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

Saturday saw the final game of the season for Norden professional, Mitch Owen, before he heads off to play T10 cricket in the Cayman Islands and then back home for pre-season in Tasmania. He saved his highest league score of the season for his farewell game and his magnificent 118 from 85 balls helped Norden to a comfortable 85-run win against Middleton at Towncroft. Owen had to wait until the score had reached 74 before he came to the wicket, as Lee Crabtree and Josh Tolley put on a good opening stand after Norden had been invited to bat first by home skipper Andy Gregoriou. The introduction of the slow-left-arm of Dale Highton had an immediate effect for Middleton after the opening pair of James Tierney and Tom Rutter had been unable to stem the flow of runs. When Crabtree found the safe hands of Rehan Udwadia, Owen entered the fray and looked like he meant business from ball one. Tolley passed 500 league runs for the season during his knock, but he was given out LBW when on 39. Jack Taylor and Greg Butterworth, however, both proved more than adequate foils for Owen as he showed no mercy to any of the 6 bowlers tried by Gregoriou. After Taylor had fallen for 30 and Butterworth for 21, wickets started to tumble but Owen could not be stopped. He struck 12 fours and 4 sixes as he brought up his century, before finally being dismissed when he picked out Rutter off the returning Tierney. It was a memorable innings, and Norden’s 277 was a total that not many in the ground felt Middleton would be able to chase down.

Much would depend on Owen’s Middleton counterpart, James Price, and he came in at first-drop rather than his usual number 4 spot after Scott Butterworth had clean bowled Tierney, himself promoted to the top of the order. Price was more circumspect early on than Owen had been, in the face of some testing new-ball bowling from Butterworth in particular. He looked to be getting himself set on 15, though, but Butterworth did the trick for Norden as Owen took the catch to send Price back to the pavilion, and surely any Middleton hopes with him. Owen added 2 wickets for himself to cap of an excellent day, and Greg Butterworth did what he has done so often this year, and made his way through the middle order, taking 4 for 38. Keelan Shipley played nicely for his 64, and Middleton’s lower order were stubborn enough in good batting conditions to survive only 8 wickets down. The vagaries of the points system meaning that, despite this being as comfortable a victory as you could hope for, Norden were rewarded with only 10 points.

The final word should go to Owen, who finishes with 891 runs and 23 wickets in all competitions in his first season as a league professional. A fantastically talented player, who will undoubtedly go on to great things as his career progresses. Everyone at Stag Park would like to thank him for his efforts throughout the year.
1^st XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6107890

The 2nds chalked up a 2^nd consecutive victory in their battle to stay up, as they comfortably defeated recent Junior Cup winners, Great Harwood. As last week at Clitheroe, the main man with the ball for Norden was Modessar Hussain. At one stage he had the remarkable figures of 5 for 0 as he tore through the Great Harwood batting lineup. Hussain’s pace and movement off the pitch was too much for the visitors to handle and he ended up with 6 for 22 as Great Harwood were dismissed for 123. There were also good spells from Oli Yates, Ste Wild  and Jamie Taylor to back up Hussain in an excellent display with the ball. Norden were equally good with the bat as Danny Devine and Yates both made half-centuries in their opening stand of 112. Yates fell just before the target was reached, but a 9-wicket win and 12 points was just rewards for the best performance of the season.
2^nd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110355
2^nd XI Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dKpvhaz03s&feature=youtu.be

A perfect weekend for the club was completed on Sunday when the 3rds put in an excellent performance of their own to beat Church by 10 wickets. Abu Farooq was the star of the show, taking 3 for 20 and scoring an unbeaten 62 as Church’s 152 all-out was chased down with minimal fuss. Oli Kirkby, playing his first game back after a knee injury, was also quickly back into his batting rhythm, and he found the boundary 12 times in his 73*.
3^rd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110017
3^rd XI Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH_H3vN2urM

Norden put themselves into a great position to pick up a 3^rd consecutive Lancashire League win on Sunday. An excellent bowling performance had put visitors, Clitheroe, in huge trouble at 17 for 4 and then 83 for 7, but some poor fielding was followed by some even worse batting to allow the Chatburn Road club to claim the spoils.

