After the thrilling run at the end of the 2023 season which saw us finish in 2nd place, hopes were high for the 1stXI despite the fact that unfortunately we were unable to retain the services of our pro for the last couple of seasons Akbar Ur Rehman. Akbar's shoes were big ones to fill and that onerous task fell onto the shoulders of his young fellow countryman Muhammed Suleman.
The season started (eventually after a two week delay due to the weather) without Sully however who was to eventually arrive in mid May and we were forced down the route of sub pro's for the first few games. And it was a chastening start as the champions Little Lever bowled us out for just 34 (acquired at a leisurely 1.13 per over) and picked up a 10 wicket win. To their credit they parked that result and bounced back the following week with a superb 7 wicket win at Farnworth chasing down 194 thanks to sub pro Ankit Sharma and Matt Lamb who made 54 & 53 after skipper James had taken 4 wickets. The following weekend a defeat at Salesbury was followed by a loss in the Lancs KO to Thornton Cleveleys in a game that we played without a pro. A rained off T20 against Astley Bridge was followed by losses to Eagley in the league and then Brinscall in the T20 to round off a thoroughly miserable month of May.
June didn't start any better as eventual champions Blackrod beat us by 10 runs in a low scoring game on a dreadful pitch at Vicarage Road, and then the following day despite 66 from George, a rapid 56* from Jack Richards who was to prove a thorn in our side all summer saw Eagley chase down 174 to knock us out of the Hamer Cup. The run of 7 games without a win was finally broken as we beat Blackrod on DLS in the T20 after posting 141-5 in our innings, and then just like London buses, 2 then 3 came together. The following day Sully's first major contribution of the season (94) saw us post 209-7 v Farnworth SC and then Dave's 4 wickets ensured a 64 run win. Back to T20 the following Friday and despite Richards making his 3rd successive half century we held on for a 12 run win. The mini revival faltered a day later as a brilliant ton by Kearsley's overseas amateur Giroudeaux left us well beaten. The final T20 group game the following Friday at Tonge was a thriller and saw us win on least wickets lost. After Sully's 66 had taken us to 132-4 the Tonge pro Dumindu must have thought he had steered his side home as the final over started with him on 55* and Tonge needing 6 to win. Young Reece had the task of bowling it and the first ball was smashed for 4 by Dumindu. A dot followed and then Reece had him caught behind off the 3rd. Ball 4 saw Thomson cleaned up 1st ball and then ball 5 saw Patel run out. Last ball, 2 to win and Reece held his nerve as they could only scramble one. Ironically we met again the following afternoon and Dumindu extracted a measure of revenge making 101* out of 199-5 and despite 44 from Sam we finished 22 short. Next up was a T20 quarter final v Kearsley that, thanks to a brilliant unbeaten 76 from Sully we managed to win by 3 wickets and secure a place on finals day. The final games in June saw a disappointing 27 run defeat against fellow strugglers Ribblesdale Wanderers and then, completing a triple header weekend a battering from Padiham to keep us in trouble on the fringe of the relegation zone after Ackerman's 106 had helped them make 275-4.
July also started poorly as defeats by Padiham in a much lower scoring return game (James 4/21) and Little Lever where we at least managed 97 this time sandwiched a vital win over bottom club Astley Bridge to keep our heads above water. A difficult wicket at Chew Moor saw us battle to 115-8 before a superb 6/21 from Robbie bowled the visitors out for 97 in reply. And so to T20 Finals Day and we had been fortunate to have been drawn at home where an absolutely packed Chew Moor saw Blackrod beat Whalley comfortably in the 1st semi final and then we met Ribb Wanderers in the 2nd. Ribb looked like setting a big target but fell away somewhat as Dave picked up 3/15 & Sheeny 2/19 to finish on 116. In reply Dave (50) and Sully (36) raced to 81 before a mini collapse saw 5 quick wickets but Dan stayed calm to secure the win with 16*. In the final Blackrod asked us to bat first but again we got off to a great start adding 61 for the 1st wicket before Dave went for a rapid 43. Sully anchored the rest of the innings superbly with 73* and we posted 151-6. A brief flurry from their overseas Greenidge threatened to turn the game Blackrod's way but once he was out at 95-2 the rest of the innings collapsed to 112 all out with Rob taking 4/14 and Sully 3/8. Finally in our 4th final we could lift the trophy! The month ended with an exciting but disappointing defeat at the hands of Farnworth when in almost a mirror image of the away game despite Sully making a fine 88, an unbeaten 97 from Rodzoch secured a 3 wicket win.
