St.Annes Win Title at Birch Hall
Darwen were without 3 first team regulars on Saturday as they took on league leaders St.Annes for a variety of reasons. Gareth - hernia - Lobo - Soft Cell
pop concert - Hammo - broken finger nail. However none of them were missed as they managed to keep them down to 132-8, with a combination of excellent
fielding (3 run outs) and tight bowling.
Darwen were on course for victory with deputy professional Zimmy Khan coasting along on 28 until the finger of fate struck. A dodgy LBW decsion sent him off
and the title to St.Annes when it could well have been going to Preston, who had already completed an easy victory. In the face of two fine spinners on a
slow wicket there was only one outcome, especially with the generous decisions being dished out by the officials in favour of moneybags St.Annes. The coach
load of St.Annes supporters revelled in the glory of a league title!!
A final finish of third from bottom is a great disappointment to all but in truth we have not been good enough. Most of the teams in the league are pretty evenly matched
but when push has come to shove we have been found wanting on all fronts.
The emergence of Alex Davies has been the high point of the season and the continuing improvement of Kammy and Yakub.
A special mention should go to Captain Chaos ... sorry Cook. In a difficult season has kept his sense of humour and been a great ambassador for the club.
After being told how to captain the team by one committee memeber he has never looked back - well done Cookylad!
The Bad Weather Saves Chorley
David Wiese's last game in a Darwen shirt ended in a losing draw against the old enemy Chorley. I say 'enemy' in the loosest possible terms as the ill-feeling
that used to be seen a decade ago has all but vanished. No more invitations from Darwen players to 'show us your Northern League winners medals' - no more Chorley
players frequenting the bar with proudly displayed bum bags - the game has changed. They won the last 3 encounters with ease, but on Monday the rains saved
them. Despite having lots of practice throughout a long season, Cooky's tossing abilities have been questioned. On this occassion he won and asked Chorley to bat first.
Wiesa signed off with 4 wickets having begun to master the art of bowling on crap wickets. There were also wickets for Kammy, Gareth and leading wicket taker Hammo Doos Doos Doos Dooos Poos Poos Poos.
Stuart pictured below continues to find time to play cricket in between his day job of advertising caricatures on Facebook.
We were cruising towards victory when the rains came and despite the efforts of the umpires it was a frustrating losing draw that was the net result.
The Doos at Work on Facebbok
Low Scoring Loss
Saturdays this season have regularly meant one thing - a Darwen defeat. And this week proved to be no different but it was a close game and could have gone either way.
Due to heavy rain the pitch was wet and Cooky, like the clown that he is, lost the toss once more. Play was delayed for hours so we couldn't go to Ewood then got under way. Alex improved on last week by lasting two balls before being caught at gully - we'll let him off because he is going to be brilliant. Nathan was out plum LBW missing a full bunger from Cumbrian Minor Counties legend Parkin. Who says the standard of cricket has gone downhill?
Weisa aka Charlie Williams clonked a few before being trapped on the crease LBW again from the same umpire that got him at St.Annes. In the end a paltry score of 82 was posted from 29 overs.
Kendal were soon in trouble losing 2 wickets in the first over, including the leagues best ever batsmen Terry Hunte for a second ball duck. Professional McMillan soon followed and with MintCake on 25 for 5
a victory looked on the cards. The departing Weise picked up 6 wickets and 'Come on Kammy' 3. With one over remaining and 5 needed for victory, even a winning draw was possible. Two dot balls later they need 5 from 4. Number 11 swiped and it just cleared Nathan who if he had some new boots might have made a spectacular catch. 3 from 3 required - an edge and ... oh no there's no third man - four runs - game over.
Back to Losing Ways
It's a funny old game cricket. Two young England players were on show at Birch Hall. Two young England players were out for first ballers! Having been inserted we were soon trouble at 5 for 2 until Stonewall Lowe and the experienced Cordingley led a recovery to get us upto a 100. Some good clonking from paper and Clarkey meant we reached a competitive 168.
Barrow bowled an excellent line and length but it was a total that we could defend.