As they did last week at Church, Scott Butterworth and Dom Humphreys bowled beautifully with the new ball. Both threatened the stumps and found movement off the pitch to trouble all of Clitheroe’s batters. They got their rewards with 2 wickets each in the first 6 overs of the game. Butterworth had Tom Lord LBW in the first over of the game, and clean-bowled Eli Smith with one that nipped away. Humphreys rattled the stumps of Clitheroe’s main man, Ali Ross, and followed that up by trapping Coby Campbell in front. Clitheroe sub-pro Ruhan Pretorius, and Charlie Dewhurst briefly threatened a partnership of some substance, but Pretorius played a loose shot on 17 and Butterworth had his 3^rd. A slip catch from Humphreys then helped him to a 4^th as Joe Bolton fell for 11. When Dewhurst was the next man out, edging Greg Butterworth behind into the safe gloves of Lee Crabtree, it looked like Clitheroe might be dismissed for a double-figure score. Skipper Peter Dibb is a much better player than the number 9 position he was occupying, however, and he dropped and ran effectively alongside the obdurate Duncan Bennett. Dibb fell looking to up the rate, the first of 3 wickets for Dean Lord, and Bennett edged a cut shot behind soon afterwards, leaving Clitheroe on 122 for 9. Things should then have been wrapped up on a couple of occasions when Kyle O’Connor offered chances to long-on, but the catches went down allowing an extra 21 runs to be added for the final wicket. Butterworth finished with the excellent figures of 4 for 37 and Lord, the bowler to suffer from the drops, took 3 for 32.

Whilst there was a bit in the pitch, it was no minefield, and a chase of 144 should have been a comfortable one. However, Pretorius has had success at Stag Park with the ball before whilst playing for Lowerhouse, and he picked up the first wicket when Josh Tolley was adjudged LBW for 1. Tolley rarely shows any emotion when dismissed, but he looked frustrated by the decision. Mitch Owen took a quick liking to the medium pace of Bolton, but after already taking 10 off his 3^rd over, he decided that wasn’t enough and tried to clear Charlie Dewhurst at long-off. Unfortunately, this one failed to come out the middle of the bat and the Norden paid man was certainly told about his error by the Clitheroe fielders as he made his way back to the dressing room. Bolton and Pretorius then continued to make their way through the Norden top order. Crabtree, Jack Taylor and Spencer Allen all fell cheaply before Greg Butterworth was sharply taken at short-cover by Tom Lord to leave Norden 58 for 6. Alex Willis and Humphreys were not ready to throw the towel in, though, and they rode out the opening spells without any further loss. Perhaps surprisingly, it was Willis who scored the bulk of the runs in a partnership that passed 50. Dibb felt he had no choice but to return to Pretorius and that proved to be an excellent piece of captaincy. Willis was caught on the crease for a well-made 30 and Humphreys was smartly taken by wicket-keeper O’Connor for 18, giving Pretorius his 5^th wicket. In-between, Scott Butterworth was superbly caught by Dewhurst running round to long-on, the 3^rd excellent catch of the innings, in contrast to Norden’s late misses. Pretorius’ 6^th finished the match, as he stuck out a right hand to somehow cling on to a well-struck straight drive from Oli Holt in his follow-through. Norden’s 123 all-out meant 6 bonus points, but they all only have themselves to blame that it wasn’t twice as many.
1^st XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6107884
1^st XI Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y41fMeI4iIY

