| Accrington Cricket Club | |||||||||||||
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Expansion And Lockdown (2014 - 2023)
Defending champions Accrington had to be content with a sixth place finish in 2014, winning fifteen and losing eleven in picking up 193 points. New professional Ockert Erasmus had a fine season scoring 977 runs at 61.1 with eight half centuries. Ten of his 26 innings were unbeaten. Erasmus also took 70 wickets at 16.6 with six five wicket hauls. In all matches he scored 1211 runs at 57.7 and he took 83 wickets at 15.7. The season began with a triple header. Following defeat in the LCB Cup 1st Round at Church on Good Friday, Accrington retained the Ron Singleton Colne Trophy with an 8 wicket home win over Burnley. Ramsbottom were despatched in style on the opening Sunday but a surprise defeat by East Lancs the following Saturday served as a reality check. Three successive wins took Accrington to the top of the table but following defeat in the Worsley Cup 1st Round by Lowerhouse, Accrington lost the leadership after defeat at Ramsbottom. Further losses to Church and Enfield saw Accrington drop out of contention although a fourth place finish was a possibility until defeat in the final home game by Haslingden saw the visitors clinch that spot. Sam Excell had an outstanding season with the bat, scoring 520 runs at 23.6 with three half centuries. Simon Hanson hit 456 at 19.8 with two half centuries and Ramiz Hussain hit 326 at 18.1. Skipper Stuart Crabtree's season was disrupted by an eight game ban which restricted him to 270 runs. Graeme Sneddon hit 251, Bryn Hargreaves 201 and Jacob Clarke 121. Matt Wilson claimed 24 victims and hit 169 runs. Graham Lloyd signed off with an unbeaten 95 against Rishton, hitting 216 runs at 54.0 before announcing his retirement due to his First-class umpiring duties. Jimmy Hayhurst had his best ever season with the ball taking 46 wickets at 18.8 with a best of 6-39 in the absence of David Ormerod who played just two matches due to a shoulder injury. Hanson also had his best season with the ball taking 30 wickets at 24.7, Clarke took 13 wickets and Hargreaves 8. The two outstanding individual performances by amateurs were both made by Accrington players in 2015. Jacob Clarke turned in figures of 8-35 at Todmorden on July 4th and seven days later skipper Graeme Sneddon hit 152 at Rishton. Sneddon's innings was the highest score by an Accrington amateur since Billy Ormerod hit an unbeaten 169 against Haslingden in 1905 and Clarke's figures were the best by an Accrington amateur since 1927 when Alec Jackson took 8-20 at Enfield. Accrington again finished sixth in 2015 winning fourteen and losing ten matches finishing with 179 points. Of the fourteen matches that Accrington won, professional Ockert Erasmus made a major contribution with the bat in nine of them, averaging 81.7 in making 735 of his total runs. Erasmus became the thirteenth Accrington professional to reach 1,000 runs in a season, making 1058 at 62.2 with two centuries and nine half centuries. Only Bobby Simpson (103.1), Ken Archer (93.0) and Eddie Barlow (62.5) have a better career average than Erasmus (61.7) of the club's regular professionals. Erasmus also took 70 wickets at 15.5 with five five wicket hauls, including 7-46 at Rawtenstall. The season began badly with only one of the first six matches ending in victory. The season turned with a nail biting win at Rawtenstall in the Worsley Cup with the club reaching the semi final after beating Bacup in the 2nd Round. The team's best spell began with a win over Ramsbottom but ended after the win at Rishton which was the sixth in a row in the league. The following day the club suffered a humiliating defeat at Nelson in the Worsley Cup semi final, being bundled out for just 51 just hours after piling up 316-5. New signing Keiren Grimshaw was the leading amateur run scorer with 410 at 21.6. Skipper Graeme Sneddon, who took charge in mid May, scored 400 runs at 19.0 with one half century added to his epic knock at Rishton. Former skipper Stuart Crabtree made 322 runs at 18.9, recovering his touch after an enforced break, Ali Hasham hit 246 at 14.5, Jon Hayhurst 192 at 17.5 with a senior best 58 against Rishton and Jimmy Hayhurst hit 128 at 14.2. Jacob Clarke emerged as an all rounder to be reckoned with, hitting 373 runs at 17.8 with two half centuries and taking 36 wickets at 18.7. Matt Wilson had his best season with the bat since 2008 hitting 314 runs at 14.3 and claiming 25 victims behind the wicket. Jimmy Hayhurst had his best season with the ball, taking 43 wickets at 18.2 with two five wicket hauls and David Ormerod picked up 31 wickets at 25.5. Keiren Grimshaw also chipped in with 8 wickets. Ockert Erasmus' third and final season at Accrington in 2016 saw the club drop down to joint eleventh place with seven wins, thirteen defeats and six No Results. Erasmus achieved two league bests during the 2016 season but overall it was a season of disappointment with a total of 624 runs at 31.2 with an unbeaten 112 in his final innings for the club against his former club East Lancs