By Michael Latham
Craig Walmsley is congratulated on his century by Glen Batticciotto |
St Annes leap-frogged Chorley and went to the top of the Furness Building Society Northern Premier Cricket League (in association with 3D Sports) after an eight wickets at Fleetwood.
Atiq Uz-Zaman, the league's leading amateur batsman in 2008, hit his first century of the season, an unbeaten 101 to steer St Annes past Fleetwood's modest 148 for 9 in partnership with Stephen Twist who finished 43 not out. Atiq's innings included 15 fours and two sixes and came off only 114 balls
Fleetwood's South African pro Hendrick van der Dussen bolstered his side's total with an unbeaten 61 off 131 balls with just three boundaries.
With Chorley inactive third-placed Preston lost the chance to take advantage when they were resoundingly beaten at Ernest Pass by a rejuvenated Barrow side.
Preston were bowled out for 82 in 34 overs with Barrow's experienced Sri Lankan professional Pasan Wanasinghe claiming six for 29 from 17 overs. Barrow captain Daryl Wearing celebrated his call-up for the Cumberland county side by taking 2 for 26 off 16 overs. Barrow eased to their target for the loss of three wickets with Wanasinghe 20 not out.
Leyland are fourth despite coming out on the wrong end of a draw at Lodge Quarry where Carnforth's left-arm spinner Warren Quinn almost bowled his side to a second successive victory.
Quinn took five for 41, his fourth five-wicket haul of the season but Leyland held out with nine wickets down 23 runs short of Carnforth's 218 for 8. Tom Reece top scored for Leyland with 47 from 39 balls, including six fours and two sixes.
Earlier Carnforth opener Ryan Nelson continued his fine start to the season hitting 88 from 97 balls including 15 fours and one six. Nelson shared a second wicket stand of 84 with captain Darren Moore (31). Leyland pro Ameer Khan took four wickets with his leg-spin.
Darwen professional David Wiese had an outstanding all-round game as his side romped to a seven wickets win over Lancaster at Birch Hall.
In the only rain-affected game of the day Lancaster were bowled out for 106, 3.2 overs short of their 34-overs allocation with the South African taking six for 43. Wiese cut down his run-up due to the damp conditions underfoot but was none the worse for it while Stuart Hampson weighed in with two wickets
Lancaster's South African professional Mario Olivier took three quick wickets but Wiese batted superbly, hitting four fours and two sixes to reach 52 not out and see his side home in partnership with Chris Lowe (25 not out).
Morecambe's last wicket pair of Lewis Edge and Jono Gates scrambled their side home to a nail-biting win at Shap Road.
Kendal professional and skipper Ross McMillan had made 66 off 93 balls in his side's 168 for 9, Nick Lewthwaite adding a valuable 32 from 36 balls. The experienced Graham Lee took five for 55 for the visitors. Morecambe pro Mandla Mashimbyi hit 48 in his side's reply sharing a sixth wicket stand of 63 with skipper Tommy Clough, but Stuart Parkin's four-wicket haul took Kendal to the verge of victory.
The best batting total of the day came at Stanley Park where the Netherfield pair of Craig Walmsley and Australian professional Glen Batticciotto both hit centuries in their side's 261 for 4 declared. Walmsley's 118 was his sixth Northern League century and came off just 120 balls and included ten fours and five sixes. Batticciotto's second successive hundred for Netherfield came off 117 balls and included one six and 13 fours. The pair shared a second wicket partnership of 190 in 34 overs.
Blackpool 'keeper James Smith makes a fine catch to dismiss Netherfield captain Chris Parry |
Glen Batticciotto scored his second successive hundred for Netherfield |
When Blackpool batted their reply was interrupted by a streaker. Batticciotto then took the first three Blackpool wickets to fall but was then banned from bowling for the rest of the innings by umpire Tommy Wilson after letting slip a number of full tosses above waist high. It was the second such occurrence for the Queenslander this season as he was also banned from bowling at Darwen earlier this season for the same reason.
The defending champions had 53 overs in which to bowl out Blackpool and looked on target when home professional Saj Weerakoon was stumped by John Huck off Chris Miller for 51 to leave the home side 106 for 6 in the 35th over.
But second team captain Steve Mercer battled through 22 overs for 20 and the ninth wicket pair of James Smith and Richard Gleeson batted out the last 12 overs to frustrate the visitors with their dogged resistance.
