Lancashire League Handbook 2018

96 J W Lees Lancashire Cricket League LEAGUE PROFESSIONALS 2018 ACCRINGTON - Janith Liyanage (Sri Lanka) A young Sri Lankan all-rounder who is based in Columbo will be making his first visit to England as a club Professional. The 22 year old who plays First- class cricket for Ragama Cricket Club is a top order right-hand batsman and bowls right-arm fast-medium. Janith has a first class averages over 30 and bowls regularly in this format. He also plays across all three formats and comes highly recommended by many in Sri Lankans after graduating the prestigious cricketing school St. Peter’s College Columbo, he has gone on to be a regular in the Ragama side and has represented Sri Lanka at under 19 level. BACUP - Ernest Kemm (South Africa) Ernest returns to Bacup after an excellent first season . The stylish, left handed opening batsman scored 590 runs at 42.14, including two centuries. He also took 34 wickets with his left arm spin at 15.02 with a best of 5 for 8. He was instrumental in helping his team to reach the T20 Finals Day, which he unfortunately missed owing to an early return home. Ernie was immensely popular with players and spectators alike and was a major influence in taking Bacup to their highest league position for a number of years. His return to Lanehead is eagerly awaited. BURNLEY - Asif Zakir (Pakistan) Burnley are delighted to announce Asif Zakir as Burnley Cricket Club professional for 2018. His first class record with Karachi, Sui Southern Gas Corporation and Pakistan A is exceptional averaging nearly 40 with 20 hundreds and 33 fifties over a long career. Asif was also called up to the Pakistan ODI squad in 2017. He has previous UK league experience at various clubs and has dominated with the bat as well as bowling very useful off spin. He has come highly recommended and has been a very popular personality during all his league stints. We are looking forward to his arrival and hope he can play a vital role for the club in what will be an extremely competitive 2018 season. On behalf of the club I’d like to thank Abid Riaz from PA Sports for his assistance in securing Asif. CHURCH - Johnny Riekert (South Africa) Church have secured the services of Johnny Riekert for the 2018 season. Johnny from Durban in South Africa is a top order batsman and medium pace bowler. He made his First Class debut in the summer 2015-16 for Kwa-Zulu Natal and has experience of playing in England as Professional at Euxton in 2017 where he scored over 800 runs’.