CHAMPIONS GENTLE START

Double winners D.S.L. didn’t face to many terrors as they opened their 13th season in the League with an eight wicket win at home to Cheetham Hill. Dave Morrell’s tenth 5 wicket haul (5-55) and four wickets for new West Indian pro Jason Bennett were instrumental in bowling out Cheetham Hill for 128. Bilal Hanif took two wickets as the Saints found themselves on 34-2 but Steve Dublin’s 44 ball 50 (59*) and Adam Hawley (34*) then saw the champions home with no further alarms.

Four other teams secured maximum points and Glossop’s new pro Bhatiya Perera made an excellent debut at North Road. His 5-32 reduced Roe Green from 77-0 to 151 all out (Simon Davies 40, Ashley Williams (39). He then hit a 37 ball 50 on his way to an unbeaten 83 and with Steven Bates scoring 44, Glossop won by seven wickets. It was Perera’s 33rd fifty and the 33rd time he has taken 5 wickets in an innings.

Woodhouses, who would end up as Team of the Year, introduced Australian overseas player John Seeary against Stand at Hamilton Road. He took 4-36 in Stand’s 138 (Chris Holt 34) and was then unbeaten on 43 as Woodhouses eased to a five wicket win. Trent Scott, Stand’s own Australian, took 4-50 to reduce Woodhouses to 72-5 before Gareth Tuson and Seeary gave them five points.

Denton also recorded a five wicket win, at home to Thornham with Mo Barkatali taking 5-6 off 8.5 overs in the visitors 111 all out. Danny Walker (46) and Ghulam Abbas (23*) then took Denton to 115-5.

Dukinfield traveled the short distance to Throstle Bank Street for a derby with Flowery Field and Mark Stringer took 4-25 as they were bowled out for 102. David Mayne’s 28 was top score as Dukinfield won by four wickets.

New pro Robin Morris and Jason Stringer shared six wickets as Prestwich were restricted to 177-8d (Ian Walker 65, Peter Walters 39), but 4-40 from Oliver Holt plunged West to 100-6 before 31 from Kevin sample and 42 not out from Andy O’Brien saw West to a two wicket win, O’Brien sealing victory with a straight six.

Irlam also took four points after scoring 203-6d against Woodbank. Liam Parkinson’s 50 (54) came in 32 balls and Simon Carr took 6-56 for Woodbank. From 46-4 unbeaten knocks of 73 from Neil Ridehaugh and 50 from captain Wayne Griffiths saw Woodbank to 173-4 and a point.

TON FOR DUBLIN

Week 2 and Steve Dublin’s third century for D.S.L. (127) and an unlucky 99 from Adam Hawley added 200 for the third wicket on the way to a total of 285-6d. From a 42 ball fifty, Dublin took just 16 more deliveries to reach his ton and in all he hit 15 sixes. Dave Morrell and Rashid Nadeem then shared eight wickets as Woodbank were bowled out for 128 (Neil Ridehaugh 59).

Woodhouses moved up to second after another impressive display from Seeary. He scored 49 in a total of 195-7d (Damien Eyre 4-65) and then took 6-32 as Flowery Field were bowled out for 152 (Lee Shufflebottom 58*, Kevin Quinn 3-19).

The third team to move up to 10 points was Denton, away to Dukinfield. Mo Barkatali took 4-5 off 6 overs to give him 9-11 for the season to date as Dukinfield scored 108 (Andrew Gleave 36). Modi Ali (38) was unbeaten as Denton won by three wickets.

Irlam moved within a point of the top three when they bowled out Cheetham Hill for 53 following Irlam’s 145 all out (Vilas Kutty 5-42).

Prestwich joined Glossop on 5 points after scoring 196. Steve Davies scored 57 and Will Hargreaves took his first five wicket haul for Glossop (5-32). Pro Craig Duxbury then took 5-26 as Glossop were dismissed for 130.

Roe Green recorded their first win with Stand being bowled out for 180. Trent Scott (51) scored his first fifty and Chris Holt scored 36 with Paul Green taking 5-45. Scott then took 4-79 but with Green being unbeaten on 61 and Brett Cullen scoring 36, Roe Green won by five wickets.

Thornham shocked Denton West at Slattocks when they chased 224-8d to win by five wickets (Chandi Wathukarage 100). Earlier West declared after 47 overs with Gareth Senior scoring his 50th fifty (79) and Robin Morris scoring his first (59). S. Naiza took 6-40 for Thornham.

BENNETT ROUTS THORNHAM

D.S.L. moved a point clear of Woodhouses at the top of the table after bowling Thornham out for 41. Jason Bennett’s first “five for” was a notable one as he took 8-12 with Thornham collapsing from 19-1. D.S.L. lost one wicket in passing their target.

Seeary’s first fifty (57) for Woodhouses came in 33 balls as they scored 184-8d (James Clarke 39, Jason Stringer 4-66) and in reply, West secured a point as they closed on 169-8 (Mike Berry 44, Andy O’Brien 37, Kevin Quinn 3-44).

Prestwich moved up three places to third when they overhauled Irlam’s 146 to win by seven wickets. Craig Duxbury took 5-47 and Andy Bradley 3-31 with Saj Ahmed (35) and Andy Ruddy (37) top scoring for the home side. Mike Hudson was unbeaten as he reached his sixth 50 and Duxbury topped off a good day with 39.

Denton stayed on 10 points after Roe Green scored 201-6d and they replied with 118-9. Paul Green took 5-36 and Richard Leech took 2-50 against his old club after Sean Flegg (55) and Green (76) top scored for Roe Green despite Andrew Neill’s 4-62.

Dukinfield moved up a place to sixth, Toby Rexstraw (42) top scoring in their 186-7d. Steve Bates scored 60 but three wickets each for Roger Mingham and Paul Turner kept Glossop down to 146-8.

Woodbank moved up two places to ninth, keeping Stand pointless as they were bowled out for 66. Simon Carr took 8-24 as Stand collapsed from 55-3, Trent Scott (27) being the only batsman o reach double figures. Neil Ridehaugh was 35 not out as Woodbank won by nine wickets.

Flowery Field’s first points of the season came despite scoring only 121 against Cheetham Hill (Vilas Kutty 5-26). Damien Eyre took 5-25 and Glen Middleton 4-42 as Hill were bowled out for 77 after being 25-7.

WOODHOUSES MOVE TOP

Denton inflicted St. Lawrence’s first defeat of the season when they passed the home side’s 157 to win by four wickets. Rana Malook top scored with an unbeaten 42 for the Saints with Ghulam Abbas taking 5-49 and Andrew Neill 3-43. Danny Rice’s first fifty (54*) and 30 not out from Modi Ali saw Denton recover from 96-5 (Dave Morrell 3-72).

Woodhouses moved top after scoring 244-8d (Mike Cassidy 55, Daniel Britton 70), Gareth Burns taking 4-83. John Seeary (5-40) helped to reduce Irlam to 87-7 before Burns scored 46 in a final total of 173 all out.

Prestwich’s third win on the bounce came at the expense of Roe Green who were dismissed 83 runs short of Prestwich’s 175. Steve Orrell was unbeaten on 43 as Matthew Wright took 6-54 and in reply Simon Davies carried his bat for 42 with Chris Humphreys (4-36) and Craig Duxbury (4-14) being the chief wicket takers.