Unfortunately the visitors got off to a flyer and were 50 off 10 overs. The Yak got us into the game with a couple of wickets in between no-balls. After a couple of run outs there was a chance of victory. With a bit more luck and a few plum lbw not being given, the chance came and went.
League Victory at Last
Darwen completed the double over a troubled Leyland oufit at Fox Lane. Having won the toss Leyland decided to make use of the wicket and were soon in trouble as professional Ameer Khan was caught at slip in the first over of Wiesa. Ameer Khan had just been notified that
he will not be returning to Leyland next year after 4 years of excellent service. There then followed a procession of good bowling from David and Kammy
and the hosts were in trouble at 22-5. They eventually finished on 99 all out thanks to some spirited resistance in the lower order and Cooky's bowling.
One member of the slip courdon had a day to remember dropping one regulation catch, then managing to trip over his own feet while attempting to catch another.
He scooped a superb one hander but then faced accusations that it didn't carry as Leyland looked to make excuses for the inept display.
The chase was to be a formality with 65 overs then it wazzed it down and after hours of sitting around doing nothing the game was restarted with 100 to win off 26 overs. Nathan and David eased us to the victory target. Weisa produced a controlled half century with a superb reverse sweep, and Nathan 32 compulsively hooked runs. Johnny came in to red ink us home with 6 not out off 50 balls and the victory was ours.
Barrow at home next week - more of the same please.
Nearly at Netherfield
Darwen slumped to another defeat at the hands of current champions Netherfield. The hosts elected to bat and amassed 252-5 on a good track which had some movement which was not utilised well enough by the Darwen attack. Some lucky wafts also helped but it could have been worse.
Our reply began with Alex smashing the Netherfield professional to all parts before Johnnyboy the clown ran him out. For once all the amateurs contributed and looked like they were actually batsmen, but they all got in and got out. Chris Clarke looked to be guiding us to victory before another run out cost us dear. Yakub played some wonderful shots but we finished 17 runs short with 2 overs to go. This was much improved batting performance which needs to be carried on for the rest of the season. The bowling at present lacks penetration as all the better batters for other teams are getting runs and do not look like being troubled.
Would Have - Should Have - Could Have
All fifteen points were there for the taking at Broadwater. Unfortunately we were not good enough to take all 10 wickets despite having 18 overs to bowl with 7 wickets down and had to settle for a deserved 10 points.
If anybody had turned up late for the game they would have been amazed to see the first decent opening partnership for 5 years. Chris Lowe, in the form of his life, hit 54 excellent runs and was talked through it by Alex Davies. The youngster scored 89 runs to show what a fantastic talent he is - he knows how to score big runs and will no doubt score plenty more.
A score of 214 for 4 was well above par on a slow wicket and enough to force victory.
Kammy bowled Derbyshire contracted player Chesney Hawkes first ball and the charge to victory was on. It soon became apparent that the worse you bowled the more wickets you got. So Hammo was brought on and bowled the same as he normally does and picked up three. With 5 wickets down at the half way point there seemed only at matter of time before the victory was in the bag. But some blocking and lucky slogging meant that in form Fleetwood clung on to a draw. Hardly deserved but a little more spin may have been the order of the day to keep the tail playing shots.
A much improved all round display and something to build on.
Horror Show at Birch Hall
Darwen were resoundingly thrashed by Morecambe at Birch Hall. The hosts were inserted and scored 195-7 on a slow but true Darwen wicket. It has to be said that some of the bowling was absolute toilet until later on in the innings. Kendal, sorry Morecambe batter Ullah and some crank who edged every shot put on 100 plus for the first wicket. Spinner Chris Clarke started the fightback and was ably assisted by Anwar, Wiesa and Cordingley.
The old man of the team going through the pain barrier once more after having his nose broken in the warm up game of rugby / american football.
The batting, oh dear oh dear, it was best described as a shambles. All out for 71. The last 5 batters all out for ducks! Thankfully its our weekend off next week and time for some reflection on what is the best way to move the team forward.
Preston Take All 12
When Cooky lost the toss on a rubbish Preston wicket the writing was on the wall for a low scoring affair. At one point this low scoring affair could have been about 60 or 70 but for some useful knocks from the lower order.
