Crompton in driving seat

Mohammed Zaman Khan

CROMPTON have been resurgent in recent weeks and, with only four matches of the Lake Garage CLL season remaining, are in pole position to finish the highest of our four local clubs.

Last weekend’s double over Clifton and Royton took Crompton to ninth in the table, seven points ahead of Royton and eight in front of Werneth.

Oldham, for whom this season has been all about fulfilling their fixtures after their eve-of-the-campaign trauma, can at least look forward to avoiding the wooden spoon as they are seven points clear of bottom club Radcliffe.

Regular reading of the Chronicle website’s comments board reveals huge rivalry between our four CLL teams so Crompton will be desperate to come out on top in this mini-battle.

With professional Mohammed Zaman Khan fresh from an unbeaten 155 against Clifton and skipper Simon Wright (85) and overseas amateur Chris Boschoff (31) leading the way against Royton, Crompton should be relishing their last four fixtures.

The first of them is on Saturday when Heywood are the visitors to Glebe Street.

The non-arrival of professional Ruvin Peiris did not have much affect on Heywood during the first half of the season, but the Crimble men have fallen from top spot to third in recent weeks and Crompton will be hoping to exploit any weaknesses.

Sunday’s trip to Oldham should be a lively affair as home professional Mel Whittle will be keen to make his mark against a team with which he has long-standing ties.

The form book points to a repeat of Crompton’s comfortable victory over Oldham at Glebe Street a fortnight ago, but the Pollards men tend to be a different proposition on home soil and were well on the way to beating Unsworth on Sunday when rain washed out play before a positive result could be produced.

Overseas amateur Nick Maree was cruelly robbed of a century in that game when he holed out for 99, but Oldham’s total of 230 for eight was just what the doctor ordered and the recent return from injury of Paul Thompson, who made 59, has certainly helped.

Oldham’s batsmen will fancy their chances of more decent scores when they travel to bottom club Radcliffe on Saturday.

Despite an alarming fall down the table, Werneth are still in a position to finish above Crompton and Royton.

Like Oldham, the Coppice men were victims of the weather on Sunday after being in a totally dominant position against Radcliffe.

Only 14 overs of Radcliffe’s reply to 232 for eight had been bowled, yet four wickets had gone down for 31.

Unfortunately for Werneth, 20 overs need to be bowled to achieve a result on run rate so both sides received two points.

At least Werneth can take the positives out of that performance and a trip to Milnrow on Saturday provides them with a fair chance of a return to winning ways.

The following day’s visit of Unsworth is another fixture skipper Andy Walker will be eyeing with optimism, so the table could look a lot rosier for the Coppice men come Sunday night.

Royton lost both their matches last weekend and will be determined to hit back at home to Walsden tomorrow and at Clifton on Sunday.

Sixth-placed Walsden are a solid outfit whose batting strength tends to outweigh their bowling prowess, while fourth-from-bottom Clifton’s limitations were exposed by Crompton last weekend and their reliance on professional Adil Nisar is clearly far too great.