Dukinfield moved up a place to fifth when the rain prevented them from chasing Woodbank’s 167-8d. Neil Ridehaugh scored 74 not out and Wayne Griffiths 40 with Mark Stringer and Paul Turner sharing six wickets.

Four points by Denton West moved them up four places to eighth. Robin Morris hit eight sixes in his first ton (128*) for West as they reached 251-5d. Flowery Field’s spirited reply ended with them on 231-9 (Mark Dyson 74, David Williams 66) with Dave Letven and Morris sharing six wickets.

Thornham and Glossop shared four points with Bhatiya Perera scoring a 70 ball ton (106) and Martyn Knight 43 in a total of 258-8d. James Scott reached his first fifty in 33 balls as Thornham reached 145-7.

Something had to give at Hamilton Road as Cheetham Hill made the short journey with both teams without a point. Chris Holt’s first “five for” (5-17) included a hat trick and with Carl Sutcliffe taking 3-47, Hill were bowled out for 114. Stand must have been feeling happy with the Cheetham Hill total until Vilas Kutty (6-28) and Waqar Ahmed (4-14) got to work, bowling Stand out for exactly half teir score, Matthew Holt (14) being the only player in double figures.

FIRST WASHOUT OF THE SEASON

20th May and match day 5 saw all teams get two points thanks to the overnight rain.

DSL HUMBLED AT THE HEYS

Prestwich moved to the top of the table when, after scoring 161-9d, they bowled DSL out for 88 in a 35 over match. Peter Walters scored 48 not out and Steve Dublin took 5-32, his second “five for” following the one against Prestwich in 2005. He also top scored (24) for Saints but the rest had no answer to Chris Humphreys (5-29) and Andy Bradley (5-39).

Denton remained on the same points as Prestwich despite scoring only 122-9d at home to Woodhouses. Imran Mirza’s twentieth fifty (56) was the main resistance to John Seeary’s 7-58 but then 4-21 from Danny Rice and 4-25 from Ghulam Abbas bowled Woodhouses out for 89.

Dukinfield moved up to fourth after scoring 193-7d against Stand. Greg Harwick scored 59 and Paul Turner a 43 ball fifty before Stand were dismissed for 69 (Andrew Gleave 3-14, Roger Mingham 3-4).

Denton West’s four points against Irlam moved them up two places to sixth. They restricted Irlam to 147-8d and won by two wickets with Gareth Senior scoring 44. John Foreman 23* and Phil Jackson 23* took the score from 101-8.

Cheetham Hill were the big movers, moving up six places to seventh with victory over Roe Green. Y. Anwar scored 41 in Hill’s 162-6d and then 4-33 from Vilas Kutty ensured Roe Green fell 24 runs short (Paul Green 52 not out).

In a 40 overs a side match at Woodbank, the points were shared as time ran out, Thornham being on 159-9 in pursuit of 183-1d (Damien Stringer 71*, Sajid Shah 57*). Phill Sutcliffe (30) and Danny Scott (43) top scored for Thornham.

Flowery Field moved up three places to ninth in passing Glossop’s 136-7d with four wickets to spare. Steve Bates scored 47 and Damien Eyre took 5-37 against his old club. David Dickin’s 33 not out was top score for Flowery with Perera taking 4-39 for Glossop who dropped four places to thirteenth.

STAND'S FIRST WIN

Despite dropping  a point against Thornham, Prestwich stayed top of the League as their close neighbours Stand defeated Denton to record their first win of the season. Andrew Leech top scored (38) in Denton’s 161-9 with Trent Scott (4-69) and Chris Holt (4-49) being the pick of the Stand attack. Stand had earlier closed on 163-6d with Scott scoring 52 and Modi Ali taking 3-45.

Craig Duxbury fell one short of his century in Prestwich’s 214-6d (Izra 4-30) and Thornham replied with 195-7 after being 99-6 (Humphreys 4-55).

Four points for Woodhouses moved them up to second place after scoring 211-4 (Daniel Britton 63, John Seeary 52*). Earlier Dukinfield scored 205-7d with Andrew Gleave scoring 39 and Seeary and Darryl Sloan taking three wickets each. 

D.S.L. moved up to fourth in passing Glossop’s 173-9d with five wickets in hand. John Stopford (53) scored his thirtieth fifty to counter Dave Morrell’s 5-46, but 30’s from Scott Allen, Matthew Wake and Barry Williams saw St. Lawrence home.

West moved up to fifth after bowling Cheetham Hill out for 176 (Zeeshan Rana 49, Vilas Kutty 50), Robin Morris (6-45) taking his first “five for”. Morris followed with 44 and Gareth Senior top scored with 66.

Woodbank moved into the top half when their 163-7d was too good for Roe Green (111-10). Wayne Griffiths unbeaten 50 came in 43 balls and he and Bilal Mustafa (22*) took the Woodbank score from 102-7 (Matthew Wright 3-77). Paul Green (48) and Brett Cullen (35) top scored for Roe Green as Saj Shah (6-12) and Damien Stringer (3-15) did the damage for Woodbank.

In a low scoring game at Liverpool Road, Irlam were bowled out for 75 with Liam Parkinson scoring 23. From 48-9 Irlam staged a belated recovery with Rick Blackman scoring 22. Damien Eyre (6-21) and Glen Middleton (4-49) bowled through the innings for Flowery Field. Blackman followed up with 3-17 from 12 overs but Flowery recovered from 17-5 to win by three wickets (Howard Lyon 28*, Lee Knowles 21).

STAND WIN THE DERBY

Just like a London bus, Stand’s first win was quickly followed by another, this time against leaders Prestwich who were bowled out for 104. Ian Walker and Steven Lorenzini with 30 apiece were the only answers to Trent Scott’s best figures (8-36). He followed this up with 26 and Chris Holt was unbeaten on 30, Oliver Holt and Craig Duxbury sharing the four wickets Stand lost in passing their target.

Woodhouses moved back on top with a four wicket win at Catherine Road. John Seeary took 4-35 in Hill’s 132-10 and he followed with 23 which along with Mike Cassidy’s 50 was enough for ‘Houses.

Four points for Denton moved them second after Woodbank scored 192-5d (Damien stringer 57, Neil Ridehuagh 54). Stringer then took 3-50 but 45 not out from Steve Roebuck and 38 from Ghulam Abbas gave Denton a two wicket win.

West leapfrogged DSL after winning at Sycamore Park by 72 runs. Batting first they had Gareth Senior (64) and Robin Morris (84) to thank for their 254-8d (Rashid Nadeem 5-57) and then bowled the champions out for 182 (Matthew Wake 42, Robin Morris 3-37).

Dukinfield’s four points against Roe Green moved them up to fifth place after Brett Cullen and Paul Green both scored 66 for Green in a total of 220-6d. David Gandy scored 55 and Toby Rexstraw (44) was unbeaten as Dukinfield recovered from 174-7 to reach their target.

Thornham moved to within a point of Flowery Field when they gained four points in a three wicket win. Steve Dolan’s first fifty (88*) saw him carry his bat in a total of 222-6d and Steve Haughton (64) hit a 44 ball fifty. In reply Thornham managed to combat Damien Eyre (5-84) who bowled 25 overs because of knocks of 48 from Israr, 47 from James Burke and 46 from A. Graham.

