Lancashire League Handbook 2016

16 So going into the last 2 games Burnley looked to be the favourites. That was until they met East Lancs who spoiled their unbeaten record at Alexandra Meadows. The last game of the season was Haslingden v Burnley, winner takes all. But that was when the weather intervened and prevented any play at Bentgate and so making Haslingden champions by 2 points. In the Worsley Cup, there were first round wins for Burnley, Accrington, Lowerhouse, Nelson, Ramsbottom and Enfield and they were joined in the second round by Bacup and East Lancashire. Accrington, Burnley, Nelson and Lowerhouse progressed to the semifinals which were drawn as Nelson v Accrington and Lowerhouse v Burnley. At Seedhill, Accrington batted first and quickly found themselves on 24 for 6 and despite a rally to 45 for 7, the innings ended after less than 25 overs on 51 all out with sub pro Qaiser Abbas and Richard Meade taking 4 wickets each. Nelson lost just 2 wickets in chasing down the runs required in less than 13 overs. Lowerhouse batted first in their semifinal and made 180 for 7 from their 50 overs. Burnley then batted around David Brown’s 91 not out and booked their third successive final. The final was at Seedhill and Burnley won the toss and batted first making 206 all out in their final over. Vishal Tripathi top scored with 60 and Jonathan Clare a steady 40. In reply Nelson lost both openers with just 26 on the board and sub Qaiser Abbas made 33 but was out with the total on 73 and after that the innings fell away to 88 all out with Burnley professional Chris Holt taking 5 wickets for 7 runs from 6 overs. Vishal Tripathi was named as man of the match. This is Burnley’s 9th Worsley Cup success and they are the first team ever to have won the trophy for a record 3 times in a row. The Lancashire Telegraph sponsor the Second Eleven Knockout Cup. In the final at Alexandra Meadows, we had a repeat of the 2014 final with East Lancashire hosting Ramsbottom. East Lancs won the toss and elected to bat first as in 2014, however the innings took a different route and an outstanding return of 6 for 15 from 10 overs by Tom Booth saw the hosts dismissed for 96 in 30 overs. Ashley Parkinson and Alex Olpin made 68 for the first wicket and Parkinson went on to an unbeaten 50 to complete the victory in the 22nd over.