Lancashire League Handbook 2022

24 divisions of 8 teams and one of 9. Next year we will have 28 teams and it will be 2 divisions of 9 and one of 10 and these will be based on where teams ended up after the mini play offs from this year. Great Harwood 4th, Clitheroe 3rd and Clitheroe 4th won their respective divisions and went into the 1st to 3rd play off section. Clitheroe 3rd overcame their club mates but Great Harwood won both play off games and so this years Third Division champions were Great Harwood 4th team. Our former Treasurer and Life Member Peter Hargreaves donated a trophy before he sadly passed on and this goes to the Umpire with the best overall marks in the Junior League. The winner for 2021 was Darrell Halstead. In Senior Umpires awards, the Wally Ashley runners up trophy and the recipient came so close again but for the third time in a row the winner was Steve Beswick. But incredibly again, for the 10th time, the winner of the Harry Saul Umpire of the year trophy was Duncan Warburton. The Joe Collier Trophy is awarded to the team who are given the best marks by umpires for sportsmanship and it was good to see that the spirit of cricket can be upheld at the same time as being a winning side as Burnley Cricket Club took the honours. The Alick Ormerod Trophy rewards the captain who receives the best marks in Senior Cricket. The winner was, from my experience, a gentleman on the field and a great ambassador for Lancashire League Cricket, a league legend Keith Roscoe. As we look towards the 2022 season, the League goes from strength to strength on a playing basis but a massive worry is the ever declining number of umpires on our panel. Over the winter we have learned that some have retired, moved to other Leagues or no longer wish to umpire. We thank all who have given service to our great League but there is no magic formula to increasing these numbers. The matter has been discussed at League meetings but no one can seem to come up with the answer. If each and every club could find a new recruit that could alleviate the problem but it is appreciated that not everyone wants to give up 6 or 7 hours of their day, particularly when behaviour isn’t unfortunately always of the best. One incident can deter an umpire so easily. The saying is “we can’t play without Umpires” or as we seem to be moving towards “an umpire” which is where we will be shortly unless the problem is addressed. This will be our last Season as an Independent League as in 2023 we will be accepted for Premier League status, playing, as has been stressed to our own rules. This is a further development in our history and one we look forward to with anticipation. Let’s hope the sun shines, the rain stays off and 2022 is as exciting as was 2021.