Lancashire League Handbook 2015

20 Keith Roscoe of Rawtenstall now has 1618 wickets with 114 five wicket hauls and a best of 9 for 77. AndrewBentley of Churchwent past 500wickets. And mention must be made of Adam Bracewell of Enfield, and it may be that a League record has been set with his 31 catches. I say maybe as not all scorecards have yet been added to the archive. Barry Evans continued for a third season as appointments secretary, a thankless task. The adoption of Lancashire Knockout fixed dates means that he has warned us already that with 2015 having more Saturdays, finding umpires will be like finding sub pros so be ready for the calls. You really do have to have done the job to fully understand howdifficult it is.Well done Barry! The Captains reports on Umpires performances form the basis of the award of theWallyAshley Shield and the Harry Saul Trophy and these are now collated by our Deputy Chairman Mr Peter West which has helped my workload greatly during the season, thank you Peter. The Lancashire League Umpiring panel seems to get stronger every year and this is reflected in the standards achieved. This year we had 18 umpires achieving over 90%. The top 5 all had over 95%and top 3 over 97%. The winner of the runner up award for the Wally Ashley trophy this year has been appointed to the D List which will mean he will receive County 2nd eleven appointments, with 97.94%NaeemAshraf. Naeem's promotion means that we now have 4 umpires on the D list and 2 on the minor counties panel. Umpires are nowmore conscious of the opportunity to progress and we have had 2 more umpires who have achieved Level 2 status during the winter with a further 4 being invited to undertake level 2 training, I say invited as this course, along with the next level (3) is only available via invitation, the Level 2 from the Lancashire Cricket Board ACO and the Level 3 by the ECB on recommendation by LCBACO so we must be getting something right in the Lancashire League. The winner of the Harry Saul trophy for Umpire of the year went to an umpire who is on the County 2nd and Minor Counties panel and he scored 99.29%, dropping only 9marks all season –Ken Fergusson. Next we come to the awards to Clubs which have been adjudged by the umpire's marks. Mr Jack Bottomley the LeagueAssistant Secretary continued in the role of collating the marks, another greatly appreciated help to me. Thanks