Norden CC Under 13s bowed out of the Lancashire Cricket League Cup this week following a narrow defeat away at Lowerhouse.

On a flat wicket with a lightning fast outfield, things started well for the visitors with Daniel Wild taking a wicket with his first ball.  After that, however, the two Lowerhouse batters set about scoring runs quickly averaging 8 an over courtesy of some lovely shots and the odd fortunate edge that carried to the boundary.

Norden failed to stem the flow of runs throughout the 18 overs with Lowerhouse eventually finishing on 132.  There was much to ponder for all concerned, including the coaches regarding fielding positions for future matches.

Norden started the reply confidently with Adam Bunting hitting some crunching shots and they reached 40/0 in good time.  This prompted Lowerhouse to introduce some pace into the attack and it paid dividends as Logan removed DJ for 18, caught behind, and then bowled Adam Bunting for 22.  This was a setback for the visitors but it brought Uzair Zaidi and James Frankish to the wicket and Norden remained on the attack as the latter hit his first ball to the boundary for four.

Despite the best efforts of both, the run rate was starting to creep up and it soon reached 10 an over with 7 overs remaining.  Frankish remained on the attack and took the game to Lowerhouse, eventually retiring on 35 not out with a solid pull shot to the boundary.  Zaidi and new batsman Archie Greenwood now had a tough task on their hands and despite hitting 14 off one over, Zaidi fell soon afterwards and despite the best efforts of Greenwood (retired 31 not out) and new batsman Mohammed Usman, Norden reached 116 and fell 16 runs short.   

A good effort by all concerned in a game played in good spirits.

In last week’s opening fixture, Norden’s lower middle order played a large part in setting up a winning first innings total. Unfortunately, this week saw the other side of the coin with the Stags suffering an almighty collapse at Haslingden. A poor start had left Norden on 33 for 4, but a fine partnership between Greg Butterworth and Alex Willis looked to have recovered the situation and laid the foundation for a competitive score. The pair added 58 but both were dismissed in quick succession by Gary Sudworth. This was the start of a run of 6 wickets for only 2 runs scored. Dean Lord was the only batter from 7 down who managed to register a run, and that was a solitary single. Lord was last man out, giving home professional Rudi Second his third wicket, to go with Sudworth’s three, and Norden were all out for 93 in the blink of an eye.

Despite a wet outfield, the pitch was playing fairly true, and a target of 100 was unlikely to trouble the hosts. Scott Butterworth again bowled well with the new ball, trapping Joe Sipocz in front for just 5. There was no luck for the Norden quick after that, though, and Matthew Griffin and Second were able to ride out Butterworth’s 10 over opening spell for no further loss. Try as they might, Norden’s other bowlers also failed to provide another breakthrough, and Haslingden were able to cruise home for a 9 wicket win with half of their overs remaining.

Saturday’s Worsley Cup tie against Greenmount was abandoned on Saturday without any play. The match will now be played at Stag Park on the 11^th of May with the winners to travel to Crompton in round 2.
1^st XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6107804

There was a mixed weekend for the 2nds. On Saturday, a patched up side missing a host of players for numerous reasons, made the trip to Greenmount and came away with a fantastic victory. Greenmount batted first and their imposing total of 298 was built around a huge partnership of 186 between Kieran Edwards and Toby Leach. Leach registered a maiden senior century, with Edwards falling just 2 short of his personal landmark. It was great to see Hashum Malik return to bowling duties and he claimed 3 wickets, and special mention should go to Oli Yates, whose spell of 3 for 33 was comfortably the standout bowling performance seen on the day. Some rain meant Norden’s target became 280 from 44 overs and Malik started brightly before falling to an excellent catch. Nick Brierley and Haris Hussain came together for the big partnership that the chase needed, and it looked for a while like the pair might emulate Edwards and Leach. Noah Birtwistle broke the stand on 118 when Brierley looked to sweep on 78 but missed, and Hussain then fell to the same bowler 2 overs later for a fine 58. Norden needed someone to stand up and that man was Ross Collin. Under huge pressure, and with good support from David Bebb, Collin manipulated the field and was able to target the short boundary when required. His match-winning 44* came from just 32 balls as the Stags got home with 8 balls spare. Norden will host Accrington in the next round.
Junior Cup Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6537076

