Round 4 of the Lancashire League saw The Stags travel to Hare Hill to take on Littleborough, looking to build on their strong performance the previous week. Captain Crabtree once again lost the toss, with Norden being asked to field first. With temperatures climbing into the mid-20s and a flat-looking wicket, it was shaping up to be a long day in the field.

With Chris Humphreys unavailable, Dean Lord stepped in to partner Maqsood with the new ball. Littleborough made a steady start, putting on 45 for the first wicket. A couple of dropped chances early on prevented what could have been a brighter start for Norden. Despite chances being hard to come by, tight spells from Maqsood and Stuart kept the scoring in check.

The return of the fit-again Dom Humphreys injected energy into the attack, and he delivered key breakthroughs by dismissing both the Littleborough captain and professional. A sixth-wicket partnership between Hernon and Williamson steadied the innings for the hosts, taking them to 151-6 with seven overs remaining. However, Boro collapsed shortly after, losing 4 wickets for just 15 runs in 3 overs, finishing on 165 all out.

Norden’s chase began positively, with Crabtree and Taylor finding early boundaries. A few quick wickets saw the innings wobble slightly, but a composed 52-run stand between Yates and Stuart pushed The Stags past the halfway mark. After another flurry of wickets, Holt and Humphreys combined effectively, adding 53 unbeaten runs to guide Norden to a hard-fought and well-deserved 12-point victory.
Scorecard : https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6685684

2nd XI

Looking to bounce back from the previous week’s disappointment, the 2nd XI hosted the reverse fixture at home. With conditions in their favour, skipper Docker won the toss and elected to bat. The innings was built on several starts, but only O’Neill managed to pass fifty, finishing unbeaten on 52*. The Stags posted a competitive 211-7 from their 45 overs.

In reply, Littleborough recovered well after losing an early wicket. At 60-2 with 25 overs remaining, the match was finely poised. However, hopes of a tight finish were dashed as opener Pye took control, anchoring the chase with an unbeaten 114*, guiding Boro home with 4 overs to spare.
Scorecard : https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6686513
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5GE7-HYeZg

3rd XI

The 3rd XI returned to Reside Stag Park, this time welcoming local rivals Rochdale CC. After winning the toss and electing to bat, the hosts posted a solid 206-7 from their 40 overs, thanks in large part to Thorpe’s continued fine form with a powerful unbeaten 84*.

In response, Norden’s bowlers kept the pressure on throughout, never allowing Rochdale to build any meaningful partnerships. Regular wickets fell, and standout figures from Andrew (3-31) and Ali (3-34) helped wrap up the visitors for 169, sealing another strong win for The Stags.
Scorecard : https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6686883

The third round of the Lancashire Premier League season saw the Norden First XI travel to Birch Hall to face a consistently strong Darwen CC. After three weeks of sunshine, a difficult wicket was expected, and when captain Crabtree lost the toss, Darwen chose to bat first.

The experienced opening bowling duo of Chris Humphreys and Tahir Maqsood made an immediate impact, sharing early wickets to leave the home side struggling at 38-7 after just 18 overs. Darwen were eventually bowled out for 63, with Maqsood claiming his maiden five-wicket haul for the Stags and Humphreys finishing with remarkable figures of 4 for 4 from his 9 overs.

Norden’s chase began shakily with two early wickets, bringing sub-professional Jamal Stuart and Jack Taylor to the crease. Taylor appeared to be batting on a different pitch, anchoring the innings with a composed, match-winning 32 not out as wickets continued to fall at the other end. Norden reached their target in the 14th over, wrapping up the win by 3:20 PM.
Scorecard : https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6685678

Second XI Fall Just Short in Entertaining Clash

At Reside Stag Park, the Second XI hosted Darwen in the reverse fixture. The visitors won the toss and opted to bat on a pitch that looked ideal for batting. A fine century by Darwen’s number three, Rehman, laid the foundation for a competitive total. However, tight bowling—especially from Sam Butterworth (4-59)—helped restrict the visitors to 236-6 from their 45 overs.

