Championship duo Earby and Baxenden are two of three teams, alongside Premiership leaders Little Lever, with 100 percent winning records in the early stages of the Anthony Axford North West Cricket League season.
A bumper weekend of action saw a full Saturday programme across both divisions and then a full round of Championship matches on Sunday added to one in the top-flight.
Little Lever have four from four, and Earby and Baxenden have done likewise in the second tier. But, even so, they are not top of the table. Eagley hold that position after two weekend wins.
Eagley’s fourth win in five games on Sunday came at home in a clash of two sides who sat first and second before a ball was bowled.
They beat pre-game leaders Cherry Tree by seven wickets, a win set up by Pakistani professional Danish Aziz’s wonderful 6-14 from 11 overs of left-arm spin as Cherry Tree were bowled out for only 78.
In reply, Jack Wainman top-scored with 37, handing his side top spot in the table.
Just behind them are Earby and Baxenden.
Earby’s second win of the weekend came by six wickets at Oswaldtwistle Immanuel as they chased just 100 with comfort.
Luke Hipgrave took a fabulous 7-21 from 12 overs to bowl Oswaldtwistle out for 99, his haul including two wickets in an over on two separate occasions.
Opener Nathan Hodge then top-scored with an unbeaten 41 in reply.
Baxenden beat Brinscall at home by 66 runs on the back of their 224-9 total, which included an opening 61 from local pro Ben Gorton.
Matthew Austin then stood out with the ball in bowling Brinscall out for 158. He excelled with 6-42 from 12 overs of seam.
On Saturday, inaugural NWCL Premiership champions of 2023, Little Lever, won away at Padiham by a whopping 200 runs.
Victory was set up by opener Cameron Murray’s brilliant 133 off 101 balls, the Anglo-Australian underpinning a daunting total of 338-9.
Padiham’s reply just never got off the ground, with James Richards’ new-ball seam returning 5-50 in 138 all out.
Padiham were at least able to bounce back on Sunday with a victory away at Blackrod by 51 runs defending a target of 202. It was their third win in five.
This was the only Premiership fixture played that day, and Padiham posted 201-8 thanks to a series of useful contributions. Local pro Iftikhar Naseer top-scored with 35.
In reply, Blackrod were bowled out for 150 as new Padiham signing Dec Metcalfe took a superb 6-35 from 8.5 overs. He had earlier contributed 28 with the bat.
Blackrod have now played five, won two.
On Saturday, they started their double-header weekend in fine style with a 71-run success away at Barnoldswick.
Their 198-7 was centred around Thushendra De Zoysa’s well-paced 74 before he struck twice with the ball in a successful defence.
Barnoldswick’s 127 all out also saw Sri Lankan pro Kavindu Kulasekara claim 4-17 from 11.5 overs of off-spin.
Looking at the rest of the Premiership on Saturday, reigning champions Farnworth Social Circle won an incredible bowler-dominated clash at Salesbury, by two wickets chasing 91, to secure their third win from four matches. They currently sit second in the top-flight table.
This was a game which saw only two batters reach 20 – and they were both Social Circle players; opener Archie Walsh with 21 and Basil Sultan with 40.
New-ball seamer Dave Mather was destroyer in chief as Salesbury were bowled out for 90, him claiming 6-37 from 13 overs.
Social Circle then slipped from 75-2 to 86-8, including the loss of Walsh and Sultan. It was left to Walsh senior, captain and father Christian, who hit the winning runs. That was a boundary off new-ball seamer Chris Boardman, who struck five times for Salesbury.
Farnworth’s first win of the season – at the fourth attempt – came away at newly-promoted Astley Bridge, by 34 runs as they defended 188 in a weather-reduced game.
Pakistani pro Abdul Bangalzai underpinned Farnworth’s 187-8 in 33 overs with an unbeaten 64 striking three times with his left-arm spin in Astley Bridge’s 155 all out. Ben Chapman struck four times as the hosts chased a slightly revised target of 190.
While Farnworth Social Circle sit second in the Premiership table, they are one of three sides who have started with three wins from four.
The other two are Tonge and last year’s runners-up Read.
Tonge’s bright start continued with a nine-wicket win over struggling Lostock, who posted 93-9 in 30 overs amidst weather disruption.
Sri Lankan pro Hashan Dumindu’s spin accounted for 5-28 before he contributed an unbeaten 26 to an unbroken second-wicket partnership of 80 with opener Alex Rodzoch, 57 not out.
Read’s latest win came by six wickets at home to Kearsley, chasing 212.
A number of Kearsley batters got starts but failed to go on as South African OA Zadian Muller took the new ball and struck four times in 211 all out.
In a stress-free reply, Sri Lankan pro Sehan Weerasinghe top-scored with a brisk unbeaten 70.
Back to Earby and Baxenden in the Championship and their first games of the weekend.
Earby were six-wicket winners at Ribblesdale Wanderers chasing 145 on Saturday.