Another tied match (173 each) kept Irlam one point ahead of Glossop. Liam Parkinson scored 34 for Irlam as Mark Usher took 5-25 and then 40 from John Stocks and 41 from John Stopford paved the way for Matt Woodcock (32*) and Usher (18*) to take the Glossop score from 128-9.

NEW LEADERS

Week 9 saw Denton at the top of the League after defeating Irlam. Chris Hilton (63*) top scored in Irlam’s 165-10 before Steve Roebuck’s first fifty since 1995 (60) gave Denton a five wicket win.

Prestwich’s comfortable win at Cheetham Hill moved them up to second. Vilas Kutty (48) and Rana (43) top scored in their 187-10 with Chris Humphreys, Craig Duxbury and Steven Lorenzini taking three wickets each. Then 63 from Duxbury and an unbeaten 93 from Ian Walker saw Prestwich to victory.

Woodhouses dropped to third when they could only pick up one point at Woodbank. Neil Ridehaugh (61) and Sajid Shah (78) starred for the home side and then Shah took 4-36 as Mike Cassidy (85) proved the main resistance in Woodhouses 179-8, passing 400 runs for the season along the way.

A good run chase by West saw them stay fourth after Glossop racked up 250-6d. Bhatiya Perera’s eighth ton (109*) was backed up by 46 from Steve Bates and 47 from Matt Knight with Robin Morris taking 5-69. Morris then scored 56 and with 83 from Gareth Senior and unbeaten knocks from Lee Dale (44) and Glen Bullock (49) gave West a seven wicket win.

Dukinfield stayed fifth with a win at Thornham after totaling 263-2d. Andrew Gleave 9860 and Kabil Akram (108) put on 164 for the first wicket followed by an unbeaten 49 from David Gandy. It was Akram’s first ton and then Andrew Eastwood (4-41) got to work in helping dismiss Thornham for 141 (Israr 38).

Chasing 111, D.S.L. had a ten wicket win at Roe Green with Matthew Wake (71) and Barry Williams (26) the not out batsmen. Earlier Sean Flegg had scored 62 for Roe Green with Dave Morrell taking 5-65 and Jason Bennett 4-39 for the Saints.

Stand moved up five places and a point behind Flowery Field after dismissing them for 82. Trent Scott took 5-41 and Lee Chadwick 3-6 before 37 not out from Chris Holt guided them to a four wicket win after being 3-3 (Damien Eyre 4-40).

AS YOU WERE AS TOP THREE WIN

Denton’s win at Cheetham Hill was a happy return for two of Hill’s old boys. Imran Mirza scored 56 in a total of 238-6d (Danny Walker 58) and Modi Ali took 7-25 as Hill were bowled out for 104 (Atif Riaz 37).

Prestwich kept the pressure on with a home win against Flowery Field. Michael Hudson (49) top scored in a total of 185-7d and then 4-33 from Phil Kyle left Flowery all out  for 96 after being 68-8.

Woodhouses remained on level points with Prestwich when James Clarke (56) and Daniel Britton (46) were both not out as they scored 149-2 in response to Thornham’s 148 all out. John Willman’s fifty (52) was his 25th and Israr scored 44 but nobody else had any answer to John Seeary’s 6-41.

Dukinfield and West changed places in fourth and fifth position in a tense game at Windsor Park. Glenn Bullock’s 23 was top score in West’s 117-10(Andrew Eastwood 3-39, Paul Turner 2-6. Toby Rexstraw (45) and Dave Ashworth (26*) gave Dukinfield a one wicket win after they were 47-7 and 63-8. Jason Stringer took 4-62 and Dave Letven’s 4-27 included a hat trick. On the same day Mike J. Batty took a hat trick for Denton West 2nd XI and he was also on the losing side!!.

D.S.L. became Stand’s latest victims as they moved into the top half of the table. The visitors scored 221-9d with Trent Scott scoring 89 and captain Paul Wilkinson 33 as Jason Bennett took 5-79. Scott then took 3-73 but it was Carl Sutcliffe’s 6-43 that set up victory with Steve Dublin scoring 44 in the Saints 150 all out.

Woodbank dropped a place to eighth when Glossop won at the Kenyons. Glossop scored 187-9d with Oliver Kenyon (38) top scoring (Sajid Shah 4-26) and despite 53* from Neil Ridehaugh (his 90th fifty) Woodbank were bowled out for 148 (Bhatiya Perera 4-51).

Irlam’s two wicket win at Roe Green kept the home side at the foot of the table. Rick Blackman took 5-24 and Pervez Shah 3-23 as Roe Green scored 131 (Sean Flegg 36) and 34 from Kevin Taylor and an unbeaten 27 from Andy Ruddy saw Irlam home (Paul Green 4-44).

TIE HELPS DENTON

With Woodhouses and Prestwich playing out a tie at Medlock Road, Denton stretched their lead at the top of the table to three points. Ian Walker’s 67 was his 70th fifty and with 47 from Michael Hudson Prestwich scored 198-4 (John Seeary 3-51). Phill Sutcliffe scored 32 for ‘Houses and Joe Wolfenden an unbeaten 35 as Woodhouses recovered from 171-8 to 198-8 (Oliver Holt 4-46). At the start of Holt’s last over Woodhouses needed seven to win and to the first ball Darryl Sloan tied the scores when he was dropped at long off and the ball went for six. Holt promptly bowled him next ball and then had Kevin Quinn caught by Phil Kyle in gully.

Denton had a narrow win at Glossop after Andrew Neill’s 5-34 had helped bowl the home side out for 109. Modi Ali (33) top scored as Denton won by three wickets (Bathiya Perera 3-39).

Dukinfield maintained their position after scoring 274-6d against Cheetham Hill. Andrew Gleave (73) recorded his 10th fifty and David Gandy (71*) his 17th as they put on 107 for the fourth wicket. Matt Mallard responded with 62 for Hill but they slumped from 120-2 to 149 all out in the face of fine bowling from Stuart Mee (5-23) and Paul Turner (3-26). It was Mee’s first “five for” for Dukinfield.

Damien Stringer scored an unbeaten 76 as Woodbank scored 177 at Denton West (Gary Leigh 3-44). Robin Morris (104*) hit 6 sixes as he passed 500 runs for the season in a West total of 181-3.

Barry Williams 69th fifty was his first for D.S.L. as they overhauled Flowery Field’s 108 for the loss of three wickets. Steve Haughton scored 43 for Flowery as Jason Bennett took 6-32.

Stand’s narrow win at Irlam was their fourth win on the bounce. Irlam totaled 101 with Trent Scott (5-51) and Carl Sutcliffe (4-34) doing the damage for Stand. Rick Blackman (5-30) threatened to win the game for Irlam as Stand reached 95-9, but last pair Lee Chadwick and Jack Ritchie stood firm.

Roe Green’s two run win at Thornham moved them off bottom place and level on points with Thornham. Paul Green scored 81and Chris Rhodes 45 (including 6 sixes) with Ian Gilbertson’s 5-65 being his first “five for”. John Willman (49) and Steve Gray (34) took Thornham to 207 but Sean Flegg’s 5-82 was decisive.

DENTON HOLD ON

The start of July saw the clash of the top two teams at Egerton Street. Only captain Steve Orrell (33) and vice-captain Steven Lorenzini (20) came to terms with Andrew Neill’s bowling (6-59) as Prestwich were dismissed for 125, but when Denton were on 48-6, the visitors were in the driving seat. Chris Humphreys took 5-51 but 28 from Tim Standing and unbeaten knocks by Imran Mirza (41) and Andrew Leech (20) saw Denton to a three wicket win.

