 overs), Leyland Motors 106-5 (38 overs) (Jones 54*) Chorley 0 points, Leyland Motors 12 points St Annes 141 (48.5 overs) (Masterman 4-40), Lancaster 142-4 ( 45.3 overs) (Cunliffe 52*, Booth 4-33) St Annes 0 points, Lancaster 12 points Leyland 135-9 (50 overs) (Gill 40), Darwen 96 (42.3 overs) (Chatterton 5-37) Leyland 15 points, Darwen 2 points Preston 58 (36.5 overs), Morecambe 59-3 (22.2 overs) Preston 0 points, Morecambe 12 points Fleetwood 190 (Whalley 42) (50 overs),Netherfield 124-7 (46 overs) Fleetwood 7 points, Netherfield 4 points BAY 96.9 NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE DIVISION TWO Club P W15 W12 D4 D1 L NR4 BP Pts Lancaster 12 3 4 2 0 1 2 11 120 Fleetwood 12 1 4 4 0 2 1 19 102 Morecambe 12 2 4 1 2 1 2 9 101 Netherfield 12 3 2 0 3 1 3 11 95 Darwen 12 0 5 0 2 3 2 7 77 St Annes 12 1 4 0 1 4 2 2 74 Leyland 12 2 1 2 1 4 2 7 66 Leyland Motors 12 0 3 1 0 6 2 7 55 Chorley 12 1 2 1 0 7 1 7 54 Preston 12 2 0 0 2 6 2 11 51 Kendal 12 0 2 1 1 6 2 11 48 Blackpool 12 1 1 1 1 7 1 10 46

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