In reply, Norden suffered early setbacks with the wickets of Collin and Malik, but a solid 119-run partnership between Butterworth (57) and Holt (51) reignited the chase. Butterworths first 50 for Norden. Unfortunately, key wickets fell in quick succession, and the innings never fully recovered. Norden were eventually bowled out for 221, with last man Bebb falling in the final over—just 16 runs short.
Scorecard : https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6686507
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqkLCcBhO_E

Third XI Make Light Work of Nelson on Bank Holiday Monday

On Bank Holiday Monday, the Third XI welcomed Nelson CC to Reside Stag Park. Nelson won the toss and chose to bat on what looked a good surface. Opener Lister led the way for the visitors with a commanding 134 not out, guiding Nelson to 229-7 from their 40 overs. Sebastian Howard was the standout bowler for Norden, finishing with figures of 3-37.

In response, the Stags started strongly, thanks to a 134-run opening partnership between Mason and Kirkby. Mason departed for a well-made 70, bringing Thorpe to the crease. He maintained the momentum with a blistering 46 not out from just 23 balls. Kirkby remained unbeaten on 82 from 57 deliveries as Norden chased down the target in just 31 overs, sealing a convincing win.
Scorecard : https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6686879

The Stags 1^st XI were at home at a gloriously sunny Reside Stag Park on Sunday. The visitors were Lowerhouse, who are the red-hot favourites to win the JWL 1^st division title. Their all-round display and strength in depth warranted that early season optimism.

Lowerhouse batted first and Heap showed his early intent, advancing down the wicket to Masqood. An excellent piece of fielding from sub-professional Jameel Stuart led to Joseph Martin being ran out for 4, and then Chris Humphreys had Henri Cottam trapped LBW for 1. This brought professional Daniel Salpietro to the crease and the pair added 73 before Lord got Salpietro caught at point. Heap continued to look good, making 55 from 80 balls, before he snicked off to Lord, well caught low at first slip by Tahir. Walker looked dangerous, scoring 40 off just 34 balls before a bad run out that saw him and Toqir both stood at the same end. Gansler went for 5, off the very first ball of Jack Taylors spell. Toqir made a well compiled 39 and Bleazard rolled back the years with 31 not out off just 21 balls and the House finished on 254-8.

Crabtree and Jack Taylor opened up for the Stags. Taylor was caught behind for 5 and 1^st XI debutant Sam Butterworth, at just 17 years of age, came to the crease. The pair took the score to 37 before Crabtree was bowled for 21. Jamel Stuart was next in at 4, and the pair looked comfortable and added a 50 partnership before Stuart called young Butterworth through for a risky single and he was run out by Jo Martin for 22. Stuart was starting to find his feet and hit 4 sixes and 4 fours on his way to 76 runs off 80 balls before being stumped off the bowling of Salpietro. The middle order Willis (9), Dom Humphreys (4) and Kearns (6) didn’t fire but wicket keeper Devine offered some resistance with an excellent run a ball 27 not out. The stags were all out for 194 with just 2.2 overs remaining.

The Stags were well beaten by a good all round side but remained competitive throughout and plenty of positives can be taken from their battling performance.
Scorecard : https://lancashireleague.play-cricket.com/website/results/6685675
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kSv-JkoLOE

The 2^nd XI faced the long trip to Colne. Having lost the toss we were fielding first. Colne were off to quick start as the Stags opening pair lacked control. Mo Waheed showed how valuable he is, with his 12 overs 4-42 being the pick of the bowlers. Colne managed an imposing 236 all out from 43.5 overs.