Dukinfield moved up two places to second by beating D.S.L. at Sycamore Park. They had pro Andrew Gleave (94) to thank for a total of 226-6d (Dave Morrell 3-61) and then Mark Stringer followed his 36 with 4-20 as D.S.L. were bowled out for 201. Paul Turner also took four wickets (for 56) and Matthew Wake’s 42 was the best for the Saints.

Woodhouses dropped to fourth when they lost at Roe Green. John Seeary scored 69 not out and James Clarke 41 in Woodhouses 208-5d but 86 by Paul Green and 41 from Craig Budgen gave the home side a five wicket win (Seeary 4-48).

Stand recorded yet another win when they scored 177 against West and then Carl Sutcliffe (5-30) and Jack Ritchie (3-20) bowled them out for 109 (Andy O’Brien 32).

Woodbank’s home game against Flowery Field resulted in a comprehensive victory. Sajid Shah (63), Damien Stringer (51) and Dave McCheyne (41) all contributed to Woodbank’s 190-5d and then 5-41 by Shah and 4-27 by Z. Qureshi saw Flowery collapse to 34-8 before 32 from Stephen Chambers at number ten took them to 70 all out.

Thornham scored 150 at home to Irlam despite Manny Khan’s 6-60, but 66 from Saj Ahmed gave Irlam a seven wicket win.

Glossop kept Cheetham Hill rooted at the foot of the table when they scored 282-5d and then dismissed Hill for 199. Bhatiya Perera (89) and John Stopford (72) put on 146 for the fourth wicket followed by an unbeaten 46 from skipper Adam Wilson. Vilas Kutty scored 96 for Hill but Matt Woodcock took 4-28 as Glossop bowled them out.

RAIN AT HALF WAY STAGE

All the matches were abandoned as draws except the match at Glossop which brought an end to Stand’s winning run. Oliver Beirne scored 34 in Stand’s total of 138 (Bhatiya Perera 4-45, Will Hargreaves 3-10) and then 45 by John Stopford gave Glossop a four wicket win (Carl Sutcliffe 4-43).

In the rain affected games, Steve Wharton (64) recorded his maiden fifty in Denton’s 248-5d against West. Imran Mirza scored 51 and in reply Robin Morris was 57* as West reached 174-4 before the rains came.

Paul Turner scored 82 for Dukinfield in their 212-8d (Manny Khan 4-78) and Irlam closed on 92-2 (Chris Hilton 47 not out).

Prestwich scored 262-4d against Woodbank with Steve Davies and Craig Duxbury both scoring 77 and putting 129 on for the first wicket. Duxbury then took 3-27 as Woodbank reached 157-5 (Ghulam Abbas 45, Damien Stringer 36*).

Phill Sutcliffe’s 71 was his 75th fifty and Dave Morrell took 4-63 in Woodhouses total of 200 and D.S.L. were 122-1 at the close (Adam Hawley 67).

David Dickin’s first fifty (62), together with 46 by Howard Lyon saw Flowery Field to a total of 255-9d (Matthew Wright 5-108) and Roe Green reached 140-5 before the rains (Sean Flegg 47)

Thornham raced to 297-7d with James Scott (116) taking 90 balls to reach his ton. A. Graham scored 63 and Cheetham Hill were 93-4 at the close (Ian Gilbertson 3-38).

TOP THREE LOSE

With the top three teams losing, Woodhouses moved up to second place and cut Denton’s lead down to four points.

Thornham remained in 13th place despite a great win at home to Denton. Imran Mirza’s 78 included a 38 ball fifty and Chandi Wathukarage took 4-27 as Denton were dismissed for 164. James Scott (75) and James Burke (49) were then both unbeaten as they put on 122 for the fourth wicket to steer Thornham home.

On his return to previous club Flowery Field, Andrew Gleave scored 67 for Dukinfield but Damien Eyre’s 6-57 bowled Dukinfield out for 159. Mark Dyson (91) and Andrew Lyon (56*) with his maiden fifty put on 149 for the first wicket before Flowery passed their target with two wickets down, both taken by Peter Taylor.

West visited The Heys and completed the double over Prestwich after bowling them out for 185. Jason Stringer took 5-51 and Robin Morris 3-40. Nigel Williams (55), Stringer (35*) and Gareth Senior (37) saw West to a five wicket win.

Woodhouses took four points off Stand when they scored 297-8d with 50 from Chris Atherton, 46 from Daniel Britton and an unbeaten 47 from Darryl Sloan which included five sixes (Carl Sutcliffe 3-92). Stand secured a point as they replied with 231-8, Trent Scott (71) and Paul Wilkinson (41) top scoring as John Seeary took 3-56.

Before this match D.S.L. were 16 points adrift of the top of the table but a win at Cheetham Hill reduced this to 11. Steve Dublin was unbeaten on 90; Matthew Wake scored 69 and Barry Williams 59 (his 70th fifty) as D.S.L. reached 288-3d. Jason Bennett, Dave Morrell and Rashid Nadeem then each took three wickets as Cheetham Hill were bowled out for 127.

Irlam changed places with Woodbank after scoring 260-6d (Pervez Shah 92*) and bowling the hosts out for 119 (Rick Blackman 5-34, Chris Hilton 3-31).

Roe Green closed the gap on Glossop as they scored 185-6 to win by four wickets. Bhatiya Perera passed 500 runs as he scored 83 but Matthew Wright with 7-48 bowled Glossop out for 184. Perera then took 3-76 but Paul Green’s unbeaten 65 gave victory to Roe Green.
 

ABBAS KEEPS DENTON TOP 

Ghulam Abbas took 3-64 for Denton as Dukinfield reached 202-5d with Greg Harwick scoring 88 and David Gandy 62 not out. He then scored an unbeaten 57 and with Steve Roebuck on 59, Denton won by three wickets.

The gap at the top was cut to three points however as Woodhouses took five points off Flowery Field. The visitors scored 222-7d with Chris Atherton (62) and Gareth Tuson (62) being the top scorers and Damien Eyre taking 4-84. John Seeary (4-42) reached 60 wickets for the season and Kevin Quinn took 3-21 as Flowery were dismissed for 135 despite Mark Dyson’s 65.

Prestwich moved up to third after restricting Glossop to 150-8d on a good deck at North Road. Bhatiya Perera (43) passed 600 runs and William Appleton scored 37 for Glossop. Prestwich’s first wicket fell on 120 and with Craig Duxbury (77) and Steve Orrell (52) batting well, the visitors won by seven wickets (Perera 3-41).

Four points for West moved them up to fourth place with Robin Morris scoring 137 not out and passing 700 runs in the process. Gareth Senior scored 63 and Andy O’Brien 45 not out as they amassed 291-4d. Morris then took 5-95 to complete a good day but Thornham gained a point as they reached 259-9 (Steve Gray 84, James Scott 45). Because of injury this was Gray’s first fifty since 2002.

D.S.L. stayed sixth after taking four points off Woodbank. Barry Williams 100* was his tenth ton and with Adam Hawley (56) he put on 132 for the first wicket, the Saints eventually passing Woodbank’s 180-9d for the loss of one wicket. For Woodbank Steve Loster scored 53 and Damien Stringer 43 whilst Jason Bennett’s 6-75 took him past 50 wickets for the season.