The 2nds won a topsy-turvy battle at Chatburn Road. A partnership of 71 between Haris Hussain and Hashum Malik looked like it had laid a platform for a strong-looking middle order to push on to a total in excess of 200, but a flurry of wickets left Norden struggling to bat the overs. Hussain made 58 and Malik 35, but some poor shots and some questionable running did not help the cause. 11 balls went unused as Norden were dismissed for a disappointing 171. The game looked like it would be over in double-quick time as Clitheroe flew out of the blocks. Stuart Lemon and Oliver Butterfield led the charge as the hosts reached 71 for 1 in just 8 overs. Malik turned to the experience of Mo Waheed and the Stags’ new-boy Modessar Hussain and what happened next was remarkable. Hussain started things off by bowling Charlie Collinge and this started the mother of all collapses. 8 wickets fell for just 17 runs, with Hussain taking 5 for 12 on second-team debut. Waheed’s support was 3 for 5, and with home captain Mark Bolton unable to bat due to injury, Norden had turned things around to take the 12 points in their bid to stay in the top division.
2^nd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110345

The 3rds had two games at the weekend, bringing mixed results. Friday night’s t20 at Littleborough was rain-affected and Norden held their nerve to secure a 3-run victory. There was a first senior 50 for Abu Farooq, and Adam Bunting was the man (or boy in this case) trusted to defend 12 with the final over, which he did with great skill.

Saturday was a much tougher affair, with an experienced Middleton side racking up a massive score of 259 for 4 from their 40 overs after being asked to bat first. Matt Lee made 122 as Norden’s bowlers and fielders struggled to contain their opponents. The chase was never realistic, but David Bebb found some form with 45. Middleton were comfortable winners by 122 runs.
3^rd XI Friday Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110028
3^rd XI Saturday Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110014

Norden have ben regular visitors to cup semi-finals in recent years. Unfortunately, they can now add Sunday’s LCF knock-out defeat to the 1 t20 and 3 Worsley Cup losses in the last 5 years. The Stags were definitely second favourites going into the game against current Liverpool Competition leaders, Ormskirk, but Norden had made the same trip last season and returned victorious so there was confidence in the camp that the result could be repeated.

Not a lot went right from the moment the coin went in the air and Greg Butterworth called wrongly, allowing the hosts the first use of an excellent looking track. Openers Calum Turner and George Politis started brightly and Norden’s attack was soon under pressure. It took the lesser-seen off-spin of Josh Tolley, the man who had done the damage in last year’s fixture, to get the breakthrough on 86 when he had Turner caught by Dom Humphreys for 31. The wicket brought Sam Holden to the crease and he provided an immediate boost to the run-rate. With the sun out and the pitch flat, the Norden attack was made to toil. 6 bowlers were tried, but there was no joy as the Ormskirk pair put on a partnership of 163 in just 21 overs. Holden was particularly harsh on anything loose, hitting 9 fours and 4 sixes as he reached his century from 69 balls. Politis had also made it to three figures when he also fell to Tolley, but the damage was well and truly done. A couple of wickets fell in the closing overs, but 284 for 4 was the total and an extremely tough task was on the cards.

Extremely tough became impossible inside 2 overs as Norden’s 2 big guns, Tolley and Mitch Owen were dismissed for 1 run between them. Scott Butterworth followed the next over and it was a case of trying to avoid embarrassment at that point. Lee Crabtree and Greg Butterworth battled up to 44, but 2 more quick wickets fell on that score as Crabtree was followed back to the dressing room by Alex Willis, both out to Jamie Barnes. There was a promising innings from Oli Yates, who made 18, and Butterworth stayed resolute to be unbeaten on 43 when Norden were bowled out for 118. Barnes finished 5 for 35. Whilst the defeat was a heavy one, there was no shame in losing to this Ormskirk side, who will take some beating in the final.
LCFKO Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6623836

The league fixture against Church had been moved to Saturday to accommodate the semi-final and Norden turned in a solid performance to take the maximum 12 points. On a pitch that was keeping low from the outset, batting was tough and Lee Crabtree and Greg Butterworth’s innings were invaluable. Both made scores in the 30’s at strike-rates under 50, but with conditions as they were this was exactly what was required. The spinners were the main threat with professional Zain Abbas and Mo Bhada taking 3 wickets each, and wen Butterworth was bowled by Bhada the match ws in the balance with Norden on 136 for 7. The fact Norden could go into the break with all the momentum was down to an excellent 8^th wicket partnership of 39 between Stan Kearns and Dean Lord. Kearns’ knock of 36 from just 33 balls was by far the most fluent of the day and defied his inexperience at this level. 177 for 9 on this pitch felt like a huge score.

