St Annes Cricket Club complete clean sweep in Fylde coast group

Tom Higson’s St Annes made it four wins out of four in the elite Fylde coast group following victories over Northern League rivals Blackpool and Fleetwood, Lytham of the Liverpool Competition and finally Thornton Cleveleys of the Palace Shield.

There was no prize for winning the group but St Annes were able to display the Gazette Trophy, which they traditionally contested annually with derby rivals Lytham and revived to add spice to last week’s match.

Thatwas a thriller which St Annes won by three runs, though a valiant Thornton Cleveleys side gave them fewer problems.

The visitors were put in at Vernon Road and laboured for 34.3 overs for 89 as captain Higson took 5-14 from his eight overs.

His victims included wicketkeeper/opener John Eade, who was Thornton’s top scorer with 17.

Higson then wasted no time in completing proceedings, scoring 42 in a solid opening stand with Nathan Bolus, who finished 25 not out.

After taking seven Blackpool wickets the previous week’s stunning victory, Jake Apperley had to settle for one this time, though he was the only TC bowler to enjoy success as the other two wickets were run-outs.

St Annes, who have also won their T20 group, maintained their unbeaten start to the season by reaching 90-3 in 19.2 overs.

Blackpool were without a fixture but held on to second place on runs-per-wicket, even though Fleetwood drew level with them on eight points courtesy of a five-wicket win over Lytham.

Lytham chose to bat at Broadwater and were up against it at 36-3, when Guy Roberts arrived and steadied the ship with 37 from 67 balls.

But after James Amor had dismissed Lytham’s top three and Mike Clinning removed three more, Lytham could only muster 117-9.

Fleetwood reached their target with 5.2 overs remaining and with five wickets in hand. Coming together at 82-5, captain Adam Sharrocks and James Gregson saw the hosts home.

The skipper contributed a patient 21 not out, while Gregson’s unbeaten 23 off 26 balls included two sixes. There were a couple of wickets for Lancashire’s Toby Lester.

The Fylde coast clubs now go their separate ways for the second group stage to be played over the next three Saturdays. Each team will face a similarly-placed club from each of the other level one groups.

Winners St Annes will be joined in their next group by Garstang (group B runners-up), Leyland (group C winners) and Morecambe (group D runners-up).

Other level one groups for stage 2:

Blackpool, Fulwood and Broughton, Chorley, Netherfield

Fleetwood, Great Eccleston, Eccleston, Lancaster

Lytham, Longridge, Euxton, Kendal

Thornton Cleveleys Preston, Kirkham and Wesham, Vernon Carus, Penwortham

Other results

Level 1 Group B: Fulwood and Broughton 143-9 beat Longridge 142-7 by one wicket, Great Eccleson 66 (J Davies 27, M Yusuf 5-18, F Ughradar 3-6) lost to Garstang 67-0 (M Wellings 32no, M Walling 30no) by 10 wickets, Preston 194 (S Sai 42, A Harrison 3-32) beat Kirkham and Wesham 181-9 (J Hogarth 52, SIM Patel 4-19) by 13 runs. Group winners : Fulwood and Broughton (20 points).

Group C: Chorley 58-2 beat Vernon Carus 56 by eight wickets, Eccleston 195-5 lost to Penwortham 196-7 by three wickets, Leyland 152-4 beat Euxton 147-6 by five runs. Group winners: Leyland (18)

Group D: Kendal 183 beat Lancaster 141-8 by 42 runs, Netherfield 177-6 beat Morecambe 173-9 by four wickets. Group winners: Netherfield (16)

Level 2 Group A: Fylde 130-9 (B Anderson 22, A Bradley 3-32) lost to St Annes 2 131-4 (A Drake 45, A Bradley 34) by six wickets, Lytham 2 172 lost to Fleetwood 2 204 by 32 runs, South Shore 65-3 (L Jardine 35no) beat Great Eccleston 2 60 (A Mehmood 5-15, D Knight 3-11) by seven wickets. Group winners: South Shore (16)

Level 3 Group A: Grimsargh 88 lost two Whittingham and Goosnargh 168 by 80 runs, Thornton Cleveleys 2 98-6 (J Vincent 33no) beat Ingol 97 (J Goodin 43) by six wickets, Wrea Green 112 (J Jones 20)lost to Blackpool 3 114 (S Kazmi 34, D Hetherington 4-22, S Laycock 3-17) by two runs. Group winners: Whittingham and Goosnargh (20)

Level 4 Group A: Norcross 101-5 (L Parry 30, D Smith 3-14) beat Fylde 2 100-5 (W Smith 38 no, I Ali 36) by five wickets, Wyre 57 (J Hargreaves 34, M Iqbal 4-10, T Zamane 3-5) lost to South Shore 2 69 by 12 runs (T Rawcliffe 4-13, S Rawcliffe 3-2). Group winners: Wyre (12)