Lancashire League: Round Up of the 2005 season

Rishton were the most successful Hyndburn side in the Lancashire League in a somewhat depressing season for local cricket followers that saw the four local clubs occupy four of the bottom five places.

The return of Peter Sleep and the success of professional Kumar Dharmasena brought 12 wins and a 10th place finish. A Worsley Cup run that ended in a nail-biting defeat at Todmorden will also live long in the memory of the Rishton followers.

This was the season that Sleep re-wrote the club record books, hitting an unbeaten 151 at Accrington to set a new mark for the highest individual score by a Rishton amateur in May. By mid September he had removed the name of Craig Smith from the Rishton records by hitting 1083 runs at 54.1, with one century and eight half centuries. Dharmasena hit 948 runs at  45.1, including one century and nine half centuries, the pair sharing  many fruitful partnerships.

This meant that the other amateurs were reduced to supporting roles both in batting and in bowling. Richard Rostron had a good all round season with 335 runs, 30 wickets and 14 catches. Parvez Kazi provided some entertainment at the top of the order with 219 rapid runs from 11 innings and Andy Bartley made successive half centuries to finish with 160 runs at 40.0 from just 7 knocks. Shaun Wise (238 runs), Sam Hacking (168 runs) and Jimmy Bibby (141 runs) supported the main acts well.

Dharmasena’s best bowling was saved for the final two matches with 5 against Enfield and six against Rawtenstall making 67 at 18.0 for the season. Sleep also took  36 wickets. Skipper Scott Greaves added 14 wickets to his 140 runs and Garth Wyse ended with 10 wickets with the promise of more to come

 Mick Winkley is another name to watch for in the future.

After the Holland Cup success of 2004, Church had high hopes for the season but inspire of professional Ruvin Peiris maintaining his form, the amateurs didn’t provide him with the same level of support which led to a disappointing 11th place finish.

The season began well with successive victories but only eight more games were won during the remainder of the campaign. Peiris hit 1127 league runs, the most by a professional, and he also took 58 wickets. Skipper Phil Sykes  overcame a lean spell with the bat to finish with 478 runs at 20.8. Mark Aspin had a poor season by his own standards but he finished with his best knock of the season, 77 at Lowerhouse to end on 401 runs in what he says will be his farewell season.

The success story was the improvement in Adam Greenwood who hit 452 runs at 22.6. Sam Holt’s 289 runs included an unbeaten 49 against Enfield and wicketkeeper Sam Tucker once again performed well with 33 victims. As usual,  Nick Westwell had a heavy workload, taking 54 wickets with a 
best of 7-37 at Accrington. Andrew Bentley’s 37 wickets cost 28.2, Phil Gilrane chipped in with 11 wickets in addition to his 242 runs and Robert Hatch showed promise in his limited appearances.

Seven wins and 19 defeats consigned Enfield to next to bottom spot. Professional Alviro Petersen made 989 runs at 45.0 and his bowling showed a marked improvement with 53 wickets at 19.0. New recruit Craig Fergusson was the leading batsman with 448 runs at 20.4, including two half centuries. The fact that only four half centuries were scored by amateurs tells its own story.

Mitch Taylor’s 300 runs included an unbeaten 65 but Mas Ahmed will be disappointed with just one half century in his 292 runs. Skipper David Bracewell thrived on his new found responsibility, taking 43 wickets and hitting 197 runs, but his brother Adam struggled, averaging 12.3 in hitting 270 runs.

Neil Holmes took 37 wickets in addition to scoring 245 runs and Imran Abid finished with 16 wickets at 32.5.

One word can be used to describe Accrington's 2005 season - disastrous. The club finished bottom of the table, winning just two matches, setting a new record for most consecutive defeats and in the last match equalling the record for most defeats in a season, 24.

The professional Tama Canning was a pale shadow of the player who had won eight matches off his own bat the previous season. Canning came late due to domestic commitments and when he arrived he brought with him a knee injury which would cause him to miss just two matches, but he was far from fit for some time into the season.

Canning's statistics tell a sad tale. His 534 runs at 24.3 left only Haslingden's Pasan Wanasinghe behind him in the averages. Canning's 43 wickets at 29.2 were by far the most expensive of any professional with just one five wicket haul to show in a total of 376.2 overs. So it was hardly surprising that the team fared so badly.

Accrington's sole league victories were back to back matches at the end of July against Nelson and Haslingden after 16 successive defeats. Mohsin Ahmed finished as leading run scorer for the fourth season in a row, hitting 573 runs at 22.0, 39 more than Canning achieved. This is a superb achievement especially with the team struggling.

Another star performer was Zahir Afzal, who hit 484 runs, including two half  centuries, and he also took 30 wickets. Skipper Matt Wilson had his best season with the bat, hitting 474 runs at 26.3. Once he moved himself up the order, Wilson flourished. He also kept wicket after Adam Barnes stepped down. The return of Tariq Hussain brought some moments of brilliance from the talented all rounder.

His match winning knock at Nelson and his half century at Werneth showed  glimpses of his batting ability and his 8-44 against Lowerhouse was the best amateur bowling figures of the season. Hussain also took 8-98 against East Lancs but injury restricted his bowling and he finished with 37 wickets. His strike rate, 23.97, was the best of any amateur bowler. Only East Lancs professional Loots Bosman bettered this.

Stuart Crabtree also showed some promise, his unbeaten 72 at Rishton was his best knock in a total of 249 runs but Graeme Sneddon's average of 9.8 from 216 runs is not a true reflection of his ability. Damian Clarke only had limited opportunities with the ball, but he managed a career best 6-45 at Burnley in taking 15 wickets at 32.1.

By stark contrast to Accrington's current failings, one former Accrington professional shone like beacon in the year that cricket became popular again thanks to the fantastic Ashes Series which proved to the  best in the games history. It is hard to believe now but it was 1991 when Shane Keith Warne had one season as professional at Accrington as a fresh faced inexperienced 21 year-old with just one First-class match behind him.

At times Warne seemed to be playing against England on his own with him leading a constant rearguard action after his batsmen had been ripped out by England's potent attack. Warne made 249 runs, including 90 at Old Trafford but it was his 40 wickets at 19.9, including two ten wicket hauls that confirmed his status as probably the best bowler of all time.