Last season’s top two sides in the Premiership division – champions Farnworth Social Circle and runners-up Read – secured opening day wins as the Anthony Axford North West Cricket kicked off on Saturday.
New summer, yes. But some things never change. Social Circle’s Bajan professional Jameel Stuart was to the fore as they were home winners against Lostock, by 121 runs.
Stuart top-scored with 84 off 74 balls with six sixes in their 227-5 from 40 overs before Lostock were bowled out for 106 thanks to three wickets apiece for Dave Mather and Aashif Ghantiwala.
Top-flight matches between newly promoted Barnoldswick and Salesbury and Farnworth and Padiham were called off prior to match day. They all claimed five points apiece.
Read won a low scoring game against 2024 champions Blackrod having been bowled out for 138, the feature of which was opener Chris Holt’s 65.
Like Richards, Holt also enjoyed success with the ball, claiming two wickets with spin as hosts Blackrod were bowled out for 103. Sri Lankan pro Sehan Weerasinghe, also bowling spin, led the way with three wickets.
In the Championship, Ribblesdale Wanderers, who missed out on promotion in 2025, got their bid for top-flight cricket moving in the right direction at the first attempt. They were convincing home winners against Brinscall by 91 runs.
Ribblesdale were bowled out for 175, including wicketkeeper-opener Abrar Hussain’s 49.
Jordan Britcliffe then took four wickets and Sri Lankan pro Heshan Dhanushka’s spin accounted for 5-18 from eight overs as Brinscall fell to 84 all out.
Back in the Premiership, Little Lever, champions in 2023, started with a resounding victory away at Kearsley – by 156 runs on the back of a 257-8 total in 43 overs. The hosts were bowled out for 101.
New signing James Richards, the former Eagley captain, was the star of the show for the visitors thanks to a middle order 76 and three wickets. Curtis Anderton and Mukhtar Nasir also struck three times, while openers Jade Smith – their new South African overseas amateur – and Cameron Murray contributed 50 and 52 respectively.
Tonge won the local derby down Crompton Way at Astley Bridge, by four wickets chasing a revised 126 in 29 overs. Earlier, they restricted their newly-promoted hosts to 140-9 from 36.
Sri Lankan pro Hashan Dumindu’s spin accounted for an excellent 5-30 before new South African OA Craig Jeffrey and Shoyab Haji contributed 34 apiece to a chase which needed recovering from 14-2.
Of the five teams who won in the Premiership, four claimed the full 12 points on offer, with Tonge taking 10 having not bowled their opponents out.
With there being nine teams in the Championship, Atherton were the team who sat out Saturday’s opening round.
Earby won a low-scoring thriller at Eagley having bowled their hosts out for 92 before only just chasing a revised 87 in 31 overs.
Luke Hipgrave stood out with 6-21 from 11.4 overs before hitting the winning run from number nine. He finished five not out, Sam Perry top-scoring with 26 from number eight after they had slipped to 30-6.
Baxenden were home winners as they beat Walkden by 79 runs in a game which saw the visitors fail to chase a revised target of 221 in 27 overs.
Baxenden racked up 253-4 in 33 having elected to bat. Their pro Ben Gorton top-scored with seven sixes in 124 off 94 balls, sharing 192 for the first wicket with Charlie Elwood, who contributed 81.
In reply, Walkden finished on 141-7, with South African OA Barend Lourens and fellow new signing Joseph Ince taking three wickets apiece.
And Oswaldtwistle Immanuel were opening day winners by 21 runs away at Cherry Tree.
Oswaldtwistle were bowled out for 128, which included a middle order 62 from Abbas Ahmad.
Defending a revised target of 121 from 40 overs Bradley Sawer stood out with 5-31 as Cherry Tree were bowled out for 99.
Of the four Championship winners, only Baxenden finished with 10 points. The other three claimed the full dozen available.
Saturday April 25, fixtures. Premiership – Astley Bridge v Barnoldswick, Lostock v Kearsley, Padiham v Farnworth Social Circle, Read v Farnworth, Salesbury v Blackrod, Tonge v Little Lever. Championship – Atherton v Baxenden, Brinscall v Walkden, Oswaldtwistle Immanuel v Eagley, Ribblesdale Wanderers v Cherry Tree.
Josh Gent revealed new signing James Richards was “made up” to have contributed heavily to Little Lever’s opening day win away at Kearsley.
Premiership champions in the first year of the Anthony Axford North West Cricket League – 2023 – Little Lever are aiming to regain that title three years on.
Their first step on the road was a smooth one, winning at Springfield Road by 156 runs, with all-rounder Richards – the former Eagley captain – at the heart of it with a middle order 76 off 60 balls with five sixes and then 3-14 from 6.4 overs of seam having taken the new ball.
Richards hit five sixes to underpin a commanding 253-7 from 43 overs before putting the skids under Kearsley, who were bowled out for 101.
Captain Gent said: “Obviously moving from one club to another, you’re always going to be wanting to do well. It can be a bit daunting, can’t it.
“So to get up and running with a high-class 70-odd and three wickets, it’s fantastic. It’s real credit to him. The way he played, if he carries on doing that for us, we’re going to reap some rewards from him playing for this club. We’re more than happy with James, for sure.
“I spoke to him after the game and he’s made up. If you don’t do so well, you sort of feel the pressure of it. So it was nice for him and has probably put him at ease a little bit.”
There were other contributors with bat and ball. Openers Jade Smith – their new South African overseas amateur – with 50 and Cameron Murray with 52 shared 95 for the first wicket before Curtis Anderton and Mukhtar Nasir also struck three times with the ball.
“It was nice to get back outside and get going because it’s been a long winter,” continued Gent. “We’ve been training for a long time, and we couldn’t wait to get started. To get a win was obviously very good.
“We played Lowerhouse in a friendly last weekend and won that. But getting a win in the league as early as you can is the most important thing. We really enjoyed it.”
Little Lever have gone full South African with their professional and overseas amateur for 2026. The aforementioned Smith fills the OA position and played on Saturday, with batting pro JP King due to arrive this week. He has not played for state side the Warriors since late February due to a hamstring injury.
They employed Jurie Snyman as sub pro against Kearsley.
“We’re really looking forward to seeing JP,” said Gent. “Jade has been with us for a while. He came over early because he plays hockey down in Exeter. So he’s settled in really nicely with us.
“On Saturday, we had Jurie as sub pro and he didn’t get many, only five, and we still got nearly 260. That’s a really good sign. Obviously you want your pro to get runs, but when you see your amateurs getting runs, you think, ‘Add a pro to this and then he gets runs as well and we’ll be in a good place’.”
Little Lever have consistently challenged for and won trophies in the three years of the NWCL. In 2023, they won the league and T20 double. Last year, they won the Hamer Cup.
So, how does Gent believe his 2026 side compares in strength to previous seasons?
“I feel as though we’ve certainly added in the bowling department more than anything,” he added. “With James (Richards) being a genuine all-rounder, he’s obviously added to the strength of our batting. But we had a strong batting line-up anyway.
“However, with him in there now, I feel our bowling will be stronger than it has been in years gone by.
“Last season, we lost Curtis Anderson and Mukhtar Nasir for over half a season, which was a killer for us.