In reply, Church started relatively well and moved to 36 for 1, but Dom Humphreys and Scott Butterworth then started to cause havoc. 4 wickets fell for 2 runs, as Abbas watched on from the other end. Owen came into the attack, and his extra height highlighted the unpredictable bounce in the pitch and he took 4 wickets for the second week in a row as Church slumped to 86 all out. Abbas finished unbeaten on 46, with all 10 wickets falling to seam, in contrast to the 1^st innings.
1^st XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6107874

The 2nds fell to a heavy defeat at home to Colne on Sunday. After losing the toss and being asked to field first in the heat, the Norden bowlers struggled to contain the powerful Colne batting line-up. The visitors struck 23 fours and 9 sixes in their innings of 244 for 8. Norden were well in it when Colne were 136 for 6, but Danny Kegg, with plenty of lower-order support, took the game away. Jake Hill was the standout Norden bowler, with figures of 3 for 40. The Norden reply was a strange one, with extras by far the top-scorer with 32. No batter made it past 13 and Colne opening bowler, Martin Windle, had the remarkable figures of 8 for 75 from 12 overs.
2^nd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110343
2^nd XI Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fMNhvaq-Jo&feature=youtu.be

The 3rds also lost their top-of-the-table clash at home to Nelson on Saturday. A young Norden team could only manage 111 all-out in 28.4 overs. Harry Mason top-scored with 37 and there was an excellent innings of 18 on his senior debut by 12-year-old Adam Bunting. Norden threatened to make things interesting with 4 wickets, but Rashid and Asghar’s unbroken stand of 50 saw Nelson over the line.
3^rd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110010
3^rd XI Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3LAPG_xS2o

Haslingden have been somewhat of a bogie side for Norden in recent years, so it came as a relief when a good bowling performance paved the way for a comfortable 12 point win on Sunday. Greg Butterworth was unsure of what to do when the coin landed his way, but he decided to bowl first and his bowling attack backed him up from the start. The pitch looked pretty flat, but Scott Butterworth and Dom Humphreys gave little away with the new ball and the building pressure led to the first wicket when skipper Matthew Griffin clipped Humphreys to midwicket. Fellow opener Simon Newbitt followed in the same over after looking to advance and playing all round a straight one. Sean Hunsley chipped tamely to cover and Leighton Friend left the field feeling very unfortunate as he middled a pull shot off Butterworth, only for Mitch Owen to stick out a right hand and pluck it from the air. Haslingden were struggling on 37 for 4, but they have an excellent professional in South African Rudi Second and he stuck around alongside Alex Coleman to build a partnership of 50 in 14 overs. By now, Owen was into the attack and he broke the stand when Second slightly miscued a pull shot and the ball dropped into the safe hands of Oli Holt on the deep midwicket boundary. He went for 45 and the Haslingden lower order was not able to do enough to push the score up to something competitive. Owen had his best spell in a Norden shirt, taking 4 for 36, and  Humphreys and the Butterworth brothers took 2 apiece as Haslingden were bowled out for 128 in 45 overs.

