Lancashire League Handbook 2022

23 In Senior Division Two going into the last round of games it was all to play for in the promotion stakes with 4 of the top 5 sides playing for the second promotion slot as Haslingden had already assured promotion the week before. Haslingden needed to win at Rishton to clinch the title. Two bowling points were achieved by bowling their hosts out for 129 and a solid team batting performance saw them through in less than 28 overs to win both the match, the championship and ultimately promotion to Division One. Haslingden gained promotion without the services of a regular professional but during the season, Alex Coleman made 524 runs, Matt Griffin 378 and Graham Knowles 343. Gary Sudworth was top wicket taker with 33, Sean Hunsley 28 and Samit Patel 26 in the games he was engaged as a substitute. Church fell to defeat at Nelson to take them out of the equation and Littleborough beat Accrington to give themselves a chance so that meant that Greenmount needed to win at Enfield and professional Chesney Hughes saw them home with an unbeaten 81 to gain promotion in their first season in the Lancashire League. In Second eleven cricket we of also of course have Two divisions. In Junior Division two Enfield went into the last game of the season in pole position leading Bacup by 9 points and just needed to win their last game at Greenmount to take the title. But as we all know with cricket it’s never over until it’s over and Enfield slipped to a 46 win defeat but took a batting bonus point leaving Bacup needing to win to force at least a playoff or win the title if they could win and take 2 bowling points. They fielded first and managed to bowl East Lancs out in the last over to take the vital bonus points. All they had to do now was chase down East Lancs’s188 and an undefeated 68 from Mark Goddard saw them through. In Junior Division one, the finish wasn’t quite as close with only 2nd/3rd place at stake doing onto the last games as the Championship had already been won by Clitheroe. Haslingden and Burnley were contesting 2nd/3rd and although both sides won it was Haslingden who came out as runners up. The champions, Clitheroe 2nd won 19 of their 22 games with only one defeat. Hammad Amin was leading run scorer with 571 runs and the highly promising Harry Rickard took 39 wickets with Saud Ahmed close behind with 37. In the Junior Cup, weather prevented the match being played on the original and reserve dates and so it went to the penultimate day of the season at Bentgate. Rishton won the toss, batted first and posted a total of 151/5 built round a solid 60 from Mark Leathert. Haslingden couldn’t chase the total down and fell 17 runs short in the 43rd over. In the Third Eleven competition In 2021 there were 25 3rd/4th teams with 2