the highlight. Ockert's career best bowling figures of 8-21 against Bacup were the best of the season by any bowler. In all he took 45 wickets at 17.0 in his last season at Thorneyholme Road. The highlight of the season, which began with three defeats, was the win over Ramsbottom in August when Accrington became the only team to beat the club who would go on to become champions in the Lancashire League's final traditional season with fourteen clubs before it expands in 2017. Eighteen year-old Keiren Grimshaw was the leading run maker with 506 runs at 24.1 with four half centuries. Grimshaw also took 5-12 in the Worsley Cup defeat by Church which were the competition's best bowling figures by an amateur but he only took another 3 in the league. The club changed captains mid way through the season with Erasmus taking over from Graeme Sneddon. Jimmy Hayhurst took 27 wickets at 20.7, David Ormerod 20 at 21.0 and Jacob Clarke 17 at 27.5. Clarke also hit 260 runs at 11.8. Sneddon made 351 runs at 16.0 with one half century. Only three amateurs made half centuries, the other being Simon Hanson who made a promising start on his return from the professional ranks but then faded to finish with 237 runs at 11.3. He also took 7 wickets at 33.7. The Hayhurst brothers chipped in with the bat with Jon making 154 and Jimmy 125. Stuart Crabtree also made 136 runs in another suspension curtailed season. New wicketkeeper Alfie Taylor finished the season with 21 victims. The 2017 season saw the Lancashire League expand to 17 clubs with Clitheroe, Darwen and Great Harwood joining the 14 clubs who had competed unchanged against each other since the admission of Todmorden in 1897. The clubs played each other once in Phase 1 and then split into two divisions to play against the other clubs in the same division again. Accrington finished in thirteenth place in Phase 1 with four wins and eight defeats. A further four wins against one defeat in Phase 2 saw the club move up to third place in Division B, finishing with eight wins, nine defeats, one tie and five No Results in accumulating 124 points from 23 matches. Accrington signed South African Michael Erlank as professional and appointed a new captain in Simon Hanson. After an opening day wash out, Accrington won three of the next four games including an historic win the the first round of the Worsley Cup to end Burnley's five year unbeaten run in the competition. After narrowly beating Bacup in June, Accrington's next win in the league didn't come until July when Haslingden were beaten at Thorneyholme Road following a thrilling tie at Great Harwood the previous week. The club reached the semi finals of the Worsley Cup losing at Church. A reversal at Bacup was the only low point in Phase 2. Following the return home of Michael Erlank, the club engaged Bradshaw professional Sachithra Serasinghe for the remainder of the season. Serasinghe wrote himself into the club record books by hitting an unbeaten 171 in the win at Colne, putting together a club record 2nd wicket stand of 225 with skipper Simon Hanson (60) on August 20th. Victory over Great Harwood the following week was followed by two wash outs to end the season. Professional Michael Erlank hit 402 runs at 26.8 with an unbeaten 105 against Rawtenstall his only century. Erlank also took 24 wickets at 20.1 with a best of 4-25. Simon Hanson lead the way with 399 runs at 23.5 with two half centuries and 16 wickets at 22.7. Jacob Clarke took a match winning 7-43 against Great Harwood and 6-27 against Rishton in his haul of 34 wickets at 12.8. He also hit 206 runs including an unbeaten 56. Keiren Grimshaw hit two half centuries in making 341 runs at 20.1, Graeme Sneddon made 277 runs at 16.3 with two half centuries with new wicketkeeper Sam Bancroft (118 runs and 21 victims) and Alfie Taylor (104 runs) also chipping in. Jimmy Hayhurst took 21 wickets at 25.5, Ross Brown 10 wickets at 20.7 and David Ormerod 9 wickets at 26.0, including his 500th Lancashire League wicket for the club. At the end of the season Ormerod announced his retirement after a glittering career. With the Lancashire League expanding to 24 clubs in 2018 with the addition of Crompton, Littleborough, Middleton, Milnrow, Norden, Rochdale and eventual champions Walsden the battle was on to finish in the top half of the table to secure a place in the top division when the league splits in two in 2019. Led by new captain Ross Brown Accrington finished in tenth place with twelve wins and nine defeats. After the opening games were called off the Friday before the season was due to start following a long wet winter, Accrington won their first three league games to head the table in the first week in May. Defeats to Burnley in both Worsley Cup and league followed and Accrington slipped down the table with over a month in between wins over Littleborough and Rawtenstall. Four wins in the next five games included a victory over eventual LKO Cup winners Darwen and a win at Rishton where four amateurs - Grimshaw, Clarke, Graeme Sneddon and Jon Hayhurst hit half centuries. Victories over Milnrow, East Lancs and Bacup