Stand returned to winning ways and remained seventh when they chased Roe Green’s 114 to win by three wickets. Paul Green passed 700 runs but it was Stand’s bowlers Carl Sutcliffe (5-43) and M. Curphy (3-14) who called the tune prior to Trent Scott (46) and David Taylor (33) seeing Stand home. J. Parker took 3-3 off five overs for Roe Green.

Despite a good effort with the bat, Cheetham Hill remained at the foot of the table when they were all out for 221 in reply to Irlam’s 250-4d. Liam Parkinson (62), Saj Ahmed (70) and Pervez Shah (49*) were Irlam’s main scorers and Ahmed’s fifty was his 20th. In reply Y. Anwar scored his maiden 50 (80) and Waqar Ahmed hit five sixes in his 60 (Rick Blackman 3-56).

ROE GREEN TOPPLE DENTON

Denton traveled to Greenleach Lane and were knocked off the top of the table by Roe Green. Sean Flegg scored 73 and Paul Green 48 as the home side scored 173 (Modi Ali 5-14) but despite 46 from Ghulam Abbas, Denton were bowled out for 142 (Gareth Williams 5-78 being his first five for).

Woodhouses went back to the top for the first time since early June by taking four points off Denton West. John Seeary’s 4-52 restricted West to 188-8d (Lee Dale 51) and then 79 not out by James Clarke and 49 from Mike Cassidy gave Woodhouses a seven wicket win.

Prestwich stayed third when they completed the double over Irlam, Oliver Holt taking 3-20 as Irlam were bowled out for 143 (Pervez Shah 44). In reply Steve Davies was unbeaten on 82 as Prestwich won by six wickets (Gaz Burns 3-73).

Ominously, D.S.L. moved up two places to fourth with an eight wicket win at Thornham who were dismissed for 118 (Steve Gray 34). Steve Dublin followed up his 4-12 with an unbeaten fifty and Barry Williams scored 40.

Dukinfield dropped a place to sixth when Glossop won by one wicket at Higher King Street. Bhatiya Perera took 4-29 as Dukinfield scored 122 (Kabil Akram33, Andrew Gleave 32) and then Andrew Eastwood (4-45) looked to have won the game for Dukinfield as Glossop slumped to 111-9. However Will Hargreaves stayed with Mark Usher to steer Glossop home.

Woodbank had Stand in trouble when the rains came to the Kenyons with Stand on 114-9 in reply to the home side’s 196-3d. Steve Loster scored 92 and Neil Ridehaugh 78 not out for Woodbank and Dave Taylor 54 for Stand.

At the bottom of the table there was  another tie as Flowery Field scored 210-9 and Cheetham Hill 210 all out. Bilal Hanif’s 58 was his first fifty and Glen Middleton took 5-110 for Flowery Field.

MILESTONE FOR RICK BLACKMAN

Prestwich reclaimed pole position after Irlam defeated Woodhouses by seven wickets. John Seeary scored an unbeaten 53 for ‘Houses but Rick Blackman (5-60) and Gareth Burns (3-39) helped bowl them out for 133. It was Blackman’s 50th five wicket haul to join Damien Eyre and Chris Humphreys and was well deserved. Captain Chris Hilton scored 62 in Irlam’s win.

Prestwich went top by virtue of four points at home to Roe Green who batted first for 188-9d. Paul Green’s 95 was his 120th score of 50 or more and he went past 800 runs for the season. Chris Humphreys (4-44) and Peter Walters (3-54) were the pick of the Prestwich bowlers. Craig Duxbury (105*) recorded his 16th ton from 98 balls as Prestwich won by six wickets.

Denton dropped to third, one point ahead of D.S.L. after being bowled out for 91 in reply to the Saints 213. Matthew Wake scored an unbeaten 90 and Steve Dublin 45 whilst Danny Rice’s 5-49 was the first time he had taken five wickets. Imran Mirza followed his 3-59 with a top score 29 as Dave Morrell (5-31) and Jason Bennett (4-8) ensured an early conclusion, the latter reaching 60 wickets for the season.

Denton West stayed fifth despite losing to Flowery Field, who dismissed them for 156 (Damien Eyre 6-58). Glenn Bullock scored 43 and Robin Morris passed 800 runs for the season, but 46 from Steve Dolan and 29* from Damien Eyre (jnr) gave Flowery Field a two wicket win (Gary Leigh 5-56).

Woodbank won by 11 runs at Dukinfield after scoring 188. Paul Turner took 5-39 and Woodbank’s main resistance was supplied by Steve Loster (48), Neil Ridehaugh (40) and Sajid Shah (43). Shah followed up with 4-41 and Damien Stringer 4-59, only David Gandy (40) keeping Dukinfield in the hunt.

Stand dropped into the bottom half of the table when they went down again to Cheetham Hill. Trent Scott’s 44 took him past 500 runs but Vilas Kutty with 5-61 meant an all out total of 161 for Stand. Kutty followed with 100 not out as he and A. Raza (32*) ensured a seven wicket win.

Thornham gained a welcome four points at North Road when they had four wickets in hand in passing Glossop’s 226-8d. Bhatiya Perera’s 90 took him past 700 runs and he followed this with 4-88 which included his fiftieth wicket of the season. However 73 from John Willman and 59 from Chandi Wathukarage won the day for Thornham.  

DUXBURY KEEPS PRESTWICH TOP

Into August and 52 from Prestwich pro Craig Duxbury was top score in a total of 246-8d (Roger Mingham 3-18). He followed this with 6-33 and with 3-11 from Andy Bradley, Dukinfield were bowled out for 100.

Woodhouses stayed on the same number of points as Prestwich with Mike Cassidy starring at Glossop. He took 6-63 as Glossop scored 176 (Perera 45) and then passed 600 runs in scoring 85 (his 40th fifty). Together with an unbeaten 48 from Alan Starmer Woodhouses won by seven wickets.

Irlam gave D.S.L. a scare after scoring 200-9d. Pervez Shah (97*) and Mo Afzal (53) put on 116 for Irlam’s sixth wicket. Scott Kirwin scored 76 for the Saints but they were struggling on 185-8 before Jason Bennett hit two sixes at the end to win the game.

Denton could score only 153-6d and lost at home to Flowery Field by one wicket. Damien Eyre took 5-68 followed by an unbeaten 20 as Flowery recovered from 138-9 to win the game. Neil Mistry scored 45 and captain Mark Dyson 42 whilst Ghulam Abbas took 6-47 for Denton.

Four points at Roe Green for Denton West kept them in fifth place with Robin Morris passing fifty wickets in Roe Green’s 192-9d. Brett Cullen scored 40 and Dave Letven took 3-49. Morris then passed 900 runs in scoring 87 and with 43 from Lee Dale, West won by four wickets (Gareth Williams 4-78).

Stand moved up to sixth thanks to overseas player Trent Scott who reached 600 runs and 50 wickets in the game. Firstly he scored 72 in Stand’s 212-9d (A. Graham 4-44) and then took 5-87 as Thornham were bowled out for 190 (Chandi Wathukarage 73).