In limiting Ribblesdale to 144-8, substitute South African pro Ockie Erasmus struck four times before new South African OA Nandus McLean top-scored with a middle-order 70 not out off 46 balls with six sixes.
Opener Chris Walton also contributed 51.
Baxenden’s first of two wins in as many days came courtesy of a 47-run home win against Brinscall in a game of 25 overs per side. This was a battle of the Elwood brothers, Charlie and Owen.
Baxenden’s 163-6 was set up by a pair of 36s from openers Charlie Elwood and Gorton.
In reply, Owen opened with 14 for Brinscall but was one of three wickets for Cameron Holder in 116-9. South African OA Barend Lourens also claimed three wickets.
Also in the top four in the Championship are Cherry Tree, though they have now relinquished top spot.
On Saturday, they won away at Atherton by 28 runs having themselves been bowled out for 119, including local pro Mini Bhada’s 41.
In their defence, Bhada struck twice but was usurped by a brilliant 6-29 from 15 overs with the new ball from Ross Bretherton as Atherton slipped to 91 all out.
Leaders Eagley’s Saturday success came away at Walkden by nine wickets as they chased a 22-over target of 124 in only 16 overs.
Adeel Baig and Noah Smith struck twice each in Walkden’s 123-4 in their 22 overs before wicketkeeper-opener Wainman crashed five sixes in 69 not out off 48 balls in a quick-fire chase.
And finally, on Sunday, Atherton hammered Ribblesdale Wanderers by 158 runs.
The hosts totalled 209-9, with Bajan OA Jamaine Bullen top-scoring with a middle order run-a-ball 41.
In reply, Ribblesdale crumbled to 51 all out, with Atiq Shah and Indian pro Raghavendra Pratap claiming five wickets apiece. The win was secured courtesy of a team hat-trick at the end of the 23rd over and the start of the 24th; Pratap striking twice and Shah once.
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Saturday May 16 – Premiership: Blackrod v Tonge, Farnworth v Barnoldswick, Farnworth Social Circle v Astley Bridge, Kearsley v Salesbury, Little Lever v Read, Lostock v Padiham. Championship: Cherry Tree v Baxenden, Eagley v Atherton, Earby v Walkden, Oswaldtwistle Immanuel v Ribblesdale Wanderers.
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Champions Farnworth Social Circle are yet to hit top gear in this summer’s Anthony Axford North West Cricket League Premiership campaign, which has seen them win three of their opening four matches.
That is the view of captain Christian Walsh after his side were on the right side of a two-wicket thriller on Saturday, at Salesbury, in a game which should have been nowhere near as close as it was.
New-ball seamer Dave Mather claimed 6-37 from 13 overs as Salesbury were bowled out for just 90 before Social Circle looked to be cruising at 75-2 in reply.
However, they then lost six wickets for 11 runs to crumble to 86-8, and it needed skipper Walsh – batting at no.10 – to come in and hit the winning boundary off impressive Salesbury seamer Chris Boardman, who had done earlier damage with five wickets of his own.
When Walsh spoke for the purposes of this feature, the first question was, ‘I bet you didn’t expect, at 90 all out, to have to strap your pads on and hit the winning runs?’
“Absolutely not,” he said.
“We found a way to nearly throw it away, a bit like Padiham a couple of weeks ago when we did throw it away.
“Look, it was good to get the win, don’t get me wrong. But it was disappointing to end up in the position we did at the end there.”
The Padiham game which Walsh references came at the end of April away from home when the hosts chased a 285-target to win by four wickets.
“I don’t think we’ve put all three facets together in one match yet,” continued Walsh. “And I’d say that we threw the game away at Padiham. They were 137-5 chasing 285.
“I take responsibility for that. I probably told the lads to bowl the wrong length at key moments, so we kind of drifted a little bit in that game. We obviously didn’t bat very well on Saturday, and the week before we feel like we didn’t field against Read. We dropped three catches.
“There’s not been a game in four yet where we’ve come off the field and said, ‘We’ve put everything together there.”
Saturday’s game at Padiham, which saw only two batters reach 20. They were Social Circle duo Archie Walsh, Christian’s son, with 21 at the top of the order and Basil Sultan with 40.
“In the grand scheme of things in a low-scoring game in the face of bowler-friendly conditions, they were significant contributions.
“Yeah, definitely,” said Walsh. “To coin the phrase, it was a green-seamer of a pitch.
“They said they’d had a bit of weather in the week before, so they were only able to cut and roll it on Saturday morning. I had been prepared, but it was quite green as I say.
“So I won the toss, bowled, and we managed to keep taking wickets. Dave Mather bowler really well.”
Despite not hitting top gear yet, Social Circle are second in the top-flight table with 38 points, eight behind leaders Little Lever, who have won four from four. Last year’s runners-up Read are in the top four, as are Tonge, who have made a bright start.
It all adds up to the likelihood of a really competitive and exciting title race.
Walsh added: “Little Lever will be strong. They look like they’ve invested well. Tonge have also started well, and Read too.
“It’s good for cricket, right?