Sunday saw Haslingden bat first at Stag Park. Zeeshan Tariq continued his good start to his Norden career with 2 more wickets and Jamie Taylor bowled with good pace and effort from the Woodhouse Lane end. A poor fielding display, with catches going down and runs being given away, contributed to Haslingden getting up above 200 when they really should not have been allowed to. The batting heroics of the previous day were not able to be repeated, and a good position at 68 for 1 with Yates and Bebb going well quickly disappeared. The experienced Richards bowled tightly from one end and the pressure he built allowed the wrist-spin of Lucas Bargh to do the wicket-taking damage at the other. His 6 for 39 meant Norden never got close, and it was a 99-run win for the visitors.
2^nd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110271
2^nd XI Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF0sXxUCWPI&feature=youtu.be

A tough start to the season for the 3rds continued on Monday with a 7-wicket defeat at Middleton. Jimmy’s team has had to start the season missing a large number of last year’s key performers, but this always presents opportunities and youngsters Seb Howard and Tom Wild both acquitted themselves well with bat and ball. Michael Thorpe also returned to the side and top-scored with 21.
3^rd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6109969

After the first two weeks of the Lancashire League season had been postponed due to unprecedented bad weather, the new season finally got started at the weekend with mixed fortunes for Norden.

The 1^st XI were the only victorious side with an excellent win at home to Todmorden on Sunday. The Stags included new professional, Mitchell Owen, for his debut and he was at the crease early after Norden had been asked to bat first. Conditions were a credit to everyone who has helped on the ground in recent weeks, with no question at all about the fitness of the ground. Despite this, batting was always going to be tough after the weather we have had. Norden decided that the positive approach was the way to go and Josh Tolley launched the first ball of the season out of Stag Park. After Lee Crabtree had been run out early, Owen also went straight on the attack. A slightly edgy start gave way to some powerful straight hitting and a 33 ball half-century in a partnership of 72 with Tolley. Unfortunately, immediately after reaching the landmark, Owen was caught on the crease by Hamza Ali and there was no doubt about the L.B.W. decision. Tolley struggled to find another partner, but he too made it past 50 despite wickets beginning to fall at the other end. Valuable cameos from Dom Humphreys, Oli Holt and Scott Butterworth were exactly what Norden needed, and they turned what looked like a score of around 170 into 229 for 9 at the close. Tolley’s 88 was the backbone, and it was just a shame he couldn’t quite reach his century and remove his helmet to show how productively he has spent his winter.

Todmorden will have been disappointed with how their seam bowlers performed, and they dropped catches in the outfield to make matters worse. Had Harry Rickard held a straightforward chance off Tolley when he was in the 30’s, things could have been different. As it was, a score of over 200 seemed huge, and so it proved. Scott Butterworth picked up where he left off from last year with a 3-wicket opening spell, and there was also one for Humphreys with the new ball. Only Todmorden deputy-pro, Dumindu, put up any sort of real resistance. He made 55, but there was only one partnership above 20 for the visitors and the spinners, Greg Butterworth and Jack Taylor, finished the job for Norden. Maximum points secured, and a great start heading into the first league and cup double-header next week.
1^st XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6107801
1^st XI Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDgdDyvmrjA

The 2nds made the trip to Todmorden, where they found the ground slightly less ready for play. A delayed start meant a 41-over game on an extremely green pitch. New signing Zeeshan Tariq made a great start to his Norden career with 3 early wickets and Tod were in trouble at 45 for 5. The lower order, and Thomas Barker in particular, dug in and worked hard to squeeze the score up past 100 and the hosts closed on 117 for 7. Norden found scoring really tough and Barker, alongside new-ball partner Ibrar Ali, were not giving anything away. The pressure started to bring wickets and only Oli Kirkby and Danny Devine managed to get to double figures as the Stags fell well short and were bowled out for just 70. Sam Kelly was the pick of the Todmorden bowlers, with 4 for 12.
2^nd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110266

Jimmy’s young 3^rd team kicked off the season on Saturday at Nelson. Mohsin Umar and Sebastian Howard from the under 15’s made their senior debuts and performed well with the ball as Nelson batted first and were bowled out for 146. Mohammad Omar, fresh from his Manchester and London Marathon exploits, picked up 3 wickets and there were 2 each for Oli Yates and Will Hindley with the new ball. Sadly, only Yates could muster up anything of note with the bat. He made 34, but others found it difficult to get off strike and too many dot balls were faced as nobody else made double figures. A 53-run defeat, but hopefully some good lessons learned.
3^rd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6109963

Norden are delighted to announce the signing of exciting Australian all-rounder Mitchell Owen as professional for the 2024 season. 22-year-old Owen plays for Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield and the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash.

