Quartet hit by hefty bans

FOUR players from Droylsden have been banned for a combined total of 26 matches.

Officials from the Armstrongs Office Furniture Saddleworth and District Cricket League officials came down hard on the quartet following an incident in a second-team game against Glodwick on Saturday, June 13.

All four players, captain Rob Tipping, Lee Cullen, Neville Mason and Alex Cicchirillo, were served with automatic suspensions.

Tipping is in the process of lodging an appeal. The bans are due to begin on Saturday.

They got —

Rob Tipping: Eight matches — three for showing dissent on the field and five for being unable to control his players as captain.

Lee Cullen: Eight matches — three for showing dissent on the field and five for using foul and abusive language towards an umpire after the game.

Neville Mason: Five matches — for dissent on the field and after the game.

Alex Cicchirillo: Five matches — For dissent on the field and after the game.

The incident occurred at the end of the match after a player was given out lbw. The game ended in a tie.

Cicchirillo was acting as a stand-in umpire at square-leg at the time.

It was the first occasion that the new disciplinary procedure was put into operation.

Instead of facing a disciplinary committee, players are now automatically banned for the requisite number of games stated in the disciplinary tariff which is printed in the league handbook. However, players still have the right to appeal.

League general secretary Trevor Harrison said: “We won’t tolerate any bad behaviour.

“That is the message we want to send out to players.

“Umpires can’t be expected to put up with behaviour of this kind and we will back them up.

“The disciplinary tariff is published in the league handbook for all to see and it should act as a deterrent.”




Defeat spoils weekend



SPRINGHEAD suffered mixed fortunes in division one of the Site Electrical North Manchester League.



They recorded a 53-run win over East Lancs PM, but were beaten by basement boys Westleigh Meths 24 hours later.

Roytonians scraped home against Rochdale thirds in division two, but Saddleworth crashed to a 122-run defeat at the hands of Farnworth SC thirds.

Greenfield thirds overcame fellow strugglers Robinsons seconds in division three, and Uppermill thirds defeated their Woodbank counterparts by 13 runs in division four.

Scores —

Saturday, division one: Springhead 130-9, East Lancs PM 77;

Failsworth Macedonia 137, Fothergill and Harvey 141-4.

Division two: Fothergill and Harvey IIs 168-8, Failsworth Macedonia IIs 156-8; Rochdale IIIs 80, Roytonians 81-9.

Division three: Robinsons II 63, Greenfield IIIs 65-2.

Sunday, division one: Failsworth Macedonia 248, Littleborough Lakeside 249-8; Westleigh Meths 193, Springhead 150.

Division two: Farnworth SC IIIs 199, Saddleworth IIIs 87.

Division four: Uppermill IIIs 174, Woodbank IIIs 161.




FRIARMERE opening batsman Darren Graham came on as a substitute fielder for Glodwick in the Tanner Cup last Sunday.



Moments later, he took a stunning catch to dismiss team-mate and professional Asif Qayyum. However, Darren still ended up on the winning side.