In reply we lost skipper Docker early on for just 6. Collin looked good for his 11, but when Malik (5) and Allen (26) back in the shed it looked a tall order. Gordon struck 21 and some late order striking from Modessar (24) added some runs, but Bebb was stranded on 15 not out as we were bowled out for 134
Scorecard : https://lancashireleague.play-cricket.com/website/results/6686498

The 3^rd XI kicked off their campaign on Saturday with a trip to play Todmorden. The home side batted first and made 166 from their 40 overs, mainly due to a superb 101 from Burkitt. Seb Howard was the pick of the bowlers with 8 overs 4-28.

In reply Alex Buckley fell for a duck, but Harry Mason (31), Mike Thorpe (28) and Alan Howard (28) made solid contributions up top. An excellent 28 from Will Hindley looked to be bringing the game home, but he fell LBW and it was up to Skipper Jimmy Drury (12*) and Frankish (6*) to bring home the victory. The Stags made it to 167, with nine wickets down and 2.2 overs remaining.
Scorecard : https://lancashireleague.play-cricket.com/website/results/6686876

Norden are excited to announce the signing of West Indian international Jermaine Blackwood as professional for the 2025 season. Blackwood brings with him a wealth of experience at the very highest level, having played 56 tests for the West Indies. His three hundreds include two against  England, one being against an attack including Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad in 2015. He was also named in ESPN Cricinfo’s world test team of the year in 2020.

An aggressive right-handed batter, Blackwood also bowls more than useful right-arm medium pace and is an athletic presence in the field. He also has experience of league cricket in this area, having played for Heyside in the GMCL last year. In a time where professionals with this level of international pedigree are hard to find, the club are thrilled to welcome Jermaine to Stag Park and he is sure to bring great entertainment to Lancashire League grounds throughout the season.

The club would like to place on record our thanks to Dan and Steven from Cric X in facilitating the deal.

Play Cricket bio : https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/jermaine-blackwood-431909

A night of celebration at Norden on Saturday saw Scott Butterworth and Stan Kearns rewarded for fine individual seasons with 3 trophies each at the club’s annual presentation evening. Scott picked up the 1^st XI bowling award, the Hanmer Cup for best individual performance vs Rochdale and the players’ player of the year award, whilst Stan took home the under 18’s batting prize, the Derek Parker Trophy for most improved player and the Harold Sibbert Trophy for the best junior player in senior cricket. Greg Butterworth was the winner of the prestigious Asif Mujtaba Medal for the club’s player of the season and there was special mention of the outstanding Norden careers of he and Josh Tolley as they move on to pastures new in 2025. The night concluded on an emotional, yet entirely fitting note as club president, Nigel Butterworth, announced Sheila Worsley as the posthumous winner of the Joseph Coupe Cup for club person of the year. The club stood and applauded as one as Nigel presented the cup to Sheila’s daughters, Penny and Gemma.

Trophy Winners

1st XI Batting: Josh Tolley
1st XI Bowling: Scott Butterworth
2nd XI Batting: Danny Devine
2nd XI Bowling: Mo Waheed
3rd XI Batting: Abu Farooq
3rd XI Bowling: Sebastian Howard
Women’s Batting: Sarah Geenhalgh
Women’s Bowling: Maxine Smith
Women’s Fielding: Claire Wood
U18s Batting: Stan Kearns
U18s Bowling: Will Hindley
U18s Fielding: Tom Wild
Harold Sibbert Trophy (best junior in senior cricket): Stan Kearns
Bob Tattersall Trophy (best junior fielder in senior cricket): Theo Andrew
Geoff & Marion Hargreaves Award (players’ player of the year): Scott Butterworth
Hanmer Cup (best individual performance vs Rochdale): Scott Butterworth 6/52 and 34* at   Redbrook
Dick Bonser Trophy (u15s player with representative honours): Oliver Yates
Harry Schofield Trophy (u18s player with representative honours): Oliver Yates
Derek Parker Trophy (most improved player): Stan Kearns
Majorca Batting Trophy (best senior batting performance) :Alex Willis 80* vs Littleborough
Majorca Bowling Trophy (best senior bowling performance): Modessar Hussain 5 for 12 vs   Clitheroe
Asif Mujtaba Medal (player of the season): Greg Butterworth
Les Barlow Award (junior club person of the year): Theo Andrew
Joseph Coupe Cup (club person of the year): Sheila Worsley