Once again early wickets were lost in the face of some good bowling on an unpredictable track, however some of the shot selection was bobbins. Johnnyboy tried to get us back in the game before a dodgy LBW came in to play. A total of 118 was about 20 or 30 runs short of target but
still gave us a fighting chance.
The rains came and 23 overs were taken of the Preston attack. The rain actually helped Preston as the ball skidded on and nullified the problems of the first innings. But some excellent catches from Lobo and Alex ensured it was a close contest as we picked up wickets regularly. We eventually lost in the last over
and were left to rue some bad batting and half chances.
Morecambe at home next week - time to stand up and be counted.
All season there has been a fine system in place and as you can imagine with us near the wrong end of the table the kitty is swelling at the moment. Somehow the captain of the club escaped what should have been a mandatory £5 fine after believing that all league games were now 49 overs.
Having run a dicey third run at the end of the 49th over, the Cook placed his bat under his arm and marched to pavilion with 118 on the scoreboard.
'He knows what he's doing' - 'he thinks we've got enough' - 'he's declared and thrown the gauntlet down to Preston' were the cries from the sideleines.
Unfortunately none of the afore mentioned were true. Captain Chaos believed there had been a rule change to 49-49 sanctioned by Northern League rep Simon Painter.
In the face of hilarity from the pavilion Cook returned to the crease and attempted to compose himself. Next ball he ran himself out.
Now if ever a whopping fine needed to be handed out this was the time, but once more the elusive Cook escaped.
Losing Draw at St.Aidans
St.Annes posted 245-9 at Vernon Road after being asked to bat first by Captain Cook. At one stage it looked as though 300 would be the score to chase as St.Annes shamateurs Twist and Atiq both got hundreds. Without the absent Yak, Cooky took the new
ball on a flat low dry track. Wiese and Cook both got early wickets which only brought the main St.Annes players to the crease. As Twist faced his first delivery from Cook there were suddenly three slips and a gully, a tactic thought of in Marigolds at 3am no doubt. Unfortunately Cooky had not morphed into Malcolm Marshall and sent down three full bungers to give him a nice easy start!
Captain Cook was in the thick of the action all day, or should have been, the way he stood at third man talking to his dad rather than setting the field was rather strange, however he did talk his dad into buying a round
of drinks after the match. Thanks Mr.Cook. The Darwen attack lacking a spinner and without spin king Clarke were flayed on a seamers graveyard until Wiese and Cordingley manged to halt the march to 300. Big D bowled 21 overs and got 5-96, too many overs this is not Lancashire League cricket, and would have had
better figures if not for one over of experimental spin which went for 20! The fielding overall was good on a fast bumpy outfield with only one drop and one jib the downside.
The run chase began well with Niall and Alex smacking the seamers, the breaks were applied when two left arm spinners, the St.Annes professional and the returning Yogi Baer came on. Alex batted with maturity and skill and must be in the first team every week. Wiese was adjudged LBW to a ball that hit him outside off. Cordingley got out just as the momentum was swinging to the visitors and the game peetered out until Johnnyboy tried to win it single handedly.
He scored 50 before trying to get 45 off 3 overs against the wishes of the captain and almost handed victory to St.Annes.
9 points to St.Aidans - 7 points to Darwen. Preston away next week as we have reached the halfway stage of the season.
Lancaster Bombed Out by Wiese
Darwen got back to winning ways at Birch Hall against potential wooden spoonists Lancaster. Darwen won the toss and asked the visitors to have a bat. They were
soon in trouble as the Yak took a wicket with his first ball. The Wiese man then took control. It took him 4 weeks to work out that you don't need to steam in on Darwen, just
bowl like Dave Bonner, accurate and moving off the seam. He finished with 6 well earned wickets and there was two for Hammo and a first league wicket of 2009 for Kammy. Lancaster could only muster 106, a score that looked a long way
off at 47-7.
Darwen stuttered early on as usual until Wiesanus and Grumpy Lowe steered us home with a well constructed partnership. Lobo learnt his trade in the midweek league of Harrogate for the mighty Markington CC and he
was back to his midweek form with sDome excellent shots. David at the other end clonked 'em all over leading to comparisons to early 90s professional Scott Hookey. The fact that David Wiese has a brain ensures any
further comparison outside of cricket is a non-starter.