An aggressive right-handed batter and a right-arm seam bowler, he has established himself in first-class cricket this season, making two half-centuries and taking regular wickets during Tasmania’s rise to the top of the table. The club would like to thank Robbie Humphries at WSX Cricket for helping to facilitate the deal and everyone is looking forward to welcoming Mitch for the start of the season.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/mitchell-owen-1213979

We recently caught up with Mitch and he said “I can’t wait to get over to the UK and get stuck in with the boys at Norden CC. The Lancs league is spoken very highly of over here in Aus and I’m really excited I get to experience what it has to offer. Stez Wild has told me a lot about the club, so I’m counting down the days til I get over there”

In further good news, Dom Humphreys is returning to Stag Park after a 2-year absence. The club jumped at the chance to re-sign him as soon as it became clear he would be leaving Heywood. Dom’s all-round talent and energy in the field are well-known to all at Norden and he will be a huge asset on and off the field next season.

Leaving the club, though, are Mo Munawar, Usama Malik and Kabir Ahmed:

Munawar has spent nearly a decade at Norden, taking over 250 wickets and helping the club out by captaining an extremely young 2^nd XI as we came out of Covid. His ability to prodigiously swing the new-ball made him a real handful at any level and he was the leading wicket-taker in Junior Division 1 in 2023. Always keen to play and make himself available for any team, even playing for all 3 senior sides in one weekend on one occasion, Munny has been a tremendous servant for the club.

Malik divided his Norden career between the 1^st and 2^nd XI’s. He garnered a reputation for dismissing opposing professionals and his game-winning final over in the Lancashire Knockout against Denton St Lawrence in 2022 was a real highlight.

Ahmed scored 1400 runs in the 2^nd XI in just 2 seasons. His remarkable 2022 season yielded 897 runs and his unbeaten, match-winning century in the cup quarter-final against Littleborough this year won him the club’s batting performance of the year award.

All leave with the best wishes and thanks of all at Norden.

On Wednesday 15^th of November 2023 Bob Fee sadly passed, surrounded by his loved ones.

Bob was born in 1945 and became a member of Norden Cricket Club in the early 1950’s and remained a member for over 70 years. He was born and bred in Norden and lived in the village all his life.

Bob was a keen cricketer and loved playing the game. His brother, Les, describes a photo that Pete Fitton still has of him, Bob and Dave Wild all playing at Norden in 1957. Bob played in the junior sides before moving on to the 2^nd XI.

A few years ago Bob was made a life member of the club due to his enormous contribution over his 70 year membership. Bob served on the committee in the 60’s and was instrumental in the implementation of a licensed bar for the first time in the club’s history in 1967. Along with his good friend, Dave Wild, they used their skills as electrical engineers to get the bar up and running. In the late 70’s, Bob and Dave re-wired the club as an extension and new bar were built.

Bob left school at 15 and got a job with Whipp & Bourne, a well known electrical engineers in Rochdale. Bob worked for Whipps his entire working life and was an extremely popular figure. For much of this time Bob was in Quality Control alongside his great mate, Joe Rush.
Rushy recalls how the company went in to liquidation in 1976 and they all lost their jobs … for one day, as they were soon taken back on as the company started trading again under a new name. Joe said “Bob was a wonderful man. We worked very closely for such a long time. Never once did we have a crossed word. Bob didn’t like the limelight, he’d always be at the back on photos and things of that nature. We travelled a lot and Bob was an integral part of work social scene at Whipps”.
Andrew Pownall : “What a great guy Bob was, always there to help and guide, whilst having a laugh. Worked with him and saw him occasionally at the cricket when Norden played Walsden. Have some great memories of him and sad to learn this news.”
Ste Holt : “Well appreciated at Whipps; a steady, genuine good guy. Remember him giving me a bollocking for goading Jack Crandon, he was right I needed it. That was Bob, bless that memory.