Norden were never likely to play as cautiously as the visitors had and when Josh Tolley was joined by Owen after Lee Crabtree had fallen LBW to Gary Sudworth, the fireworks started. Owen raced to 20 off just 7 balls and the field was being spread to all parts. The pair added 67 in just 8 overs, but both were dismissed in quick succession. Tolley looked to use is feet to Sudworth but was bowled, and Friend got his revenge on Owen when he took a good catch at deep square leg after the Norden professional had got a very good piece of a sweep shot off Second. With 48 still needed, and a bit of history of middle-order collapses, there were a couple of worried spectators but they needn’t have been concerned. Jack Taylor and Alex Willis continued the positive intent and the match was done before the drinks break. 12 points in the bag and on to a big weekend next weekend. The league fixture against Church has been moved to Saturday to accommodate the Lancashire Cup semi-final at Ormskirk the following day. The 2^nd XI game against Colne remains on Sunday.
1^st XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6107872
1^st XI Highlights: 1st XI vs Haslingden Highlights – YouTube

The 2nds lost a nail-biter at Haslingden. Having been stuck in, Norden got off to a solid start with a 50 partnership between Danny Devine and Phil Docker. When Docker fell caught at slip, skipper Hashum Mallik joined Devine and the pair took the score to 100. Neither managed to kick on to a big score, though, and that precedent continued through the innings. Haris Hussain and Jamie Taylor also made good contributions, but there wasn’t the innings to take the team total from a good one to an excellent one. As it was Norden finished on 201 for 9. Haslingden were allowed a rapid start by some ill-discipline with the new ball, but Norden scrapped hard to get back into the game. Bowling mainly off a short-run, Sami Waheed took 5 wickets and the pressure looked to be telling on the Haslingden batters as a comfortable chase was quickly turned into a tough one. 6 were needed from the final over bowled by Stan Kearns, but Muneeb Ahmed hit the penultimate ball straight down the ground for 4 to seal the win.
2^nd XI Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110336

The 3rds pulled off a fantastic victory at Todmorden on Saturday. Having batted first and scored 149 for 9 in their 40 overs, Norden looked like they were heading for defeat when Todmorden needed just 27 from 7 overs with 7 wickets in hand. Some tight bowling led to some panic in the Todmorden ranks, though, and no fewer than 5 run-outs contributed to an almighty collapse. 7 wickets fell for 15 runs and stand-in skipper Beamer had led his troops to a maximum-point win and 3^rd place in the table. A tough match at home to league-leaders Nelson is next up on Saturday.
3^rd Xi Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110006

League double-headers are rare in the Lancashire League era, and this looked like a tough one for Norden, with away trips to high-flying Todmorden and Burnley. This proved to be the case, with 2 defeats and only 6 points to show for the weekend.

Saturday’s visit to Todmorden produced much the closer of the 2 games. Norden won the toss and chose to field first, but Todmorden openers Noah Priestley and Bilal Abbas got the home team off to a flying start with a partnership of 75 from 16 overs. Mitch Owen finally ended the stand when he clean bowled Priestley for 35 and from then on, skipper Greg Butterworth took over. On a pitch definitely offering something for the spinners, Butterworth ripped through the home batting line-up, taking the next 5 wickets to fall with the total only moving on to 98. Dean Lord then removed Todmorden professional, Ed Moore, caught by Butterworth and when Lord grabbed his second as Dan Joseph edged behind, Todmorden still hadn’t reached 3 figures. The experienced Andrew Sutcliffe, batting down the order, dug in and batted 10 overs alongside Joe Hanson to enable Tod to reach 129 before Scott Butterworth wrapped things up with 2 quick wickets. Greg finished with figures of 5 for 31 from 14 overs.

129 was definitely in the ‘something to bowl at’ category and Norden were unable to get off to the same sort of start Tod had managed. Priestley had Lee Crabtree caught behind and then picked up the key wicket of Owen for just 9. In similar vein to the first innings, it was then spin that did the majority of the damage. Hamza Ali emulated fellow slow-left-armer Butterworth’s feat of taking 5 consecutive wickets and only the Butterworth brothers and Dom Humphreys had put up much resistance. Sutcliffe then joined the party with his off-spin and Norden were in deep trouble at 87 for 8. The two Oli’s, Holt and Yates, battled hard before Yates fell to Sutcliffe with 27 still needed. Last man Dean Lord had been at the crease when Norden got over the line the week before, but on this occasion he was left stranded as Holt was caught by Moore off Sutcliffe to give Todmorden the win by just 12 runs.
1^st XI vs Todmorden Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6107867