Woodbank remained ninth despite five points at home to Cheetham Hill. Neil Ridehaugh scored 85 to pass 700 runs and with 61 from Sajid Shah and 53 from Dave McCheyne, Woodbank scored 262-7d (Vilas Kutty 4-59). T. Hassan scored 55 for Hill but 5-65 by Shah and 4-49 by Marcus McCheyne bowled them out for 179.
 
CHAMPIONS HUMBLE PRESTWICH

D.S.L. knocked Prestwich off the top of the table quite emphatically with Jason Bennett taking 9-32 as Prestwich were bowled out for 77. Only Chris Thomas (27) looked comfortable against him as he hit the stumps five times. With Barry Williams (37*) and Adam Hawley (35) putting on 75 for the first wicket, the result was a formality.

A similar low scoring game put Woodhouses back on top of the league. John Seeary (5-21) and Darryl Sloan (3-14) bowled Denton out for 45 and Houses went on to win by nine wickets (Daniel Britton 28*).

Denton West had a good run chase at Irlam where the home side’s 256-8d was reached for the loss of six wickets. Liam Parkinson’s first ton for Irlam came in 97 balls and Matthew Hood followed this with his first fifty. Gareth Senior and Robin Morris took three wickets each and West won thanks to 97 from Lee Dale and an unbeaten 60 from Jason Stringer.

Dukinfield moved up to sixth when they scored 234-9d and then bowled Stand out for 172. Paul Turner’s fifty was his 40th and David Gandy scored 67. Trent Scott took 4-92 and then scored 43 but 3-50 from Andrew Gleave helped bowl Stand out for 172.

Woodbank moved into the top half when their 186 at Thornham was 44 to many for the home side. Neil Ridehaugh top scored with 48 but this was bettered by John Willman (53) in Thornham’s 142-10 (Marcus McCheyne 5-31).

Flowery Field scored 210-7d at home to Glossop with Mark Dyson (60) and Andrew Lyon (46) putting on 117 for the first wicket. Bhatiya Perera took 5-77 but Glossop fell just short on 203-9 with Steve Bates scoring 40 and Dale Pennington 47.

Roe Green entertained bottom club Cheetham Hill but it was the visitors who took four points. R. Hussain scored 80* and Sean Flegg took 6-38 before scoring 58 in Roe Green’s 171-8.

WASH OUT

Three matches were started but none finished as all clubs took two points on match week 20.

TOP CLUBS BEAT THE RAIN

Again three matches were abandoned without a ball being bowled but the top five teams managed to play. Woodhouses entertained Cheetham Hill and thanks to Mike Cassidy (5-31) dismissed them for 141 (John Skellington 34). Cassidy then scored 57 as ‘Houses won by seven wickets.

D.S.L. stayed second despite only tying at Denton West. The home side scored 174-6d with Lee Dale (80) and Robin Morris (60) adding 128 for the second wicket (Rashid Nadeem 3-19). Steve Dublin hit a 35 ball fifty (five sixes) on his way to 67 and Scott Kirwin scored 37 as the Saints reached 174-7 in reply (Dave Letven 5-83).

Prestwich gained revenge on Stand with a comprehensive win at The Heys. Craig Duxbury (4-24) and Chris Humphreys (3-25) limited Stand to 108-8d (Dave Taylor 44) and then Duxbury (57*) and Ian Walker (37*) ensured a nine wicket win. Duxbury’s fifty was his 50th for Prestwich and he was the ninth player to achieve this feat in the league.

Andrew Neill took 6-50 against Woodbank out of a total of 115-8d, Denton passing this for the loss of three wickets. 

PERERA’S EFFORTS IN VAIN AGAINST EX-CLUB

It was no change at the top of the table with Woodhouses staying top with a five wicket win against Woodbank. Neil Ridehaugh scored 48 and Wayne Griffiths 37, but john Seeary (5-52) and Kevin Quinn (4-27) meant that the visitors were bowled out for 152. Daniel Britton’s 10th fifty (55*) gave Woodhouses the win despite 3-40 from Sajid Shah.

D.S.L. remained in second place with Jason Bennett’s 7-27 from 17 overs putting Roe Green to the sword, 73 all out. Saint Lawrence won by seven wickets.

Prestwich completed the double over Cheetham Hill to stay in third place. John Skellington top scored for Hill with 29 out of 100-10 and Craig Duxbury followed his 4-14 with an unbeaten 36 as Prestwich won by seven wickets. (Steve Davies 38).

Denton West moved up to fourth place when they chased Glossop’s 246-3d to win by two wickets. Oliver Kenyon (71) and Bhatiya Perera (119*) put on 158 for the third wicket and Perera followed with 5-99 against his old club. Gareth Senior (60) and Glenn Bullock (38) ensured that West had enough to reach 252-8.

Rick Blackman demolished Denton at Liverpool Road with figures of 5-8 off 16.2 overs. Gareth Burns took 5-51 as Denton were bowled out for 72. Earlier Liam Parkinson (56) and Burns (39) had taken Irlam to 176-10 (Andrew Neill 7-56).

Dukinfield stayed sixth after scoring 223-9d against Thornham with Greg Harwick passing fifty for the 20th time as he reached 84. D. Lovell took 5-63 (his first five wicket haul) but this was beaten by Paul Turner (7-64) as Thornham were all out for 183. James Scott scored 65 and A. Graham’s 33 included 5 sixes.

Flowery Field moved up two places to eighth when they passed Stand’s 150-7d for the loss of three wickets. Damien Eyre took 6-46 for Flowery and Lee Chadwick (57) scored his first fifty for Stand. Andrew Lyon (57*) and David Dickin (47) took Flowery to 151-3.

RAIN AGAIN

The start of September and match day 23 was totally washed out, two points for each team.

WOODHOUSES STAY TOP AFTER 9 POINT WEEKEND

The penultimate Saturday of the season saw Woodhouses put paid to Prestwich’s title aspirations with a comprehensive win at the Heys. Craig Duxbury took 6-47, but it was Daniel Britton who was the only player on the day to come to terms with the wicket as he scored his maiden ton, 105 not out in a total of 171-9d. James Clarke was the next highest scorer with 18. Three early wickets for Darryl Sloan and three for John Seeary had Prestwich in disarray and their last wicket fell with the score on 74 (Steve Orrell 25).

D.S.L. was the scene for history when Damien Eyre became the first player in the Lancashire County League to take five wickets or more in an innings 100 times. His 7-37 was off 23.4 overs and it was only 29 from Dave Morrell that lifted the Saints to 107. Cometh the hour and it was Jason Bennett who again came to D.S.L.’s rescue with 9-23 as Flowery Field were bowled out for just 60 (Mark Dyson 23) to stay in second place, five points behind Woodhouses.

Denton West moved to within four points of Prestwich in a close encounter at Woodbank. The home side scored 197-9d with Neil Ridehaugh scoring 73 not out and John Powers 5-62 being his first “five for” for West 1st XI. Glenn Bullock top scored with 53 and Andy O’Brien was unbeaten on 37 as West reached 198-9 (Z. Quereshi 3-71).

Dukinfield moved up a place to fifth with Andrew Gleave scoring his first ton (102*) against Cheetham Hill in a total of 241-3d. Paul Turner followed his 52 with figures of 5-6 as Cheetham Hill were dismissed for 103 (I.J. Alleyne 44).

Denton dropped to sixth when Will Hargreaves 6-34 bowled them out for 137 (Imran Mirza 47). Martyn Knight scored 72 (his maiden fifty) and David Toft an unbeaten 41 as Glossop won by nine wickets, putting 118 on for the first wicket.