When Whipps eventually closed down in 2011, Bob took early retirement to look after his late wife Pat.

Cricket wasn’t Bob’s only love; he was a season ticket holder at Manchester United for a while and loved a trip to the races. This article is being written on one of Bob’s favourite days of the year, the Betfair Chase at Haydock which signals the start of the Jump season. He was a regular attendee.

When Bob’s cricket playing days finished, he was an avid supporter of the 1^st XI. For over fiftty years he watched home and away, very rarely missing a game. He was a regular fixture at Stag Park, sitting with his crew under the scoreboard. Whilst some members are not very shy of telling you what they thought of your performance that day, Bob was not like this. Regardless of the result, Bob would collect the discs away, lock up the shed and head over to the bar for a drink. He’d never criticise, never raise a voice, never tell you what you should have done. He would love to discuss the game with you. Bob has seen many generations of players come through the club and was so well liked by all of them.

In later life he went on to meet Linda. They married in 2020 and spent many happy times together. Bob was still active at the club, and once he’d retired he got even more work done. He was regularly at the club during the day, whether it be painting the changing rooms, emptying the bins, strimming the grass… anything he could do to help.

Every Saturday and Sunday morning on game day Bob would be at the ground early, putting out the fielding discs and sorting the boundary rope. At the mid-innings break, Bob and his brother Les would roll and re-mark the wicket. They did this for over 30 years and in recent times he was nicknamed Bob the Brush by 6 year old Joe Shotton.

A kind, clever, generous man. Any room Bob walked in to, he made it better. Norden Cricket Club has lost its number one supporter.

Bob was just a bloody lovely bloke who will be so sadly missed by all the cricket club

RIP Bob

The funeral will take place at Rochdale crematorium on Tuesday the 5^th of December at 15:20, followed afterwards with a reception at Norden Cricket Club. The funeral procession will drive on to the car park at Norden CC at 14:50 and pause for a short while. Anyone who knew Bob is welcome to attend.

It is with great sadness the club announce the passing of life member Bob Fee earlier on today.

Our thoughts are with his brother Les, his partner Linda and all Bob’s family and friends.

Funeral details will be posted in due course.

JOB DESCRIPTION :

Norden Cricket Club, a member of the Lancashire League, is offering an exciting opportunity for a (minimum) Level 2 coach to head up its thriving Junior section. Reporting to the Chair of the Cricket Committee, the coach will be responsible for:

• Planning and co-ordinating junior training sessions including winter nets (Mondays – U13 and U15 / Fridays – U9 and U11 from January – March) and summer training sessions (Friday evenings from April – August.)
• Supervise volunteer coaches at all age groups providing guidance and lesson plans where appropriate 
• Attend a selection of Junior matches to witness and support the progress of Junior players in match situations.
• Support the transition of Juniors into Senior cricket by liaising with the 3^rd Team captain and Chairman of selectors to recommend Juniors for Senior teams.

The role is for 100-125 hours – competitive salary.
Please send a covering letter and CV to steve@nordencricketclub.co.uk to apply

Norden ladies 8aside softball team won the East Lancashire League and qualified for the finals day at Great Harwood CC on the 16/9/23.

Norden played Darwen in the semi final. Norden scored 230 runs and managed to restrict Darwen to 206 runs.

Norden then faced Rishton in the final. We scored 273 runs and restricted Rishton to 238 runs. Captain Clair Wood lifted the trophy to complete a memorable season winning a League and Cup double.

Stag Park was the centre of Lancashire League attention on Sunday, as defending champions Darwen arrived knowing a maximum-point win would guarantee them retaining their title. Norden were looking to play the role of party poopers and Ashar Zaidi, playing his final game for the club, was the man to play pooper-in-chief.