League leaders St.Aidans away next week, time to go log onto Facebook and update my status to tell the captain exactly what I think off him!
Lower Order Hang On For Losing Draw
Darwen were put to the sword at Kendal as the hosts finished on 216 for 5. Probably a par score on a good track with few demons, or so we thought until Darwen started batting.
Kevin Howarth scored hundred for the hosts but was helped by a couple of hard chances going down on 69 and 93. Spin king Chris Clarke was the pick of the attack and picked up the prize wickets of Hunte and professional McMillan. The
rest of the bowlers toiled without much success.
A good sensible start was required but Nathan turned into Simon Painter and shouldered arms for the second time this season. McMillan was moving the ball off the seam, something we failed to do and picked up 6 wickets. At 60-6 the game was gone and the early session for the
ale heads of Darwen was on the cards. But some excellent batting from Kammy, Hammo and the Yak meant we somehow managed to escape with a draw.
Three home games next week, Chorley in Twenty20 on Friday, Lancaster are the visitors in the league next Saturday and then Carnforth in the cup on Sunday.
Rained Off Again - Unbelievable
Darwen were rained off for the fourth time this season - no wonder we are miles off top spot. This time we could not even blame the Darwen weather as we
were due to travel the 500 mile round trip to Barrow. In the end we did not even go, but with every other team in world cricket playing it seems we were either very unlucky or
too keen to get on the ale. That means the bottom 3 teams fixtures have all been abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Kendal away next week - let's hope we actually get a game in - or it hammers it down again as it's Scooter's stag do at York races on Friday!
Tower Power is Back
Darwen got back to winning ways at a sundrenched Birch Hall against Leylandi. Cooky won the toss and made an inspired choice of bowling first. This decision
looked to be a strange one as Leyland cruised to 121 for 1 off 30 overs, but it was not helped by some buffet bowling. The captain boldly threw the ball to
opening batsmen Chris Clarke, bowling for the first time since brother Jordan smacked him all over 10 years ago in the back garden. He produced an controlled
spell of off-spin and dragged the game back by dismissing both Reece and professional Ameer Khan caught at mid-off by the safehands Yak. Wiesey and the Yak then
reduced Leyland to 164 all out. At one stage 220 looked to be on the cards but some excellent fielding ensured Darwen were well in the game.
The Darwen reply stuttered as two LBW decisions accounted for Mr Angry and all rounder Clarkey. A 143 run partnership between professional Wiese and stalwart Cordingley
saw us home to victory after just 29 overs. Some brutal shots and massive clonks meant the locals in the houses were running for cover as Leyland had no answer to the onslaught. David finished on 89 not out and Gareth 50
The long trip to Barrow awaits us next week - more of the same please.
Better Bats in a Cave
10 batters went in and 10 batters gave their wickets away. Only David, Lobo, Nathan and the weather gave us a glimmer of hope. 99 all out was a least 50 runs short.
To stand a chance of winning early wickets were a must, when Big D removed the Chorley captain and then struck professional Hartley on his leg playing French cricket right back on his stumps, there was surely only
one outcome. However the decision unbelievably never came and so went any chance of a Darwen victory. The rains briefly came to try and salvage an undeserving draw
but Chorley went on to complete another easy victory and go to the top of the Northern League.
It's time to show some spirit and ability and bounce back next week against Leyland
Losing Draw against the Netherlands
When Netherfield realised they were not test match cricketers and finally decided they wanted a game of cricket on a slightly damp Birch Hall a closely fought
contest ensued. Professional David Wiese marked his debut for the club with an excellent all round performance of 3 wickets and 88 superly hit runs, but we eventually
fell 20 runs short of the 209 target. The score was probably around 30 or so runs more than par, due to a combination of poor bowling, dodgy catching and jibbing of catches. Optician Beeser
has a rush on appointments from the club for later this week. Ernie bowled 21 wholehearted overs and picked up 3 wickets and there were also 3 for old stager Cordingley.