Norden are delighted to announce the appointment of Lee Crabtree as 1st XI captain for the 2025 season. Lee steps up from vice-captain and will lead a team that will see some new faces as The Stags look to push for a first Lancashire League trophy. Dom Humphries will be the new vice-captain. Lee has said ‘I am delighted to have been made captain for 2025. I think we can push for a trophy, particularly in the cup competitions.’

Greg Butterworth and Josh Tolley have moved on to pastures new, and Scott Butterworth will be scaling back his playing commitments to focus on his young family. Greg has taken up the opportunity to become the professional at Heywood in the GMCL and Josh will be playing for Euxton in the Palace Shield. Both played key roles in the 2019 LCF Knockout win and there is no doubt that they are two of the best amateur cricketers to have played for the club. They both leave with the club’s thanks and best wishes.

Josh joined Norden in 2017 with a reputation as one of the region’s best amateur batters. He leaves with that reputation well and truly intact as he amassed over 7,500 runs in his 7 full seasons at Stag Park. Of his 13 centuries, his 177 in the tied game at home to Walsden perhaps stands out as he almost single-handedly got Norden up to a chase of 293.

Greg has captained the side for the last two years, and led the team to two cup semi-finals. His all-round ability saw him score just under 3,000 runs and take 350 wickets in his 8 years in a Norden shirt, as well as taking an impressive 85 catches.

News of a new professional is imminent and it promises to be an exciting new dawn at Stag Park in 2025.

All players are reminded that winter nets start at PA Cricket in Bury on the 22nd of February.

A final-day washout at Lowerhouse meant Norden finished 5^th in Lancashire League Division 1 for the second successive year. In all honesty, the top 3 teams in the division, champions Burnley along with Darwen and Lowerhouse, have looked much the strongest teams throughout the season and 5^th can be seen as a creditable, if ultimately slightly disappointing finish. The highlight of the season was undoubtedly the run to the semi-finals of the LCK knockout, with good wins against Vertex, Edgworth and Blackpool along the way. Unfortunately, reaching the showpiece final proved a step too far as a powerful Ormskirk side gained revenge for their defeat at Norden’s hands in the same competition in 2023.

The Worsley Cup and t20 competitions proved disappointing. Greenmount chased down 239 to knock Norden out at the first-round stage of the Worsley Cup, after the Stags had reached the semi-final in all of the previous 3 years, and the t20 group campaign never recovered after being dismissed for just 35 in the first game against the same opponents.

Whilst last year Norden had success against the teams at the top of the league and struggled against those at the bottom, this year was the opposite. Only one game was won against the 4 teams that finished higher, and only two were lost against teams that finished lower.

There were individual highlights, with new professional Mitchell Owen smashing 3 centuries on his way to 891 runs in all competitions. Josh Tolley again led the way for the amateur batters, with 862, and there were 364 for Lee Crabtree, 297 for Jack Taylor and 293 for Alex Willis. Crabtree was also rewarded for an excellent season with the gloves by topping the Division 1 dismissals list with 26.

The brothers Butterworth both shone with the ball. Scott just pipped Greg in the wickets stakes, with 53 to 52, but both were outstanding all year. Greg led all amateurs in the league with four 5-wicket hauls. The bowling attack also had real depth to it, with Owen contributing 23 wickets, Dean Lord 22, Dominic Humphreys 18 and Jack Taylor 15.

Plenty to build on for next year, and hopefully a push for trophies on multiple fronts.