ensured a place in the top division for 2019. Keiren Grimshaw had an outstanding season, hitting 761 runs at 40.1, including an unbeaten 124 in the win at Enfield and 77 in the win at Darwen. Grimshaw also took 11 wickets. Jacob Clarke took a personal best 41 wickets at 16.9 and he also hit 313 runs at 16.5 with two half centuries. Professional Janith Liyanage had a consistent if unspectacular season, hitting 595 runs at 31.3 with two half centuries and taking 39 wickets at 15.2 with a best of 5-35 in the win over Great Harwood. Skipper Ross Brown took 39 wickets at 17.4 with a best of 6-15 in the win against Littleborough. Jimmy Hayhurst took 23 wickets at 22.2 and 16 year-old leg spinner Raheem Kasser took 13 at 15.9 in his first season at senior level. There were also solid contributions with the bat from Jon Hayhurst (281 at 14.1), Ramiz Hussain (216 at 12.7), Graeme Sneddon (175 at 13.5), Andy Greenwood (164) and Sam Bancroft who hit 172 runs at 14.3 and also claimed 32 victims behind the wicket. The club made history for the wrong reasons in 2019 by being the first Lancashire League club to be relegated from Division 1 in the new two league format of 12 clubs. The second team also suffered the same fate. A total of five matches were won in the league with fifteen defeats leaving the club rock bottom of the table with 79 points. Former Lancashire batsman Karl Brown was signed as professional. Brown then found full time employment which caused him to miss four Saturday matches. An unbeaten 104 in his final innings for the club took Brown on to 573 runs at 40.9 for the season. He also hit four half centuries and took just 7 wickets at 36.0. The season began with a narrow defeat at Rochdale. Three wins in the next four matches over Clitheroe, Lowerhouse and Darwen saw Accrington rise to a season's high of fourth place in mid May. Only two more matches were won in the league. Brown hit a match winning unbeaten 49 in the 250th Lancashire League meeting with Church at West End and three weeks later, Crompton were beaten at The Property Shop Arena. The club's early season success coincided with the form of Keiren Grimshaw who won the April/May Under 23 Player Of the Month Award. Keiren had an outstanding start to the season hitting 358 runs including four half centuries in all matches. Keiren also took a career best 5-48 in Accrington's win over Clitheroe. His bright start didn't continue and he finished with 416 runs at 26.0 and 13 wickets at 34.0. Only one other player made a half century, new opening batsman Tom Pettini who hit 182 runs at 18.2. Jacob Clarke made 279 runs at 21.5 and he also took 25 wickets at 20.0. Seventeen year-old leg spinner Raheem Kasser was the only player to appear in all 22 matches, taking 16 wicket at 27.0. Skipper Ross Brown took 23 wickets at 20.7 and he also hit 101 runs. Meeran Zia chipped in with 157 runs and Graeme Sneddon and Sam Bancroft both hit 126 runs. Bancroft also claimed 15 victims behind the wicket. Jimmy Hayhurst picked up 16 wickets at 21.2. The world-wide Coronavirus Pandemic led to the cancellation of the Lancashire League, Worsley Cup and 2020 competitions in 2020. When cricket was allowed to resume following a country-wide lockdown, a President's Cup competition was organised for first and second teams. The games were played in August and September over a seven week period. Clubs were allowed to play without professionals with games being reduced to 40 overs a-side. Graeme Sneddon resumed the captaincy with Accrington competing against local rivals Church, East Lancs, Enfield, Great Harwood and Rishton in President's Cup Group 2. Alice Clarke became the first woman to play in the first team in a Lancashire League related match when she played against Rishton in the Presidents Cup at Accrington. After beating East Lancs, who were penalised 6 runs for bowling their overs too slowly, and Great Harwood with Tom Walker taking 5-5, Accrington met joint leaders Church in a table topping clash at West End. Eventual competition winners Church won the match comprehensivly and from that point Accrington lost their remaining Group games to Rishton and Enfield and also an end of season friendly to Rawtenstall. Accrington also lost every match in the locally organised Hyndburn T20 Competition. The seconds did much better, reaching the semi final of the Junior Presidents Cup where they lost a tight game against eventual winners Clitheroe. Three sets of back to back wins coupled with thirteen defeats saw Accrington finish in eighth place in 2021. The season began with three successive defeats but Accrington did pick up 5 bonus points in the home games against Greenmount and Church. Following three successive no results it was the seventh league match of the season when a first win was achieved against Bacup. This was followed by another win at Rawtenstall with Stuart Crabtree hitting his maiden Lancashire League century. A Covid-19 outbreak at the club caused the home match against Nelson on June 13th to be postponed. Crabtree became the first Accrington amateur to hit two centuries in a season after scoring his