Whilst the weekend started on a high with the young guns making it 3 wins from 3 on Friday night by beating Walsden, it was all downhill after that as the Stags crashed out of the Worsley Cup at the hands of Greenmount and then lost to local rivals, Rochdale, on Sunday.
Friday 13th June – JWL MPA T20 Group Stage Round 3 : Norden 1st XI vs Walsden 1st XI
Skipper Humphreys won the toss and elected to bat first at Scott Street as the Stags took on a young looking Walsden side. Early joy at the dismissal of professional Blackwood (13) was short lived as Humphreys put the attack to the sword. He smashed thirteen 4’s and five 6’s on his way to a blistering 109* off just 63 balls. Mckeown (53*) played a great second fiddle and the Stags finished on 205-2 off their 20 overs. In reply Walsden were off to a poor start as professional Wimalasekara was caught by Yates off the bowling of Lord for just 2. Bailey batted well for his 55 off 46 and Nick Barker (22) and Senior 29* showed hope but a mid order collapse sparked by a Blackwood hat-trick saw batters 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 depart for just 2 runs. Walsden finished on 12-9 from their 20 overs. Blackwood was the pick of the bowlers with 4-14, well supported by Yates with 2-23
Scorecard : http://www.lancashireleague.com/Scorecards/1373/1373516.html
Saturday 14th June – Worsley Cup 1/4 Final : Norden 1st XI vs Greenmount 1st XI
Norden skipper Crabtree won the toss and elected to bat first. Rain had delayed the start of the fixture and a 46-over game was commenced. Humphreys (13), Taylor (17) and McKeown (9) all fell cheaply and the Stags were in a spot of bother at 40-3. Professional Blackwood (77) and Crabtree (65) put on 135 for the 4th wicket. A further rain delay meant the game was a reduced to a 44 over game. Some late order striking from Devine and Maqsood managed to get the Stags to 239-9 off their allotted overs.
Things started well for the Stags as Maqsood removed Heaton for just 2, and Lord had the dangerous Kerr caught behind for just 6. The Greenmount professional, Snyman, powered his way to 55 before falling to Maqsood who finished with 9 overs 2-23. Captain Townsend (32) was well caught at deep square leg off the bowling off Hussain and at 129-4 things looked to be going the Stags way. However young Dobson (70*) and Nicholl (43) had other ideas. The pair 84, capitalizing on some loose bowling and the mount made it to the revised DLS target of 244 with 7 balls to spare.
Scorecard : http://www.lancashireleague.com/Scorecards/1372/1372484.html
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLafEF6fbzY
Sunday 15th June – Lancashire League premier Division : Norden 1st XI vs Rochdale 1st XI
Skipper Crabtree once again won the toss and this time decided to bowl first. Blackwood removed the Rochdale openers cheaply, Harrison for a duck and Gilbertson making 5 Professional Cooper looked in good form from the outset. His worry seemed to be at the other end as Chapman (5) became Blackwood’s third victim and Hussain (7) was caught behind off the bowling of Lord. The much needed support was given by the captain Makin as he made an excellent 40 off just 37 balls. Cooper made his way to a brilliant 87 with eight 4’s and four 6’s. When Yates picked up Makin and Holt dismissed Cooper the Dale were 163-6 and the Stags must have fancied their chances. However, the inexperienced bowling line up was put to the sword as young Harry Butterworth (53*) and the experienced Harling (36*) put on what looked to be a match winning 90 run partnership.
In reply the Stags lost Jack Taylor early, but the in-from Dom Humpreys was continuing his great early season form and added 57 with McKeown before the latter fell to a good catch at backward point off the bowling of Poscha. Humphreys (49) was bowled by Cooper and the Stags hopes now rested with Blackwood. Crabtree fell cheaply but Yates looked in good touch. The match winning moment came shortly afterwards as Makin enticed Blackwood down the track and was bowled for 24. Yates batted well for his 25 but the late order collapsed and the Stags fell to a heavy defeat being bowled out for just 162. Makin 4-50 and Cooper 4-35 doing the damage.
Scorecard : http://www.lancashireleague.com/Scorecards/1373/1373269.html
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTFUFW5UpfQ
Saturday 14th June – 2nd XI Cup 1/4 Final : Todmorden 2nd XI vs Norden 2nd XI
Skipper Docker won the toss and decided to bowl first. A rain delay had meant it was a 46 over contest. The Stags managed to keep things tight for the first 10 overs with Sami Waheed and Stan Kearns bowling well. Wickets began to fall and Todd were redecuded to 84-4, but the experiened Atherton (75) and Kavanagh (42) put on 85 to help the hosts post 194-7. The pick of the bowlers for the Stags was Jake Hill who had 10 overs, 3 maidens 4-26.
In reply the Stags got off to a decent start with Stevie Butterworth (13) and Malik (22) chipping away at the total. Young Farooq again batted well for his 52. Kirkby (32) and Kearns (24) semed to be bringing the game home, before a late order collapse saw no.11 Jake Hill going in to bat needing 2 runs from the final 2 balls. After the vertran Todd bowler, Ibrar Ali, had kindly escorted the youngster from the boundary edge to the batting creae, he managed to settle the nerves and hit a four first ball to send the Stags through to a home semi-final vs Ramsbottom on Saturday 5th July.
Scorecard : http://www.lancashireleague.com/Scorecards/1372/1372463.html
Sunday 15th June – Lancashire League Junior Division : Rochdale 2nd XI vs Norden 2nd XI
Rochdale won the toss and elected to bat first. Wickets fell at regular intervals. The pick of the bowlers for the Stags was Zeeshan Tariq who had 12 overs 4-22. Jake Hill again bowled well with 12 overs 2-29. The disappointing feature was 20 wides, which would prove to be very costly. For the hosts, young Kashmiri batted excellently for his 36*, adding 50 for the 10th wicket with the evergreen Muawar (20)
In reply the Stags got off to a flyer with Hash Malik bludgeoning 46 off just 23 balls. However, when he was well caught and bowled by Oddy the rest of the inexperienced line up did not have an answer for the quality of Oddy. The veteran seamer finishing with 6-26 off his 10 overs. The Stags fell well short on 89 all out from 21 overs.
Scorecard : http://www.lancashireleague.com/Scorecards/1373/1373601.html
Saturday 14th June – Lancashire League Third XI League : Norden 3rd XI vs Middleton 3rd XI
Due to the Worsley Cup game Middelton very kindly agreed to reverse the fixture and play at Towncroft. The host won the toss and elected to bowl first. Alex Buckley (32) again made runs, but getting in and not converting seemed to be the theme of the day as Bebb (15), Bunting (16), Hindley (12) and Frankish (16) all got starts but couldn’t go on. The Stags were rolled for 145 from just 29.4 overs.
In reply Middleton had a solid start, but were pegged back by some frugal bowing from the Norden opening pair of Hindley (6 over 0-13) and Seb Howard (6 overs 0-14). The hosts seemed to be crusing at 91-3 but the unlikley duo of Bebb and Thorpe coming on 6th and 7th change spun the game on its head. Bebb had 4 over 4-21 and Thorpe took 3-9 from just 1.5 overs to bowl Middleton out for 135.
Scorecard : http://www.lancashireleague.com/Scorecards/1373/1373898.html