Glodwick celebrating Lancashire Cup victory

BIG SMILES . . . Glodwick's champion under-11s team, the winners of the Lancashire Cup

GLODWICK'S talented under-11s team have won the Lancashire Cricket Cup.

Fifty-three teams from the cream of the county's clubs set off in April in pursuit of the trophy.

After progressing through to finals day, Glodwick firstly defeated Orrell Red Triangle in the last four, leaving them to face Lowerhouse, from Burnley, in the final.

The games are eight a side, with batsmen facing four overs in pairs.

Teams start with a score of 200, and the sting in the tail is that each time a player is out the team loses eight runs. Therefore, avoiding dismissal is vital.

Glodwick batted first (Adil Shazad and Sufyaan Islam) and an early wicket reduced the score to 209 after four overs.

The second pair of Adam Ali and Amaan Tahir avoided being out, but found runs hard to score.

They pushed the total to 223, and at that stage Lowerhouse were on top.

The turning point was, as so often in earlier rounds, the arrival of Yousaf Iqbal.

In partnership with his brother Younis, 41 runs were scored, of which Yousaf contributed 33 off only 12 balls, a remarkable display of power-hitting from an 11-year-old.

DOMINANT

Adam Chadwick was in similar dominant form, partnering Farhaan Ahmed, but his good work in scoring four boundaries was partially undone when he lost his wicket.

Glodwick's score of 286 was good, but the game was still finely balanced.

Lowerhouse's first pair lost a wicket, but still scored 26 runs, and the second pair took the score to 241, at which stage they were well ahead of Glodwick.

The game turned when the third pair lost three wickets, leaving the score on 232 and more than 50 needed from the last pair.

They couldn't manage it and the innings closed on 260, with Glodwick crowned victors by 26 runs.

The Glodwick team has its stars, but it also has eight very competent cricketers.

In Chadwick and Yousaf the team has two excellent batsmen, and in Ali and Ahmed two outstanding young spin bowlers. While they may attract the headlines, the other players back them up with catching and fielding of the highest order.

Glodwick coach Neil Williams said: "This is a huge achievement for Glodwick Cricket Club and I am immensely proud of what the players have achieved through some hard work this season."