The 2^nd XI faced a challenging season. Inconsistent availability was the biggest obstacle for a side with huge amounts of talent and potential. 34 players were used at this level over the course of the season, by far the most in the top division, and that tells the story of why it was a battle towards the bottom of the league, rather than the top. Relegation was avoided with a good run towards the end of the season, but this team should be aiming for much more next year. The Junior Cup again provided a good run, but it felt like an opportunity lost when Littleborough came out on top in the quarter-final at Stag Park.

Danny Devine and Hashum Malik were the standout contributors with the bat, both making just over 400 runs. Haris Hussain and Oliver Yates both topped 200 and Jamie Taylor hit 165 in only 6 innings at an average of 55.

Father and son Waheed were the leading wicket-takers, with Mo continuing to defy the laws of ageing in picking up 29 wickets and getting through 183 overs. Sami had 21 victims, despite playing fewer than half the games. Yates added 20 wickets to his runs and Modessar Hussain, who joined the club part way through the season, provided two decisive 5-wicket spells to help win two crucial matches.

As well as those already mentioned, there is so much to look forward to from other young players who have contributed to the 2^nd team this year. Stan Kearns has already gone on to make an impact at 1^st team level, Jake Hill has impressed with his leg-spin and Oli Kirkby will hope for an injury-free 2025 after a frustrating year. Abu Farooq showed enough with bat and ball to convince all that saw him that he will be a 1^st teamer in the very near future and Callum Hill, Theo Andrew and Harry Mason have also taken opportunities when given to them.

The 3rds did manage to play their final game at the weekend and they finished with a good win against Rishton to end an excellent campaign. A 4^th or 5^th place finish in Division 2, depending on a couple of games still to be played, represents a fine effort for a team that lost 4 or 5 big contributors from last year. Charlie Gooding took 4 for 16 on Saturday as Rishton were bowled out in the final over for 179. Stan Kearns and Jozef Gordon looked like they might knock the runs off without loss, but Gordon fell for 23. Kearns was in destructive mood, though, and he smashed 76 off 52 balls with 6 sixes. Michael Thorpe provided more than adequate support with 37 and Norden wrapped up the 12 points with nearly half of their overs remaining.

Abu Farooq topped the 200 run mark for the season, with Kearns, Gordon and Asif Saeed all making over 100.

Gooding was again the leading wicket-taker with 19, closely followed by Sebastian Howard who took 16 at an average of just 8.63 in his first season of senior cricket. Will Hindley and Mohammed Omar also chipped in with 14 and 12 respectively.
3^rd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110044
3^rd XI Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzaup9VSnmE&feature=youtu.be

In the last game of last season, Darwen arrived at Stag Park knowing that a win would secure them the league title, only for Norden to deny them with a fine performance. This year, Darwen needed a win from the penultimate game to take their title tilt to a last-day decider against Burnley. This time they were able to achieve their aim, as an aggressive batting performance set up a 74-run win.

Stand-in skipper Lee Crabtree elected to bowl first with bad weather seemingly certain to arrive at some stage during the day, and Darwen’s tactics were clear from the outset. They were going to take the game on, and try to turn any potential DLS calculation later on in their favour. The run-rate rarely dipped below 5 an over, as every Darwen batter to come to the crease, did so with the same attacking intent. Openers Ammer Mirza and Reece Davies showed no respect to Norden’s in-form new-ball duo of Scott Butterworth and Dom Humphreys and they flew to a 50 partnership before Davies walked right across his stumps and was struck on the pad by Butterworth for 21. West Indian Test batter Kieran Powell was standing in as Darwen’s sub professional and he needed no second invitation to target the shorter boundary. Mirza fell, caught and bowled by Norden’s sub pro Raveen Yasas, but Powell was moving effortlessly through the gears. The man to trouble him the most was Dean Lord, who bowled an excellent spell from the Woodhouse Lane end. He picked up the wicket of Jack Davies and was very unlucky not to be rewarded further. As it was, Powell and Scott Friend combined for another stand of 50 plus, before Friend was run out by a good throw from Stan Kearns on the point boundary. Powell moved past his half-century, but Butterworth returned to have him taken by li Holt at short third man, looking to reverse ramp the Norden seamer. The aggression kept on coming from Darwen’s batters, and Kamran Anwar and Sam Painter scored 57 between them from just 36 balls in an 8^th wicket stand that took the game away from Norden. A short rain delay had reduced the game to 45 overs a side, but it seemed as if Darwen didn’t care about that, they just wanted as many as they could as quickly as they could, and then to bowl 20 overs as quickly as possible to get a game in. This meant Norden were able to keep picking up wickets and secure 2 bowling points by bowling the visitors out for 250 in the 41^st over