Stand jumped three places to get back in the top half of the table. They bowled Irlam out for 154 (Saj Ahmed 63) with Jack Ritchie’s 5-29 being his first 5 for. In reply Stand scored 155-7, David Taylor scoring 41 and Rick Blackman taking 4-56. This completed the double for Stand over Irlam.

Thornham moved up to within a point of Roe Green after collecting four points at Greenleach Lane. Paul Green was unbeaten on 83 as Roe Green scored 200-7d (A. Graham 6-73). Graham then scored 46, with Danny Scott and Ian Gilbertson unbeaten on 46 and 21 respectively as Thornham recovered from 85-6, 161-7 and 162-8 to win by two wickets. (Julian Bentley 4-75).

‘HOUSES DROP CRUCIAL POINT

In failing to gain a maximum five points off Roe Green, Woodhouses left the door open for Saint Lawrence, who in beating Dukinfield had an extra five point win. Paul Green (50) scored his 122nd fifty and Mark Williams (65) his first as Roe Green scored 165-7d (John Seeary 3-28, Darryl Sloan 3-16). Mike Cassidy’s 10th ton (117*) was enough to earn Woodhouses an eight wicket win.

Jason Bennett took 3-43 as Dukinfield were bowled out for 113 (Paul Turner 28) and 49 from scott Kirwin held D.S.L. together as they won by five wickets.

Prestwich’s miserable weekend continued with Denton completing the double over them. Ian Walker’s unbeaten 49 could only take them to 129-9d (Andrew Neill 6-37) and after being 66-4, Imran Mirza (55*) and Modi Ali (35*), two ex Prestwich players, took Denton to 133-4.

Denton West leapfrogged Prestwich into third place when they scored 254-8d against Stand. Robin Morris’s 57 was his 10th fifty of the season and Glenn Bullock was unbeaten on 59 to complete a good weekend for him. Carl Sutcliffe took 5-109 for Stand and Trent Scott scored 86 in their reply of 189-10 (Jason Stringer 4-88, Robin Morris 3-35).

Irlam moved ahead of Stand into seventh place when they beat Thornham at home. Chris Hilton scored 64 and Pervez Shah 40 in their 205-9d (Chandi Wathukarage 6-68) and John Willman scored 51 for Thornham as they replied with 147-10 (Saj Ahmed 6-49).

Woodbank and Flowery Field changed places when the home side just failed to reach Woodbank’s 213-5d. Steve Loster scored 47 and Neil Ridehaugh’s unbeaten 64 was his 94th fifty. Damien Eyre took 4-79 for Flowery Field and Sajid Shah 4-59 for Woodbank as Flowery finished on 209-9 (Neil Mistry 55, David Dickin 70).

Glossop recorded the highest score of the season when they made 347-3d with Bhatiya Perera’s 40th fifty continuing on to 179 not out. 253* was added for the fourth wicket with Dale Pennington (106*). Cheetham Hill could only muster 108 in reply, Perera taking 3-14 and Will Hargreaves 3-18.

SAINTS RETAIN CHAMPIONSHIP

Simon Lowndes’ fixture list once again provided the league with the top two playing each other in the last match of the season at Sycamore Park. John Seeary with 4-27 and Chris Atherton (5-48) saw D.S.L. bowled out for 119 (Steve Dublin 49, Adam Hawley 23). The Saints slumped from 107-3 to 119 all out, but immediately hit back with six wickets (for 25) for Jason Bennett and 3-24 from Dave Morrell. Phill Sutcliffe top scored with 20 not out as Woodhouses lost wickets at 11, 17, 17, 17, 21 and 21 before finally losing their last wicket on 60. It took Bennett to 100 wickets for the year and this was his eighth five for.

Prestwich reclaimed third place after bowling Woodbank out for 134 with Andy Bradley taking 4-21 and Steve Loster scoring 46 for Woodbank. Mike Hudson (36) and Ian Walker (31) took Prestwich to a six wicket win.

West dropped to fourth following their derby defeat to Denton who scored 184-9d. Andrew Neill’s second fifty (62) and an unbeaten 33 from Martin Leech went some way to counter 5-59 from Robin Morris. In reply Lee Dale scored 35 in a West total of 119, Neill taking 3-42.

Dukinfield claimed the final place in the 2007 LCB Knockout by beating Irlam. They totaled 206-8d with Andrew Gleave scoring his second century (120) and David Mayne scoring 45. They put on 156 for the first wicket before Saj Ahmed got to work with 5-36 including a hat trick. Chris Hilton scored an unbeaten 80 in Irlam’s 191-10 (Stuart Mee 4-25, Andrew Eastwood3-31).

Flowery Field finished in fine style with a ten wicket win over Roe Green. Damien Eyre took 5-21 and Glen Middleton 3-54 as Roe Green were bowled out for 76 and then Andrew Lyon (33*) and Lee Knowles (39*) knocked off the required runs.

Stand came second best at home to Glossop when they could score only 119 (Matthew Holt 39, Oliver Kenyon 4-26) in reply to Glossop’s 178-9d (Carl Sutcliffe 4-56).

The bottom two teams had a close game at Thornham with Cheetham Hill’s 202 being four runs too many for the home team. R. Hussain scored 64 for Cheetham Hill whilst Andy Yates took 4-59. A. Graham (47) and Steve Gray (46) were Thornham’s top scorers as S. Wusuf (4-69) and Y. Anwar (3-18) starred with the ball for Hill.

WOODHOUSES WIN WALKDEN CUP

Two time Walkden Cup winners, Prestwich, were looking to make it a record three victories and they gave themselves every chance by winning the toss for choice of venue. At the time of the final, in early August, Prestwich were top of the league, albeit with the same points as Woodhouses, both sides still in with a shout of the “double”. Craig Duxbury (61) and Ian Walker (48) added 112 for the second wicket, Duxbury passing 800 runs for the season in the process, but a much higher total looked on the cards before Mark Akin (6-20) with his second “five for” had other ideas and a total of 170-9d was perhaps 30 short of what had looked “on” earlier.

However with Woodhouses on 53-6 with Oliver Holt (4-27) bowling with genuine pace, the game looked to be Prestwich’s. Duxbury conceded only 12 runs off 10 overs, but once the rain came the ball skidded onto the bat quicker and the Prestwich bowlers found the wet ball difficult to bowl with. This was to take nothing away from Chris Atherton who scored an unbeaten 60 to carry Woodhouses home with two wickets to spare. He batted very responsibly and was justifiably named Man of the Match.

The road to the final began in late May with Woodhouses hosting Thornham and Prestwich travelling for a local derby at Cheetham Hill.

Danny Scott scored 43 not out but John Seeary with 6-17 bowled Thornham out for 101. Mike Cassidy was a man in a hurry as he finished unbeaten on 85 in a seven wicket win (Ian Gilbertson 2-7). 

At Catherine Road, captain Steve Orrell filled in as stand-in opener for Prestwich and recorded a season’s best 95, his 30th fifty and he put on 114 with Craig Duxbury (53). Chasing 237-5d Hill were reduced to 24-5 but Vilas Kutty (67) and Matthew Mallard (47) took the score to 131 before they were finally bowled out for 193.

