Padiham and Read are part of a five-team logjam just behind early pacesetters Little Lever in the Premiership division of the Anthony Axford North West Cricket League.
Little Lever are the only team across both first-team divisions to have won all three of their opening matches so far. They were home winners against Lostock on Saturday.
Below them – in this order, from second to sixth – are Tonge, champions Farnworth Social Circle, Padiham, newly-promoted Astley Bridge and Read.
Little Lever’s victory was achieved by five wickets chasing 150. Lostock, on the other hand, have now lost all three of their early-season matches and sit bottom of the table.
The visitors were bowled out for 149, with new signing James Richards continuing his impressive start to life at Victory Road with four wickets having taken the new ball. In a routine chase, Adil Nisar top-scored with 42.
In the Championship, Eagley and Cherry Tree are first and second and separated by only a point having won two from three. They tasted Saturday success at home to Ribblesdale Wanderers and Walkden respectively.
The best of those games was Eagley’s thrilling one-wicket win over Ribblesdale Wanderers, chasing 133.
In a game dominated by the ball, Ribblesdale were bowled out for 132 as new Pakistani professional Danish Aziz claimed 5-35 with his left-arm spin.
In reply, Adeel Baig’s 64 was Eagley’s standout performance with the bat, though he fell at 122-8, followed by another quick wicket, and last pair James Fallows and captain Martin Eccles had to get eight needed. Eccles hit seven of them, including a winning two.
Cherry Tree beat Walkden by six wickets chasing 148.
They were indebted to new signing Ross Bretherton, who starred with bat and ball.
He took the new ball and returned 5-65, well supported by Mark Hadfield’s four wickets in Walkden’s 147 all out, before top-scoring with 62 in response.
Back in the Premiership, newly-promoted Astley Bridge won a nail-biter at Blackrod by 12 runs defending a 176-target.
Astley Bridge’s 175-9 including a top-score of 43 from opener Millen Patel.
In reply, Blackrod were 159-7 after 44 overs, needing 17 to win with Sri Lankan pro Kavindu Kulasekara unbeaten on 65. But he holed out to the first ball of the last over from Joe Ducker, who later removed Jacob Ashworth as Blackrod finished on 163-9.
Ducker and Irfan Puda finished with four wickets apiece.
Tonge are second in the early table, their second win coming away at newly-promoted Barnoldswick by 42 runs.
They were indebted to a superb century from long-standing Sri Lankan pro Hashan Dumindu, whose 125 off 123 balls included seven sixes and underpinned a total of 245-3.
In reply, Barnoldswick were bowled out for 203, with Alex Rodzoch taking the new ball and leading the way with four wickets. Dumindu capped off an impressive day with two wickets of his own.
Champions Farnworth Social Circle won the battle of last season’s top two against Read.
Hosts Social Circle bowled Read out for 197 before chasing with comfort, winning by seven wickets.
Bajan pro Jameel Stuart’s spin accounted for four wickets before opener Nathan Elliott, their overseas amateur from New Zealand top-scored with 59 in reply. Read have also played three, won two this summer.
Padiham’s second win came away at Kearsley, by four wickets chasing 233.
South African OA Zander Van Tonder struck three times as the wickets were shared around in Kearsley’s competitive 232-9, before new signing Declan Bailey’s run-a-ball 66 was the centrepiece of a chase achieved with 11 balls remaining.
Salesbury have now won one, lost one. They won at Farnworth by 52 runs, bowling their hosts out for 146 in the face of a 199-target.
Captain Lewis Pearson top-scored with a middle order 65 not out in 198-8 before new South African pro Juan James struck four times with his off-spin in a successful defence.
Back in the Championship, Atherton have played two, won one and lost one so far. They beat Brinscall by 65 runs on the road thanks largely to a brilliant 125 not out from new Indian pro Raghavendra Pratap as he underpinned 268-7.
Bajan OA Jamaine Bullen then struck four times in Brinscall’s 203-7, also including a century from their Sri Lankan pro Ravindu Rathnayake.