The target became 248 from 45 after DLS, and Darwen opened with the spin of Dave Bowden to try and hurry things along. Bowden is rarely expensive with the ball, but runs were coming more easily off Reece Davies at the other end. Davies did, however, pick up wickets as he clean bowled both Crabtree and Spencer Allen. Yasas joined Josh Tolley and the pair looked comfortable as they rotated strike and punished anything loose. In fact, as the rain began to fall, it looked for a while as if Darwen’s urgency might end up being their undoing as the Norden pair caught up with the DLS par score as the magic 20 over mark approached. The key moment, though, was provided by Davies as he found Yasas’ middle stump as the Sri Lankan aimed a misjudged swipe to the leg-side. From that moment, as the rain eased, the result was never in doubt. There was a good knock of 33 from Butterworth before he was taken spectacularly by Powell on the long-off boundary, and Tolley eased his way to a fine 68, but the task was too much. Norden succumbed for 173 in the 36^th over and Darwen had their revenge for last year and the chance to make amends in the title race.
1^st XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6107908
1^st XI Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4YwiIBuw00&feature=youtu.be

The 2nds secured their top division status for next season as their game at Darwen was rained off half-way through. Darwen posted 219 for 7 from their 45 overs, with Mo Waheed taking 3 for 32 for Norden. The heavens then opened and the rain did not stop in time, so it was 5 points each.
2^nd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110370

The 3rds went down to title-chasing Greenmount at Stag Park on Saturday. A very young Norden team, and Alan Howard, took to the field and battled hard to restrict Greenmount to 153 for 8 from their 40 overs. Sebastian Howard and Mohsin Umar were the standout bowlers for Norden, with 2 wickets each. The chase was helped by 47 extras from the visitors, but only Howard, Michael Thorpe made it to double figures as the Stags were bowled out for 128.
3^rd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110037
3^rd XI Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMwzh0J3u4A

Norden made it a clean sweep of this year’s local derbies against Rochdale with a 47-run win on Saturday. The bowlers were the stars of the show, with Greg Butterworth and Dom Humphreys both taking 5 wickets and enabling Norden to comfortably defend the 152 they had posted after being put in to bat. After Danny Devine had edged Michael Harling behind early on, Josh Tolley was able to push the score along comfortably alongside Jack Taylor initially, and then Alex Willis. Taylor played with good intent for his 26 and Willis was able to continue his good form from last week with another well-constructed innings of 35. Tolley looked in little trouble as he made his way to 49, but in aiming to hit Oli Makin back over his head, he failed to make contact and was bowled. Makin, the former Norden off-spinner, was always going to be the main threat in the Rochdale attack, particularly on a pitch that took spin from the start. Perhaps he should have opened the bowling, rather than waiting until the 10^th over to introduce himself. As it was, Norden were looking like posting a big total at 92 for 2, but Makin was a real handful, getting turn and bounce from the scoreboard end, and once the wickets started to fall, they continued to do so. Only Humphreys, of Norden’s 7 remaining batters, made it to double figures and the 200+ that had looked on the cards never materealised. Makin did the bulk of the damage, taking 7 for 51 from 12.5 overs, and Norden were bowled out in the 34^th over. Makin has now taken hauls of 8 and 7 wickets against Norden in the last 2 seasons and remarkably ended up on the losing side on both occasions.

