MCC match at Kendal marks League's 60th anniversary
The 2010 season was a most successful one both
on and off the field, with some excellent cricket being
played, the finals being really fine showcase occasions and
blessed by good weather and the League's end of season
presentation evening a tremendous event enjoyed by all who
attended.
The League was also able to extend its
sponsorship portfolio and was delighted to retain the
commitment of its main sponsors for the 2011 season.
On the field the season was notable for the
double championship success of Leyland Cricket Club. The first
eleven, inspirationally led by David Makinson earned a maximum
15 points win in their first game of the season and maintained
their lead at the top throughout a successful campaign. David
was a member of Leyland's 1981 championship-winning team and
has been a tremendous servant to local cricket as well as
playing for Lancashire and Cumberland with distinction.
Norman
Poole presents David Makinson with the Division One
championship trophy |
It was interesting to hear David say that for
all he has achieved in the game, including the double of
10,000 runs and 1,000 wickets in Northern League cricket, he
rated this season as his most enjoyable and satisfying.
Leyland's professional Brett Pelser made a big contribution on
and off the field and so many players contributed
match-winning performances when it mattered most.
Backed by a committed and enthusiastic band of
club members and supporters, Leyland's success came just four
seasons after the merger between Leyland & Farington CC
and the old Leyland Motors CC club. Though it was extremely
sad to see Motors leave the league the merger breathed new
life into the Leyland club whose first and second teams both
finished bottom of their respective leagues in 2006 and it has
been gratifying to see the way so many people have worked
together to ensure the survival and continued prosperity of
cricket in the town.
The Leyland Second XI, led by Chris Dovey were
worthy champions of the Second Division and to complete a
successful season the Leyland Third and Fourth XIs also won
their respective leagues while the junior set-up at the club
is vibrant and producing some excellent prospects for the
future.
Ironically, the two games that Leyland lost were
two of the best games of the season and in the eyes of
seasoned Northern League spectators two of the best games ever
seen in the league. In June defending champions St Annes
prevailed by one wicket at the end of an enthralling game
watched by a large crowd on a perfect summer's day at Fox
Lane. Late in the season Barrow fought back from being bowled
out for 94 to defeat Leyland at Fox Lane by ten runs in
another thrilling game. On another memorable occasion Leyland
chased down a target of nearly 300 to beat Preston, another
fine advertisement for the league.
Barrow enjoyed their best season since joining
the league in 2004 and finished worthy runners-up. The club
has made massive strides since coming into the league and they
always provide a friendly welcome to visitors to their well
appointed ground and they have proved a tremendous asset to
the Northern League.
One of the features of the season was the way
that games were never predictable and on their day any team in
the league could beat another. It was also noticeable that
many young players were given their opportunity to play a good
standard of cricket and participate fully in games. There are
some tremendously exciting prospects in the league and one who
stood out was Darwen's Alex Davies who was chosen for the
elite England U17s squad. Our congratulations go to him.
Two players who moved onto county cricket from
the Northern League, Chorley's Tom Smith and Blackpool's
Steven Croft both had the distinction of being awarded their
Lancashire county caps during the season and Croft was then
selected for the England squad for the Hong Kong Sixes
tournament.
The league's proven record of developing young
players was recognised when the Lancashire Cricket Director
Mike Watkinson approached me with a view of placing a
Lancashire Colts side in the league. The Colts enjoyed their
first season in 2010, playing against each club once for full
league points and the initiative proved mutually beneficial.
Mike and his staff were delighted by the way the Colts side
was welcomed by all member clubs and the excellent environment
in which they able to monitor their young players and I am
glad to report that the Colts side will again compete in the
league in 2011.
Rob Cairns, the Chief Executive of Furness
Building Society is a tremendous supporter of cricket and the
Society were valuable main sponsors of our league competition.
We were delighted that they will continue their sponsorship in
2011. Rob thoroughly enjoyed attending our league presentation
dinner held at Leyland Golf Club in October where players,
officials, sponsors and supporters of the league mixed
together on an evening of great conviviality and
friendship.
All the major awards were sponsored and it was
pleasing to see Division Two players have their own individual
awards this year as well as the creation of Dream Teams for
both divisions.
Neil Pullen, representing Readers Cricket Balls
has also been a huge supporter of our league and his company
supplied the cricket balls used in the league throughout the
summer. As well as being subsidiary sponsors of the league,
Readers sponsored the two main cup competitions and we were
blessed by great weather as Darwen beat hosts Morecambe to
lift the Readers Cup in division one while Chorley made home
advantage count by beating St Annes in division two.
Both the Morecambe and Chorley clubs are to be
commended for the way they made the arrangements for the
finals which were watched by big crowds. I know that Neil was
very impressed by the way that both games were staged and by
the excellent cricket on display. We are delighted that
Readers will continue their valuable sponsorship of the league
in 2011.