And finishing with Earby, who alongside Premiership leaders Little Lever are the only other side with a 100 percent record in this summer’s NWCL.
They have won two from two having beaten Oswaldtwistle Immanuel by 79 runs at home.
New pro Utkarsh Srivastava, a USA international, top-scored with a measured 62 in Earby’s 175-8 before captain Jake Hargreaves and Luke Hipgrave claimed three wickets apiece as Oswaldtwistle were bowled out for just 96 in reply.
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Saturday May 9, Premiership – Read v Kearsley, Astley Bridge v Farnworth, Barnoldswick v Blackrod, Padiham v Little Lever, Salesbury v Farnworth Social Circle, Tonge v Lostock. Championship – Atherton v Cherry Tree, Baxenden v Brinscall, Ribblesdale Wanderers v Earby, Walkden v Eagley.
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Captain Syd De Silva says a real team effort is driving Astley Bridge’s development, a journey which saw them win last year’s Championship title before making a bright start to this summer’s Premiership campaign.
Bridge have won two from their first three in the top-flight, one of five teams who have done so. They sit just behind leaders Little Lever, who are three wins from three.
De Silva and co lost to neighbours Tonge on the opening day before winning their next two – at home to Barnoldswick and away at Blackrod.
The latter came in thrilling fashion away from home on Saturday, by 12 runs on the back of posting a competitive 175-9. Opener Millen Patel top-scored with 43 before Joe Ducker and Irfan Puda claimed four wickets apiece with seam and spin.
Ducker’s four-for included two in the last over – Sri Lankan professional Kavindu Kulasekara for 65 was the first of them as Blackrod needed 17 off the last but fell short. They finished on 163-9.
“The thing about us is that – and you probably saw this last year – everybody from one to 11 is contributing,” said all-rounder De Silva. “All the batters are chipping in, and different day a different bowler does the job.
Saturday was a prime example of De Silva’s view.
After he elected to bat, opener Patel’s 43 was supplemented by a trio of scores in the twenties from new Kiwi overseas amateur Morgan Duffy with 28, the skipper himself with 24 and Ubaid Ullah’s 22 not out.
Then came the two aforementioned bowlers, Ducker and Puda, with four wickets each.
“It was a very close game and could have gone either way,” said De Silva, of the Blackrod battle. “One minute we were on top, the next it was 50-50.
“Then we got to the last over defending 17 with their pro facing. He was batting really well. But he went for the big shot first up and was caught at deep extra cover. That was it. From there, we knew we’d won the game.
“It was a great feeling, unbelievable.”
De Silva continued: “We’ve won two out of three, and we could have won all three. The Tonge game at the start, we were unlucky not to win that one as well. We should have won it, really. We just made a couple of mistakes.
“But, no, very satisfied with two wins out of three. We would take that any day, especially having come into the Premiership.
“We have a game at home to Farnworth coming up on Saturday, which we are really looking forward to.”
The interesting thing is that Astley Bridge’s first team has quite a few changes from the one which ended 2025 by winning the Championship title.
They have the same professional in Sri Lankan Dhanushka Dhamasiri and a number of the same names remain. But they have a new overseas amateur in New Zealander Duffy and another new signing in seamer Hasib Patel.
Nahian Chowdhury has also departed, while a combination of a knee injury and work for Haaris Akhtar means his availability will be limited for the remainder of the summer.
De Silva’s role in the batting order has also changed, with him adding: “With our new lad from New Zealand, Morgan, he’s an opener.
“Last year, I opened with Millen and our overseas amateur Ulli Bronkhorst did a great job for me in the middle.
“This year, because Morgan is an opener, I let him do that and I’ve dropped down into the middle order. We’re lacking a little bit of experience there, and we’ve lost almost 1,000 runs from last year in those positions.
“Morgan will contribute 500-600 runs at the top, but we just needed a bit more in that middle order because Nahian is a big loss.”