Danny Walker took 3-14 to help reduce Woodbank from 92-4 to 110 all out (Neil Ridehaugh 45, David McCheyne 41). This followed 40 by Imran Mirza in Denton’s 166-6d.

Irlam’s Saj Ahmed carried his bat for 74 in a total of 142 (Paul Turner 4-45) and then Manny Khan’s 4-18 helped bowl Dukinfield out for 85 (Pervez Shah 3-16).

St. Lawrence racked up 266-9d with Adam Hawley’s 93 being his 10th fifty and Jason Bennett’s 29 ball fifty (57*) being his first. Bhatiya Perera took 4-67 for Glossop who could only muster 133 in reply despite 75 from Steve Bates. Dave Morrell took 2-8 off eight overs.

West traveled to Stand and bowled them out for 114 with Gareth Senior taking 3-20. David Taylor scored 52 for the home side and in reply Mike Berry hit a 50 ball fifty in an eight wicket win for West, Trent scott being the only wicket taker with 2-44.

Flowery Field and Roe Green received byes into the second round.

This round ended St. Lawrence’s hopes of a “double double” at Medlock Road with Woodhouses scoring 183-8d. Gareth Tuson scored 65 and Mark Akin 43 not out as ‘Houses recovered from 68-6 to 160-7, Jason Bennett taking 2-13 off his ten overs. Adam Hawley (36) and Scott Allen (26) top scored for the Saints but Mike Cassidy (4-35) and Joe Wolfenden (3-28) bowled them out for 143.

Paul Green (93*) was the main obstacle for Prestwich as they visited Greenleach Lane. The home side scored 174-7d with Green hitting his 100th fifty to go with his 17 hundreds. Craig Duxbury took 3-29 and then it was Steve Davies with 89 who led Prestwich to a five wicket win. Mike Hudson (37) put on 105 with Davies for the third wicket and Matthew Wright took 2-18 off ten overs.

An unbeaten 96 from Imran Mirza together with 54 from Martin Leech saw Denton to 246-4d. Flowery Field’s brave run chase ended when their last wicket fell on 225 (Lee shufflebottom 49). Ghulam Abbas took 4-42 and Tim standing had five wicketkeeping victims.

Irlam batted first against Denton West, scoring 203 with Saj ahmed top scoring on 35. Jason Stringer took 4-45 and Robin Morris 3-31. In reply Nigel Williams (61) was top score in a total of 165 (Rick Blackman 2-16 off ten overs).

The semi-finals in mid July had Irlam bowled out for 184 with Chris Hilton top scoring on 41. Chris Atherton took 4-26 for Woodhouses and Kevin Quinn 3-27. 50 from Alan Starmer and 42 from John Seeary gave Woodhouses a four wicket win (Rick Blackman 3-22).

Steve Davies’ 10th fifty (53) and Mike Hudson’s 7th (58) gave Prestwich a total of 225-9d. Mo Barkatali too four wickets and Andrew Neill was his usual miserly self with 1-11 off ten overs. Modi Ali scored 50 but with Oliver Holt taking 4-23 and Peter Walters 3-46, Denton were bowled out for 130.

2006 WINNERS

Woodbank’s Neil Ridehaugh with 1,005 runs at a record average of 71.79, with ten fifties, won the league batting averages. D.S.L.’s Steve Dublin was second again with 697 runs at 43.56. Bhatiya Perera (Glossop) won the pro’s batting with 1,089 runs at 60.50. Paul Green (1,008) and Robin Morris (1,110) exceeded a thousand runs with Craig Duxbury 35 short.

Andy Bradley’s dodgy knees means that he is stepping down to become 2nd XI captain in 2007, but that didn’t stop him signing off with 33 wickets at 13.27 to win the 1st XI bowling averages. Rick Blackman (Irlam) had most amateur wickets (61) with six “five fors” and was voted Players Player of the Year by his 1st XI peers. Jason Bennett’s 100 wickets won the pro’s bowling at an average of 11.15. Damien Eyre (90) and John Seeary (88) were close behind him.

Glossop’s captain Adam Wilson held onto the most catches to win the fielding award and Tim Standing won the wicket keeping for the seventh time in the thirteen years of the league.

The aggregate trophies for most amateur runs, wickets and six hits by players in league matches were won by Neil Ridehaugh (960), Bobby Cheetham (62) and Steve Dublin (50) respectively.

With the Champions being ineligible for the Last Six Competition, Woodhouses won it for the first time with 21 points, 2 ahead of Glossop.

Prestwich 2nd XI won their championship, nine points ahead of Denton, and they had five batsmen qualifying for the averages together with three bowlers. Their opening bowler Phil Kyle was voted 2nd XI’s Player’s Player of the Year, and he won the bowling averages with 62 wickets at 9.77. Alec McClure of Thornham won the batting averages with 880 runs at 67.69. Dave Parry (Denton) again won the fielding prize with 18 catches and Prestwich’s Gareth Barnes had most wicket keeping victims with 43 including 11 stumpings.

The Hulme Trophy final at Prestwich saw the home side lose a cup tie for the first time since 2001 and fail in their bid to win a fifth cup on the trot. Man of the Match Mark Wood, the Dukinfield aptain took 5-32 as Prestwich scored 187 and Dukinfield got home with two wickets left. In previous rounds they had defeated Irlam, Denton West and Glossop, the Semi-final against the latter producing a nail biter as Glossop closed on 271-9 in reply to the visitors 271-7d, Dukinfield going through to the final on losing less wickets.

Flowery Field won the Last Six competition for 2nd teams with Denton runners-up three points adrift.

Prestwich C.C. retained the T. Saville-Whittle Bowl with 174 points, 16 ahead of Denton. Walkden Cup winners and League runners-up Woodhouses 1st XI were voted Team of the Year for the first time.

The Senior League representative XI lost for the first time to the Central Lancashire League in the first round M.E.N. match at Walsden. Batting first after winning the toss on a very hot day, the home side scored a huge 350-6 from their 45 overs. Bobby Cross (133) and captain Mark Hooson (117) put 214 on for the first wicket and the most successful LCL bowlers with two wickets each were Glen Middleton and Mark Stringer. Barry Williams (74) and captain Andrew Dyson (46) responded with an opening stand of 112 but despite 36* from Jason Stringer, the LCL innings closed on 245-9.

In the Colts Competition, the League team won their first two group matches against the CLL and the Saddleworth League before losing to the Ribblesdale League. After scoring only 127 against the CLL t Roe Green, the bowlers got to work to give a seven run win and at Austerlands, they bowled out the Saddleworth League for 85 before completing a nine wicket win. Team Manager Gary O’Brien suffered the first loss in the last group match and the team failed to qualify for the final on run rate, the CLL progressing.

John Harwick’s U-15’s got to the semi-final of the Michael Roche Trophy and Geoff Yates’ U-13’s got to the Final of the Peaks Sports Trophy before losing to the Bolton League.

2007 is the 14th year the League has enjoyed the sponsorship of J.W. Lees and we are once again most grateful for their contribution. Although the majority of clubs enjoy J.W. Lees beers, others who may be considering a change are asked to contact Dean Redfearn on 0161 643 2487.

Thanks to the League Officials and Management Committee for helping to keep the League on the right lines.

This concludes my 20th season as League Secretary and my 14th report for the Lancashire County League.

R.I. Hinchliffe
(Hon. Secretary)

December 2006