Netherfield crowd the bat at Stanley Park in a tense finish |
FIRST DIVISION SCORES:
BARROW v PRESTON
Barrow (12pts) defeated Preston (0pts) by 7 wickets
Preston 82 (P Wanasinghe 6 for 29), Barrow 84 for 3
BLACKPOOL v NETHERFIELD
Netherfield (9pts) winning draw; Blackpool (3pts)
Netherfield 261 for 4 dec (C Walmsley 118, G Batticciotto 100no), Blackpool 166 for 8 (S Weerakoon 51)
CARNFORTH v LEYLAND
Carnforth (10pts) winning draw; Leyland (6pts)
Carnforth 218 for 8 (R Nelson 88, Ameer Khan 4 for 53), Leyland 195 for 9 (T Reece 47, W Quinn 5 for 41)
DARWEN v LANCASTER
Darwen (12pts) defeated Lancaster (0pts) by 7 wickets
Lancaster 106 (D Wiese 6 for 43), Darwen 107 for 3 (D Wiese 52no)
FLEETWOOD v ST ANNES
St Annes (12pts) defeated Fleetwood (1pt) by 8 wickets
Fleetwood 148 for 9 (H van der Dussen 61no), St Annes 151 for 2 (Atiq Uz-Zaman 101no, S Twist 43no)
KENDAL v MORECAMBE
Morecambe (12pts) defeated Kendal (5pts) by one wicket
Kendal 168 for 9 (R McMillan 66, G Lee 5 for 55), Morecambe 169 for 9 (M Mashimbyi 48, S Parkin 4 for 53)
Chorley no game
FURNESS BUILDING SOCIETY
( INCORPORATING 3D SPORTS )
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| St Annes |
11 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
11 |
105 |
| Chorley |
11 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
16 |
104 |
| Preston |
11 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
8 |
88 |
| Leyland |
11 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
23 |
80 |
| Blackpool |
11 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
21 |
78 |
| Netherfield |
11 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
29 |
78 |
| Morecambe |
11 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
16 |
76 |
| Kendal |
11 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
25 |
73 |
| Darwen |
11 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
12 |
70 |
| Carnforth |
11 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
28 |
64 |
| Barrow |
11 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
13 |
61 |
| Fleetwood |
12 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
21 |
59 |
| Lancaster |
11 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
11 |
48 |
Divison Two
500 wicket milestone for Pallett
In Division Two leaders Lancaster lost at home to Darwen whose teenaged wicket-keeper/batsman Alex Davies hit an outstanding 105, his first Northern League century.
Second placed Blackpool failed to take advantage when they went down to an eight wickets defeat at Parkside Road. Nathan Chambers took six wickets for 19 for Netherfield, John Caunce providing the main resistance with 51.
Leyland moved up to second after a resounding ten wickets win over Carnforth at Fox Lane. It was a landmark day for Leyland's Steven Pallett who took three for 22. When Pallett claimed his second wicket, bowling Garry Baxendale, it was his 500th wicket in Northern League cricket, a tremendous achievement for the one-club man.
Morecambe skipper Nick Milner took five wickets and Andy Armstrong hit an undefeated half century as their side defeated Kendal while Paul Mann's undefeated 69 steered Preston to victory over Barrow.
Last season's champions St Annes lost at home to Fleetwood as Matt Clarke and Mark Wilkinson both hit half centuries in a challenging run chase. St Annes captain Neil Bradley had top-scored with 74 in his side's 205.
SECOND DIVISION SCORES:
LANCASTER v DARWEN
Darwen (15pts) defeated Lancaster (2pts) by 67 runs
Darwen 213 for 5 (A Davies 105, G Ainslie 62), Lancaster 146 (I Parkinson 41)
LEYLAND v CARNFORTH
Leyland (12pts) defeated Carnforth (0pts) by 10 wickets
Carnforth 75, Leyland 77 for 0 (N McDonnell 48no)
MORECAMBE v KENDAL
Morecambe (12pts) defeated Kendal (2pts) by 3 wickets
Kendal 117 (N Milner 5 for 21), Morecambe 118 for 7 (A Armstrong 50no)
NETHERFIELD v BLACKPOOL
Netherfield (12pts) defeated Blackpool (0pts) by 8 wickets
Blackpool 126 (J Caunce 51, N Chambers 6 for 19), Netherfield 127 for 2
PRESTON v BARROW
Preston (12pts) defeated Barrow (2pts) by 6 wickets
Barrow 166 (R Penny 74, A Cartmell 49, U Alam 5 for 41), Preston 167 for 4 (P Mann 69no, A Sheheen 56)
ST ANNES v FLEETWOOD
Fleetwood (12pts) defeated St Annes (5pts) by 3 wickets
St Annes 205 (N Bradley 74, S Bickerdike 57, J Hay 4 for 27), Fleetwood 210 for 7 (M Wilkinson 58no, M Clarke 52)
Chorley no game
FURNESS BUILDING SOCIETY
( INCORPORATING 3D SPORTS )
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Lancaster |
11 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
12 |
114 |
| Leyland |
11 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
16 |
91 |
| Blackpool |
11 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
10 |
84 |
| Morecambe |
11 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
15 |
83 |
| Chorley |
11 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
3 |
9 |
81 |
| Darwen |
11 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
11 |
77 |
| Fleetwood |
12 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
15 |
72 |
| Kendal |
11 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
1 |
9 |
67 |
| St Annes |
11 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
18 |
67 |
| Netherfield |
11 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
17 |
65 |
| Preston |
11 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
8 |
60 |
| Carnforth |
11 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
19 |
57 |
| Barrow |
11 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
3 |
20 |
48 |