August started with a cracking game against Salesbury where we fell just 9 runs short of chasing down a target of 203 despite Adam taking 6/43 and both Matt and Sam passing 65. An agonising defeat but in a way it set us up nicely for the following day's ECB Regional Final where we would entertain Carnforth at Chew Moor. Carnforth batted first and with Nelson flying at the top of the order looked like posting a massive total. Once he was run out by some smart fielding from Reece we managed to get a grip and restrict the total to 150-7 as Nikhil grabbed 3 wickets. Nobody was prepared for the fireworks that followed as Sully (99*) and Sam (50*) shared an unbroken stand of 155 to see us home with 3 overs to spare and take us to the Northern Regional Finals Day. Back in the league we suffered back to back defeats against Eagley & Blackrod to leave us deep in trouble particularly as Sully was now returning home early. Farnworth SC were next up and despite having no pro the lads produced one of their best performances of the season to win by 79 runs. Rob was the mainstay of our 170-9 and then Sheeny picked up 5/27 to seal the vital win. The following day a coachload of players & supporters set off to Elsecar in South Yorkshire for the Northern T20 finals. Despite being unable to use a sub pro we put up a good fight in both games where 2 scores over 150 sadly weren't quite enough. George with 66 and Reece 33 were the batting stand outs while Junaid took 4/26 v Ackworth. August's final game saw another disppointing display as Kearsley comfortably beat us by 7 wickets.
So to September and with 3 games left we knew we probably needed at least 2 wins to secure our Premiership place for next season and it started brilliantly as Tonge were swept aside by 7 wickets after James took 6/11 to bowl them out for just 76. Sub pro Tom Scriven then eased us home with 27*. The next game effectively would probably decide whether we or Ribblesdale Wanderers would stay up and having been rolled over for just 80 our prospects looked grim. However a brilliant spell of 6/14 by Sheeny shot them out for just 37 in reply and safety was secured. The final game at Astley Bridge ended in defeat but with a weakened side and a less than serious approach to the game that was no surprise.
How does one assess the season then? Obviously from a league point of view it was a disappointing tail off from the previous one but there were mitigating circumstances. Our pro arriving late and going early didn't help and the various subs that we employed met with mixed success. The weather didn't help, nor did a disappointing number of regular changes to the team through injury or unavailability. Successful sides tend to have a relatively high number of hard core regular players not chop and change every week. On the other hand our T20 success, whilst perhaps a distraction to our league form was well deserved and a fantastic experience for all concerned.
Individually there were still a few highlights. Sully despite his shortened stay managed 941 runs in all games but was slightly disappointing with the ball although his electric fielding was a joy to watch at times. The return of Sam Barlow saw him make over 500 runs and take 31 victims behind the stumps. George started the season strongly but tailed off a little towards the end to finish on 497 runs. Matt had an improved season making almost 300 runs whilst Reece and James also passed 250 with the bat. If he was disappointed with his run return, James made up for it with the ball as picked up 35 wickets, a total bettered only by Rob's 37. Sheeny also chipped in with 30 wickets but injuries restricted both Adam and Reece to 15 and 20 wickets respectively.
If this was a school report I'd probably score the season as a B-. Undoubtedly some incredible highs but also some pretty dire lows. Here's to an improved league showing next season!
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