This defeat was down to a combination of poor Rochdale batting and good Norden bowling. Butterworth was more decisive than Makin had been and he rightly opened the bowling alongside brother Scott. He was rewarded by dismissing the Rochdale top 3 in quick time. Firstly, Jack Duffy found Willis at cover, and then Andrew Harrison edged to the safe hands of Humphreys at slip. Makin, in at 3, was next to go as Butterworth bowled him with a quicker ball. Everything was then resting on Ali Muzaffar, who has been a thorn in the Norden side on previous occasions, and Harling. Humphreys, replacing Scott from the Woodhouse Lane end, was the man to dismiss them both, for identical scores of 10. With them went any realistic hopes Rochdale had of victory, but Harry Butterworth showed some fight, alongside some good strokes, to make a defiant 42. He did not receive any support, though, and Butterworth and Humphreys continued to take wickets at the other end. Butterworth was the last man out, giving Humphreys figures of 5 for 46 with all 5 of his wickets being clean bowled. Humphreys has bowled impressively since returning from his side train, and these wickets were just rewards for those performances. Butterworth ended with 5 for 21, his 4^th 5 wicket haul in the league this season, underlining what an excellent job he has done in stepping up following the departure of Ashar Zaidi. With all of Sunday’s Premier League games falling foul of the weather, Norden remain in 4^th place going into the final 2 games of the season. 1^st XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6107794
1^st XI Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_gbCI0y7LI&feature=youtu.be

The 2nds had an extremely frustrating weekend. On Saturday they travelled to title-chasing Ramsbottom, but a spirited performance did not result in any points in defeat. Phil Docker led the way with 41 as Norden posted 157 for 9 from their 45 overs. A high quality Ramsbottom batting lineup were able to time their chase to perfection, with half-centuries for Michael Howarth and Seb Schofield, and despite trying everything they could, Norden were unable to pick up enough wickets to secure any bonus points as the hosts reached their target in the 41^st over.

Sunday saw a relegation 24-pointer at Stag Park against Enfield. In a game played in intermittent rain and less than ideal conditions, Norden were cruising to victory when the umpires inexplicably decided to do a total U-turn on their determination to get a game of cricket played and declared conditions were suddenly unfit with only another 7 balls required to constitute a game. Mo Waheed had taken 3 for 34, and Modessar Hussain 2 for 12 as Enfield made 135 for 8 in their 33 allotted overs. The Norden target was bumped up to 141 by DLS, but this was proving no problem at all as Hashum Malik and Oli Yates took the home side to 94 for 1 from 18.5 overs, 21 ahead of the DLS par score at the time, before the umpires intervened. The rain stopped in 10 minutes, but for reasons that were not apparent to anybody, the decision was made by the umpires that the game could not resume. The resulting farcical scene of the captains shaking hands outside with 4 minutes additional play being needed and no rain falling, left Norden fuming.
2^nd XI Scorecards: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110367
2^nd XI Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCBe6QR_vWU&feature=youtu.be

The 3rds had a second 10-wicket win in 3 games, as they proved too good for Rawtenstall on Monday. Abu Farooq took 4 for 15 and there were wickets for two under 13’s in Adam Bunting and James Frankish, as Rawtenstall were bowled out for just 76. Farooq then teamed up with Joe Donnelly to knock the runs off with no trouble at all in the 18^th over.
3^rd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110034
3^rd XI Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42pXi57xk5E

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 4^th 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 2^nd 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 6^th wicket, before Hernon became Iqbal’s 3^rd 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 4^th 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.
1^st XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6107896
1^st 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 2^nd 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.
2^nd 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.
3^rd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110024
3^rd XI Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ruy3KJO1Io&feature=youtu.be