Lancashire League Handbook 2023

22 Lowerhouse with Charlie Cottam top scoring with 54 made 209/6 from their 50 overs. Ramsbottom lost 2 early wickets and were 17/2 but Kieren Grimshaw then took hold of the game and when Harry Caton joined him at 115/4 the game could have been in the balance but the pair then put together a partnership of 95 with Caton unbeaten on 36 and skipper Grimshaw an unbeaten124 to secure a 6 wicket win. The JW Lees Worsley Cup Final was at Acre Bottom where Ramsbottom hosted Rochdale with the hosts winning the toss and deciding to bat first. This was the start of a day where records tumbled, one after the other. First, home skipper Kieren Grimshaw made his third century of the competition, the first batsman to do so in the history of the competition, his 149 was the highest ever in a final and Ramsbottom’s total of 321/3 became the highest ever in a limited overs Worsley Cup final. Tom Parton’s 75 and professional Sen Muthusamy’s unbeaten 65 helped to contribute to that. Despite having a mountain to climb, Rochdale made a good start with 52 for the first wicket, Mohammed Zaman top scored with 83 and Harry Butterworth made 56 followed by 32 from skipper Jamie Roche before Rochdale fell 92 runs short having contributed to a record cup final highest aggregate score of 550 runs. This is now the ninth time Ramsbottom have won the Worsley cup, Captain Kieren Grimshaw was man of the match. In Second eleven cricket, Division one, three clubs were chasing the title with Burnley, Haslingden and reigning champions Clitheroe in contention. And in the end the runners up place went to Haslingden despite both sides finishing on equal points with most wins proving to be the deciding factor. Quite remarkably Clitheroe had 3 ties over the season. The champions, Burnley, won 17 of their 22 games. Matt Tomlinson was leading run scorer with 473 runs, backed up by Gareth Halley with 439. Ben Sutcliffe took 40 wickets and Steve Brunt 32. We do of course have Two divisions in 2nd eleven cricket and in Division two there was a battle between Darwen and Littleborough for the title but in the end solid performances over the season by Arran Dignan with 492 runs and Mohammed Mahsooq with 452 and 36 wickets for Phil Deakin and 32 for Lewis Eadsforth saw Littleborough through to the Championship and promotion. The Junior Cup is next. Thankfully this year the match went ahead on the scheduled date. The hosts, Great Harwood had earned their place in the final with a 5 wicket win at Lowerhouse and Enfield had overcome Accrington by 8 wickets at Dill Hall Lane. Enfield won the toss and decided to bat first and all looked well at 41 for none but then wickets began to fall and they found themselves at 99 for 9 before posting a total of 113 with Jamie Alderson Perkins forming the backbone of the innings ending unbeaten with 42. Gt Harwood began to chase the total down, lost an early wicket but when their fifth wicket fell at 83, the experience of Russ Whalley and Paul Houldsworth