On numerous occasions in his Norden career, Alex Willis has looked set to make a big score but has failed to go on and convert a solid start. Sunday saw that change, and his fluent 80 was an under pressure, match winning contribution that saw Norden to a 10-point victory and move them up to 4th in the table.
A low-scoring match saw Littleborough elect to bat first and they were in early trouble at 44 for 5, with Scott Butterworth and sub-pro Mohsin Iqbal sharing 5 early wickets. Butterworth’s 3 included that of Littleborough sub-pro Luke Proctor, who became the 2nd Boro player to fall to a good slip catch by Dom Humphreys. There were a few Littleborough supporters in the ground who thought being bowled out for 100 was an inevitability from such a position, but the Hare Hill side are fighting for their Premier League survival and they showed enough character with the bat to suggest that they should have more than enough to secure their top division place for 2025. Matty Hernon and Niall Boyle added 40 for the 6th wicket, before Hernon became Iqbal’s 3rd wicket when he failed to connect with a cut shot and had his off-bail removed. A couple of further quick wickets fell, but Boyle was still there and the veteran, Phil Deakin, came in at number 10 to provide the support he needed. Deakin’s experience, combined with Boyle’s patience, frustrated Norden and they took the score over 100. Iqbal and the Butterworth brothers had bowled out for Norden and the final overs fell to Humphreys and Dean Lord. The partnership had reached 45 before Lord went full and straight to Boyle to bowl him for 33. Norden’s push for the final wicket proved fruitless and Deakin ended on 25* when the 50 overs were up. His team had 147 on the board and something more to bowl at than it had looked like at one stage.
The chase started in similar fashion, and Josh Tolley and Jack Taylor were both back in the dressing room before the total had reached 10. Danny Devine, opening the batting after a good run of form in the 2nds, looked in good touch but he failed to clear mid-on when on 14 and the Stags were 26 for 3 and in a spot of bother. Willis, in at number 4, rotated strike well from the outset and was able to find the boundary when presented with a bad ball. He just needed a partner. Greg Butterworth and Spencer Allen both fell to Lewis Willman to give the left-armer 4 wickets, and Iqbal finally came to the crease at number 7. Perhaps in homage to the departed Mitch Owen, he smashed his 4th ball out of Stag Park and found the boundary twice more in his innings of 20 from 18 balls. Not a huge contribution by any means, but a partnership of 44 at that stage was enough to put Norden well in control. Willis was looking comfortably more at ease than any batter had done all day, and he reached his half-century from 65 balls. It was a first Lancashire League fifty for the Norden batter, which would have been scarcely believable for anyone watching him for the first time. Dom Humphreys was next man in and he survived an early chance to Proctor which could have made things interesting, but from that point he was able to accompany Willis to victory. Or so they thought. A scoring error meant that there was actually one more run to win and, undeservedly, Willis had his concentration broken and was trapped LBW by Ryan Miskella with the scores level. Littleborough picked up an extra point for that wicket, but Norden were not to be denied and Scott Butterworth struck a straight boundary to finally end proceedings.
1st XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6107896
1st XI Highlights: 1st XI vs Littleborough Highlights – YouTube
The 2nds won a nail-biter at Hare Hill to make it 3 wins in a row and edge them ever-closer to safety. Another slightly sloppy start with the ball got Boro off to a rapid start, but young Abu Farooq and the more experienced Ste Wild and Mo Waheed dragged things back well. They shared 7 wickets as Littleborough posted 170 for 8 from their 45 overs. From 90 for 2 at half-way, this represented a good effort from Phil Docker’s men. Norden lost both openers early, but Docker rebuilt alongside Jamie Taylor, taking the score to 79 before Docker fell to the off-spin of Sam Butterworth for 25. At that point, Taylor took over and he got to his 50 from 65 balls with 7 fours. The problem was the wickets falling regularly at the other end. Modessar Hussain contributed 18 to a partnership of 38, but he fell with 14 still needed from 3 overs. Theo Andrew and Jake Hill were both unable to help Taylor get the job done, and it fell to Waheed, coming in at 11 with 10 needed from 8 balls. A single off the final ball of the penultimate over meant Waheed was on strike, and Taylor was left to watch, on 74* at the other end. A brave decision to leave the 2nd ball of the over turned out to be wise as Waheed got the short one he was looking for from Butterworth and pulled it to the legside boundary. A single meant it was Taylor on strike with one needed from the final ball and the 16-year-old held his nerve to push and run into the off-side to complete a memorable win.
2nd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110360
The 3rds were on the wrong end of a fine batting performance from two young Rishton batters on Saturday. A century from Adam Hussain and an unbeaten 78 from Sahan Senapathi, both 15-years-old, took Rishton to an imposing 234 for 2 from their 40 overs. Dropped catches were again an issue for Norden. Joe Gordon nearly pulled something special out of the hat, with a destructive 81, but he pulled a short ball, which should really have gone for 6, straight up in the air with 45 needed from 8 overs and Rishton wrapped up a 40-run victory.
3rd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110024
3rd XI Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ruy3KJO1Io&feature=youtu.be