Sunday’s defeat at Burnley was a much more comprehensive affair. Overnight and early morning rain meant the game was reduced to 39 overs per side and Norden elected to bat first. What followed was a really poor performance in all three disciplines and one that will have to be quickly forgotten. Fergus Bailey was tormentor-in-chief for the defending champions, taking 4 for 28 in his opening spell of 10 overs. Lee Crabtree worked hard for his 29 but he found very little support as Norden slumped to 70 for 7. Real credit to Stan Kearns, playing just his 2^nd game at this level, who batted with maturity beyond his years for his 16*, but the left-arm spin of Bharat Tripathi took the final 4 wickets to fall and Norden were dismissed for just 90 inside 30 overs. The day only got worse as Burnley openers, Liam Bedford and Qasim Shah got stuck into the Norden bowling. Bedford in particular was particularly harsh on anything loose and a lot that wasn’t. He finished 57* from only 29 balls faced, and Shah was also unbeaten on 35 when Burnley reached their modest target in the 11^th over. The bounce-back opportunity comes at home to Haslingden next Sunday.
1^st XI vs Burnley Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6107784

An equally tough looking weekend for the 2nds yielded a better return when, despite a heavy defeat on Saturday, they were able to pick themselves up and record an outstanding win against league leaders Burnley on Sunday.

Saturday was hard going for Tom Booth’s young side. In truth, not helped by the questionable decision to bat first on a wet, green one, they were outclassed by a good Todmorden side. Thomas Barker took 5 wickets with his left-arm seam and only 2 Norden batters reached double figures as they collapsed to 59 all out. Callum Hill was the only player to come out of the game with much credit as he also took a wicket to go with his hard-fought 15 with the bat.

The 8-wicket defeat could have really dented the confidence going into Sunday but, helped by a couple of returning players, the performance could not have been more contrasting. Again batting first, although this time not through choice, Norden openers Danny Devine and Phil Docker rode out a tough opening period and Devine then began to find his attacking strokes. Unfortunately, both fell in quick succession and when a further 3 quick wickets fell it looked like it might be a case of history repeating itself. Jamie Taylor and Mo Waheed were determined that this wouldn’t be the case and the pair added 65 for the 6^th wicket. Taylor, in particular, looked in fine form. He drove the ball beautifully through the covers and his maiden 2^nd team half-century was thoroughly deserved. He finished on 53* with Waheed adding 26 and Callum Hill again chipping in down the order.

156 for 9 represented a pretty decent total on a pitch that was offering plenty for the bowlers, but Burnley’s openers managed to do exactly what Norden’s had earlier on. It was the introduction of Taylor that changed the game. His extra pace was used to good effect, bowling short with the leg-side field set out. 3 Burnley batters perished to the short ball as youngsters Jake Hill, Abu Farooq and Theo Andrew all clung on to excellent catches. Waheed then removed the experienced Joe Marshall and Norden were all of a sudden big favourites. The remaining Burnley batters had no answer to the wily Waheed and he helped himself to a 5-wicket haul as the visitors fell 51 runs short. A fantastic performance from a side containing 6 under 18’s, who should all take great confidence from the win.
2^nd XI Saturday Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110332
2^nd XI Saturday Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1eACgeRp_4&feature=youtu.be
2^nd XI Sunday Scorecard: https://norden.play-cricket.com/website/results/6110253
2^nd XI Sunday Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_USzY5WhKGs

The family would like to invite all Bob’s friends down to Norden Cricket Club on Saturday the 13^th of July where Bob’s ashes will be interned on his beloved Stag Park. The short ceremony will take place at mid-innings break in the cricket game (circa 15:30 – 16:00) at the Scoreboard end of the ground.