Aslam’s sights set on target

CENTURY AIM: Glodwick professional Imran Aslam is bidding to become the first player since Lesroy Irish in 1999 to claim 100 wickets in a season.

IMRAN ASLAM had a goal at the start of his first season in the Armstrongs Office Furniture Saddleworth and District Cricket League.

The Pakistani professional told his employers Glodwick that he wanted 100 wickets before heading back home — and he’s three-quarters of the way to his objective.

The 27-year-old has bamboozled batsmen with his leg-spin — he took six for 24 against Austerlands last weekend — and has seven matches in which to accomplish his mission.

Aslam has proved a revelation for Glodwick, helping them to sixth place in the table and has already signed up for a second year at Warren Lane in 2009.

He is bidding to become the first player for nearly a decade to claim a century of wickets in a season. The last person was West Indian pro Lesroy Irish, who claimed 103 for Austerlands in 1999 when there were 15 teams in the league compared to 13 now.

Glodwick secretary Neil Cadd is delighted with Aslam’s efforts and predicts even better to come.

“Imran set himself a target when he arrived here of 100 wickets and he definitely has a chance,” said Cadd.

“It will be some achievement if he does get there and I hope he does, not only for his sake but also for the club as well.

“One or two people reckon he could go through a team on his own. He tends to get a lot of lbws, because nobody can pick his top-spinner, the ball that goes straight on.

“He’s a nice lad and we couldn’t be happier with him, that’s why we offered him another season.

“He enjoys playing with us. We like to have him around the place, but if somebody else comes along in a year or so with a better offer, then we won’t stand in his way.”

Although his displays with ball far outshine his performances with the bat — 432 runs at an average of 27 — Cadd believes he will be making regular contributions before too long.

He went on: “It’s his first time over here and it’s obviously different to playing back home.

“Scoring 73 in six overs against Moorside in the Twenty20 showed what he’s capable of doing.

“He says he prefers to face the better bowling, so we’ve moved him up the order to open the innings. Hopefully that will do the trick and the runs will come.”

Glodwick are one of the form teams, with four wins from their last five games.

They are closing in on the top five — some achievement in only their second season in the league.

Cadd said: “When confidence is high performances tend to improve, although it would be nice to put a few more runs on the board.

“We are definitely chasing an LCB Cup place (top five teams qualify). That’s our aim.

“Anything can happen at this stage of the season, so I wouldn’t rule us out. Teams can be missing two or three players because of holidays and likewise that can happen to us.”