The Twenty20 competition has grown in stature in
the last few years and after a series of exciting group games
the four finalists converged on Preston for a highly
successful Finals Day. Again Preston CC are to be commended
for the excellent arrangements they made in hosting what was a
tremendous spectacle, with Netherfield emerging as winners of
the competition after a hard-fought final against
Blackpool.
League vice-chairman Mike Latham kindly
sponsored the Twenty20 competition through his accountancy
firm Latham Baxendale and has reaffirmed his support for next
season. Mike was also instrumental in the editorial of the
new-look league handbook which was designed by Tony Hannan and
his Scratching Shed Publishing team. Tony is a hugely talented
writer whose recent books on Eddie Waring and his history of
Northern Comedy have been critically acclaimed and his design
work on the handbook was first-class.
Scratching Shed kindly sponsored the Dream Teams
and the Division Two awards and have reaffirmed their support
for next year.
We were also grateful for the support of Matthew
Castle whose firm Castle Financial & Mortgage Services
sponsored the Division One Castle Awards and Andy Sneddon of
Black Dragon Badges and Promotions who sponsored the Fair Play
awards.
The were many highlights of the season but there
are a few worthy of special mention here. The Netherfield
professional Nick Kruger equalled the league's batting record
by making 208 against Preston and new Chorley records in both
division one and two were set by JJ Smuts and Stuart Naden.
Marc Hadwin of Netherfield also achieved the milestone of 500
division one league wickets.
As chairman of the Disciplinary committee I was
pleased to report that the league continued to maintain its
hard earned reputation for sportsmanship and adhering to the
Spirit of Cricket. There were only a handful of minor
incidents that were dealt with effectively by the clubs
themselves without recourse to the league's disciplinary
procedures. The League is determined to ensue that standards
continue to be maintained in this regard.
As part of the ECB directives for Premier
Leagues, a new system of Umpires' marks for pitches and
outfields was introduced in 2010 with each division one and
two match being subject to the marking procedure. The data was
compiled by Mike Latham and has proved most useful in
highlighting areas in which we need to improve as well as
those where standards are high. In addition Alan Bolton again
kindly agreed to act as an assessor in the new method of
assessing Umpires.
The League has continued to maintain its
presence on the internet with the main league web site on the
ECB's playcricket.com system and John Kettlestring's archive
website again receiving a new record number of 'hits'.
The League also operated a Facebook site that
was very successful and results are distributed electronically
to a large number of recipients after each match-day. The main
website has a powerful statistics database that is used
extensively by many people and a valuable news archive.
The webmaster Mike Latham was again assisted by
Ian Farrington who took responsibility for the inputting of
division two scorecards throughout the season. The league is
indebted to their dedication in maintaining an up-to-date
source of information as well as the contribution of John
Kettlestring who maintains an outstanding archive website.
The League acknowledges the support of many
people in ensuring that cricket takes place throughout the
summer, from players, umpires, scorers, catering staff,
groundsmen and administrators.
We are also grateful for the support of the
local media with particular mention to the
Lancashire
Evening Post,
Westmorland Gazette,
Barrow Evening
Mail,
Chorley & Leyland Guardian,
Blackburn Evening
Telegraph,
Blackpool Gazette and Lancaster Guardian.
Our thanks go to the local reporters and editors
for their interest and dedication and to the sports editors
for giving the league such prominence throughout the
season.
The efforts of BBC Radio Cumbria to provide
match reports were also greatly appreciated by many followers
of the league.
Chorley CC
celebrated their centenary in 2010- it's Darwen's turn
in 2011 |
The season 2011 will be the 60th year of
Northern League cricket and will be marked by a game involving
a Northern League Under21s XI and the MCC at Kendal CC. The
year will also mark the centenary of Darwen CC who were proud
founder members of the Northern League in 1952. There was a
discernable 'feel-good' factor throughout the league in 2010
that manifested itself again at the presentation evening and I
am confident that the League will continue to grow from
strength to strength.
Darwen
celebrate their Readers Cup success with their
supporters |
At the end of the season our long-serving
secretary John Cooper decided it was time to draw stumps after
a fine innings. John has been a most efficient and valued
member of the executive for over a decade and has given
outstanding service. He will remain a much valued supporter of
the league in the years to come and will always be welcome on
our grounds.
Ann Gilfoyle has kindly agreed to fill the not
inconsiderable breech. I thank John for his many years of
dedicated service and wish him well in his retirement.
The other members of the executive committee
will remain in post as we look forward to the 2011 season.
Their dedication and support is greatly valued as we continue
to set high standards and ensure that the league's great
tradition is maintained and built upon.
Norman Poole, Chairman, NPCL
