League side hit by crushing loss

LUKE PERRY and Chris Barrow blew the Saddleworth and District Cricket League’s hopes away in the first round of the JW Lees Inter-League Trophy at Eagley CC yesterday.

Teenager Perry slammed 104 from only 86 balls and captain Barrow smashed 82 — his half-century came off just 26 deliveries — as the Bolton League registered a record highest score of 358 for seven on the ground.

The Saddleworth League, facing a near impossible task, crashed to 137 all out. Skipper Darren Shadford, who top-scored with 45, labelled it “embarrassing”. Few would disagree.

The facts speak for themselves: The Saddleworth League bowled one maiden, by David Oldfield; only 11 of the 45 overs — six from Hollinwood’s Mohammed Shazad — didn’t contain a four or a six; the Bolton League went from 250 to 350 in 58 balls.

For the home supporters, and there were plenty of them, it was like two Twenty20 innings rolled into one with an added bonus of five overs. For the visiting players it was more like three hours of drudgery.

It had failed to be a contest long before the Saddleworth League had been reduced to 102 for eight.

Barrow won the toss and elected to bat. The Saddleworth League, who had to call up Adam Lavin, Qasar Riaz and Nigel Stock the night before after injuries to batsmen Gareth Dent, Mudassar Butt and leg-spinner Rashid Khan, enjoyed some early success.

Oldfield, of Austerlands, bowled James Reynard for 17 and Bamford Fieldhouse’s Liam Garnett trapped Stuart Hornby lbw for the same score.

Reynard’s dismissal brought Perry to the crease and Farnworth Social Circle batsman soon made his intentions clear... attack.

The left-hander treated the bowling with contempt, putting on 101 with Tim Barrow, who was eventually bowled by Stock for 50, while Perry, who was dropped on 38, followed shortly afterwards to Peter Roberts.

John Kerrigan carried on the relentless assault with a rapid 38, and when he was out the competition holders were 249 for seven.

Shazad, who had removed Phil Ingram for no score, was the Saddleworth League’s best bowler with figures of one for 49 from nine overs, but his spell was over by the time had Chris Barrow started to open his shoulders.

He smacked everything out of sight — he was put down on 52 — and added 109 runs with Nigel Partington in eight overs.

The Saddleworth League had mountain to climb. In fact, it was like asking Sir Ranulph Fiennes to climb Everest and then Mont Blanc for good measure immediately afterwards.

They needed a decent start and they got one with 48 on the board for the loss of Moorside’s Richard Baines, who may have been unfortunate to be given out lbw.

But a mixture of spin and steady seam up kept a rein on the reply and, with wickets falling at regular intervals, it quickly became a mission to save face.

Only four players managed to reach double figures — Stock (22) and Alex Griffiths (12 not out) put on 28 for the last wicket — as Chris Barrow, also of Farnworth SC, bagged four for 21 to deprive Perry of the man-of-the-match award.

Scores are —

Inter-League Colts: The Saddleworth and District League 111, The Bolton League 112-8.

Barclays Wealth LCB Cup, round three: West Houghton 235-9 (W Dornan 3-44, M Brooks 3-51), Uppermill 132 (Z Khan 37, D Wood 28).