The reply centred around Wiesedog who powered a number of boundaries to get us into a winning postion of requiring 36 run off 6 overs. Unfortunately we struggled to manipulate the spinners around
and fell 20 runs short with two wickets remaining.
Better catching, less 4-balls and manoeuvring of spinners is the order of the day if we want to improve and climb the league.
Rain Strikes Again
Can you believe it we got rained off again? Three weeks in a row. Professional David Wiese was eager to make his debut after warming up on Thirsty Thursday. But
He had little chance to show his quality as when we turned up at Carnforth it became apparent they were not that keen to play. Firsty no wicket had been cut. Secondly the token gestures to mop up
were half-hearted at best. The only time they showed interest in playing was when the game was called off and they unbelievably got changed and started playing off-ground tig on
the outfield. Why do people play cricket?
Let's hope the weather changes for the better as it's Netherlands and Chorley next weekend.
Tantrums, Storm Offs and Covers
Another weekend, another game abandoned. Blackpool batted first and made a steady start against some accurate and some wayward bowling in blustery conditions.
Hammo picked up another 3 wickets and Yakub continued his excellent start to the season. At 104-3 it threw it down, the covers were brought on but they were the old
ones. Not a problem until on their removal after a 45 minute downpour and the leakage on the wicket. Why didn't we use the new ones which cover 3 wickets only?
It was debatable whether the game would have continued anyway, but with water on the wicket and Blackpool knowing the were gonna get walloped by a team of amateurs, helped
by the interruption of the weather, the game was abandoned despite the hard work of PC Paper who tried in vain to make it playable with his new water hog.
Hopefully we will have our professional David Wiese with us for next weeks visit to Carnforth and we can get Captain Cook smiling again.
Early Call Off at Birch Hall
The game against Fleetwood was abandoned 10 minutes after Gareth arrived from Leeds. It seems as though the telecommunications newtwork was down between 1100 and 1300.
The basis for the call off was a super duper forecast from John Kettley. Good decision as they are always accurate. Some people paid their match tax, some refused to.
Blackpool next week at home.
KnockOut at Sefton Park
Darwen were sent packing out of the ECB Knockout at the first stage for the 3rd year running. This time Sefton Park were the victors. Kameron Anwar got
5 wickets and Jo Anderson clonked 49 including 4 sixes in one over. Other than that there was nothing else to report other than it cost 50 notes for the
teas.
Lucky Escape for Morecambe
For the first time in three years Darwen played at match Morecambe and were an agonising 4 runs from victory. The hosts elected to bat first on a wicket
that was good for the most part except for a sand dune just short of a length. The game started well for Darwen with Hampson once again taking the early
wickets of Goyal and Woodhead. Northern League journeyman Boucher dropped anchor, whilst substitute professional Shafi slogged and scabbed his way to an arsey
44. One of the strangest yet effective professional innings and probably a career best by a long way. This swashbuckling slog was ended by the introduction of
the Darwen sub professional Mohammed Zaman Khan, aka Zimmy, Dimi, Mallett, Zippy etc who soon bamboozled Shafi and took his middle stump. Zimmy bowled a super spell of
controlled spin bowling taking 3 for 33 of 20 overs. At the other end the combination of some loose bowling and a fast outfield enabled Morecambe to reach a
par score of 184. The Yak took 4 wickets including the Morecambe wicketkeeper Gudgeon. Gudgie, allegedly addicted to Facebook, became all at sea under a barrage
of references to his hobby. He poked about before his status was eventually updated when his poles were knocked over and he returned to the dressing room to remove
Lobo from his friends list.
Darwen set about the target well and were making excellently progress until it was interrupted by a contentious LBW decision and The Eyebrow was on his way back to pavilion.
The cruise towards victory was still in progress with Clarkey and Gareth easing the attack about until the sand dune struck. Two of the biggest pea-rollers in history followed and
back in the pavilion were Cordingley and pro Zimmy. Johnnyboy and Clarkey picked up the reigns until John was given out LBW of his bat. Cameos from Paper, Kammy and the Yakub left
us needing a six to win the game of the last delivery with the last man at the crease Captain Cook. What should he do? Could he win the game with a maximum? Would he go
for it and give Morecambe 15 points? For some reason all the fielders were on the edge and you guessed it the Cook play an immaculate forward defensive stroke.