Norden chose to bat on a tacky surface and lost two wickets in two balls with the score on 4 as Lee Crabtree and Jack Taylor fell to Darwen skipper, Kamran Anwar. The big 2 partnership of Zaidi and Josh Tolley was together early, and they looked relatively comfortable until Dave Bowden got one to grip and take Tolley’s edge. Spencer Allen was a good foil to Zaidi and the pair added 40 before Greg Butterworth replaced Allen. Butterworth contributed just 10 to the partnership of 57 as Zaidi started to accelerate. The Norden cause was helped by Anwar choosing to bring himself back on in place of professional Punit Bisht, who had bowled 5 overs of off-spin for just 15 runs. The seamer was much easier to face on this pitch and Zaidi helped himself to 20 runs from the 45^th over and a further 11 from the 47^th. Zaidi brought up his hundred from 126 balls, an incredible knock given that no other batter was to make it to 20 in the match. Norden’s 197 was a massive score in the conditions and the champions were to get nowhere near it. Zaidi was pumped and his spell of 9 uninterrupted overs from the scoreboard end produced figures of 4 for 6, with each wicket celebrated vociferously. Lukas Debnam chipped in with 3 wickets in his final game before returning home to Australia, taking his total to a very creditable 47 in all competitions. Darwen were bowled out for 85, meaning that Burnley’s washout against Lowerhouse was enough to give them the title. Zaidi finished as the league’s leading wicket-taker with 46 and Tolley was 2^nd amongst amateur batters with 664 runs. Special mention should also go to Scott Butterworth, who had an excellent season with 38 league wickets. Norden finished 5^th in the 1^st Division table, just missing out on Lancashire Cup qualification, but also wondering what might have been had they beaten the two relegated teams, Walsden and Ramsbottom, in the two games prior to this one.
1^st XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/5592562
1^st XI Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSI5URmArlA

The 2^nd XI were in a similar position, with Darwen just a win from the title. What was different in this game was that there was just one league-appointed umpire and Darwen elected to take advantage of this as a run-out appeal was turned down in the 1^st over when Darwen opener Zac Whalley appeared to be at least several yards short of his ground. Whalley went on to make a crucial 45 on a very difficult pitch. Norden’s bowlers stuck to their task and Oli Kirkby and Usama Malik both took 3 wickets in bowling Darwen out for 146 in the final over. Rain interruptions brought DLS re-calculations which, in truth, brought Norden into the game but some fine hitting from Malik wasn’t quite enough and Darwen won by 12 runs to take the Junior League title. A 7^th place finish for Docker’s men was probably about right given the lack of runs from key men through the season, but the excellent cup run and the introduction of some extremely promising young players gives great cause for optimism. In terms of individual efforts, Mo Munawar must be congratulated for leading the league’s wicket-takers with 38. There were also 29 for Malik and Oliver Kirkby’s 19, to go alongside a maiden half-century, only underline his potential. Kabir Ahmed led the run-scorers with 340.
2^nd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/5593359

It was a real mix of young and old as the 3rds closed their season with a 4^th successive victory. Alan Howard rolled back the years to make 79 against Clitheroe 4^th XI, the heat being much more of a challenge to the veteran than the bowling. The real star of the show, though, was 14-year-old Oli Yates, who struck his 1^st Norden century. Remarkably, Yates had just 68 to his name with 2 overs of the Norden innings remaining. He freed his arms to take 15 from the penultimate and when the 1^st ball of the last went for 6, the hundred was on. He got there with a ball to spare, and the young man raised his bat aloft to the delight of the healthy crowd. I don’t think there’ll be many betting on this being his last century for the club. Will Hindley and Jake Hill then took over with the ball, taking 3 wickets each and Clitheroe were bowled out for 125. Having been promoted last year and starting with a couple of heavy defeats, it is of huge credit to Jimmy Drury and his young team that they have climbed to a 5^th place finish. Very rarely has there been more than one or two players in the 3rds who have also played in a higher team that week and the future of the club looks in great hands with this group of young players. Yates finished as leading run-scorer with 311 and Stan Kearns made 239; both will be looking to have a real impact in the 2nds next year. Charlie Gooding’s 23 wickets came at an average of just 10 and Will Hindley had another good year with 17 wickets, the same number as Mohsin Iqbal.
3^rd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/5616295
3^rd XI Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDJczsZ3j6o

Ashar Zaidi has announced that he is to leave Norden after 3 seasons with the club. Zaidi’s last game highlighted what the club will miss as he scored a century and took 4 for 6 from 9 overs as Norden spoiled Darwen’s title charge.

In his 2 seasons as pro and 1 as amateur, Zaidi scored 4,095 and took 212 wickets for the club. All at Stag Park wish to pass on their thanks and good wishes to Ashar for the future.