second century in three innings in the fine win against Division 2 leaders Littleborough. Nelson were rolled out for a season's low 35 in the re-arranged fixture the following game. The second half of the season began with nine successive defeats. Back to back wins over the bottom two Nelson and Rishton broke the sequence but the season ended with a defeat at Littleborough. Professional Lasith Lakshan struggled but came good eventually with match winning performances against the bottom two. He finished with 424 runs at 28.3, including one century and two fifties and he also picked up 39 wickets at 14.2. Toby Bulcock was Division 2s leading amateur wicket taker with 47, including a league best 7-35 at Haslingden. Bulcock also hit 268 runs at 16.8. Stuart Crabtree was the club's leading amateur batsman with 414 runs at 31.8, including two centuries and one half century before injury ended his season. Tom Walker also had a fine all round season hitting 347 runs at 20.4, including his maiden senior half century and he also picked up 35 wickets at 20.0. Captain Graeme Sneddon hit 296 runs at 18.5, Andy Greenwood scored 199 at 16.6, Jon Hayhurst 160 at 9.4 and Riley Armstrong hit 100 at 8.3. Veteran wicketkeeper Matt Wilson added another 25 scalps and 192 runs at 12.0 to his tally and Jimmy Hayhurst took 11 wickets. Alice Clarke became the first woman to play in the Lancashire League when she played against Rawtenstall and Damian and Alice Clarke became the first father and daughter to play together in the Lancashire League match in Accrington's match at Nelson. Accrington included the first players to be borrowed on loan in the seconds Yanis Chir and Declan Metcalfe from Lowerhouse at Bacup on Sunday May 30th. History was made on the opening night of the 2020 Competition at Colne when Alice Clarke became the first woman to play in the competition and Len Dewhurst became the oldest at 59 years, 11 months and 26 days on Friday May 28th. With former amateur Jacob Clarke returning to the club in 2022 as professional Accrington finished in ninth place with 110 points from seven wins, a tie and thirteen defeats. Player availability was an issue with not one player playing in all 22 games. The first two games against Church and East Lancs were lost but three wins in a row against Colne, Enfield and Rishton put Accrington up to a seasons high fifth place. It would be another eleven games before Accrington won again with one of the games against East Lancs finishing in a tie. A second victory over Rishton was followed by a defeat to Bacup but the next three games were all won, including a 90 run win over eventual champions Littleborough. Clarke hit 611 runs at 30.6, including three centuries in four games at he end of the season. Clarke also took 35 wickets at 25.0 and had the honour of playing in the same team firstly with his sister Alice and later with both Alice and his father Damian at Nelson when he hit his second century. New signing Ben Gorton had a superb first season at the club scoring 767 runs at 36.5 with one century and seven half centuries. He also claimed 25 victims behind the wicket. Stuart Crabtree made 332 runs at 18.4 and skipper Graeme Sneddon hit 231 runs at 13.6. The Division's joint leading wicket taker with 42 at 14.4, including 7-24 in the win against Colne, Toby Bulcock, also hit 200 runs at 15.4 and Andy Greenwood scored 189 at 17.2, including his maiden Lancashire League half century in his 158th innings for the club. Another new signing Kian Farnworth hit 216 runs at 12.0 and he also took 19 wickets at 30.6. Jimmy Hayhurst hit 166 runs at 20.8, including his maiden senior half century and he also picked up 14 wickets at 14.1. Mohammed Tayyib also chipped in with 12 wickets at 15.5. An opening day win at Nelson in 2023 took Accrington to the top of the Division 2 table but that was as good as it got for the club who finished in eleventh place with five wins, fifteen defeats and two No Results. The highlight of the season was the first of two wins against Great Harwood when Mohammed Tayyib hit an unbeaten 35 from 17 balls to win the game by 3 wickets. Successive wins against Colne and Bacup in June took Accrington up to eighth but the club's second win against Great Harwood was the only win in the last twelve matches of the season. Professional Jacob Clarke had his best season with the bat, scoring 655 runs at 34.5, including one century and three half centuries. He also took 36 wickets at 23.7. Ben Gorton hit 661 runs at 41.3, including one century and five half centuries. Gorton also took 15 wickets at 54.5. Ali Hasham hit 230 runs at 17.7 on his return to the club, Andy Greenwood made 169 at 15.4 and skipper Graeme Sneddon 160 at 11.4. Stuart Crabtree missed most of the season with injury but returned to hit a half century at Colne in August. Kian Farnworth hit 199 runs at 12.4 and he also picked up 16 wickets at 33.2. Siraj Hussain took 14 wickets at 34.8 on his return to the club and David Ormerod took 8 wickets at 6.0, including a match winning 5-14 against Great Harwood.
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