10 points plays 7 in a game which with a little more know-how the victory would have been in the bag. Special mention for 14 year old Alex Davies on debut, he was excellent
behind the stumps and when given a chance with the bat will know doubt do the same.
No game on Saturday, then Sefton Park in the National Knockout on Sunday before a home game with Fleetwood on Monday. Hopefully by this time our professional
David Wiese will have arrived and be ready to make up for lost time.
Preston Sent Packing Defeated Again by Farnworth Shambles at South Shore
The 2009 season kicked off in fine style at a sun-drenched Birch Hall. Captain Cook lost the toss and we were inserted against a new look Preston team. Having added Adam Parker to the ranks of shamateurs and a couple of others the visitors must have been hoping for a flying start to the season. However it was not to be as the local lads produced a great display.
The Preston openers took the attack to some wayward opening tripe, then StuDog hit his groove and removed Patel and the dangerous Parker in successive deliveries. With only Bilal standing in the way of victory Darwen chipped away at the amateurs in front of a partisan
crowd. Preston keeper Charlie Williams set a new world record for being out LBW on the most consecutive occassions before the innings closed at 133 with 10 overs to spare. A maximum 15 points for the hosts, 4 wickets for Hammo, 3 for Garth, 2 for Chuckie and 1 for Captain Chaos. Fielding was excellent for the most part except for the Sleeping Policeman who demonstrated on a number of occasion how to dive and police escort the ball to boundary before beating up some helpless bystander.
The perfect start to the season and something to build on for next week at Morecambe.
Our second friendly saw a number of changes to the team, as the Easter weekend B&Q Sales made some players unavailable. Farnworth batted first and scored 125 All Out. The Yak being the pick of the bowlers taking an impressive 4 for 21 and cementing his place in the team for Saturday. Our batsmen could only muster 109 between them. Niall the only one who looked like he could hold a bat according to reports.
Anyway nobody remembers friendlies. The real stuff begins on Saturday - Preston at home - let's get up for it!!
Cricket season is back! Our first game of the 2009 season was a friendly away to Palace Shield team South Shore. But despite an excellent workout on the sunny Fylde coast, the result was disappointing.
Darwen batted first with my mon Nathan and the returning Chris Lowe making his comeback after a 3 year absence with a grazed knee. Mr Angry looked in good touch until he 'bakerlood' a straight one. Old stager Cordingley joined
Lobo and the ex-Markington midweekers soon found their touch despatching the ball to all parts before the Cordingley charged and missed one for 40. Lobo carried on and soon retired on 53. JohnnyBoy soon followed after a heavy session with Emery the previous night.
This didn't hinder the afore mentioned plod who hit a few lusty blows. Niall edged and clonked a few while Gary blocked a few, the highlight being Gary's two pull shots which didn't get off the square. We finished on 190 off 40 overs a good score on a reasonable track.
Hampson resumed where he left off by bowling a good line and length and was unfortunate not to get a wicket. Captain Cook eventually found some rhythym in his Terry Gennoe run up. Cordingley and Polar Bear Paper took over and kept things tight with the former taking the first wicket. Emery then ran someone out and all looked under control with the Burke and Nathan given a whirl, until some big hitting off Gregor put the hosts in the box seat.
Greg found his range and took a couple of wickets with the debutant Alex Davies taking a stumping.
Lobo was on fire in the field and got 2 run outs. The experienced pair of Hammo and Cook were left to close out the game. Which was all going to plan until the last over of the day. With 14 needed the opposition captain took a liking to Cooky and dispatched him for 6 and 4. 1 run from one ball was the equation - as Cook came in to seal the game with a yorker - he delivered a BEAMER which was given as a no-ball and the game was lost. No wonder a pint of the finest ale was delivered to Cooky straight after the match by a thankful South Shore skipper.
All in all it was a good pre-season game in which everyone got a workout. With Kameron to return, and The Clarkes and The Horse back for the next game on Sunday at home to Farnworth the captain will have many different team selections to ponder.
