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The New Millennium (2000 - 2007) Nathan Astle returned for the 2000 season as the club made further progress up the table to ninth place with 144 points, having won 11 matches. Astle scored 812 runs at 47.8, including two centuries, and he also took 60 wickets at 13.0. Again he left prematurely, returning home in August for a New Zealand tour to Singapore. His replacement Tama Canning made such a good impression that he was offered terms when Astle had to pull out of a return in the 2001 season. A native of Adelaide, South Australia, Canning played for Western Australia before moving to New Zealand to play for Auckland. He scored 265 runs at 53.0 and he took 21 wickets at 16.5 in six matches. Skipper Mas Ahmed was again the leading amateur batsman, scoring 359 runs at 16.3. Matt Wilson (303 runs at 15.3), Steve Birtwistle (226 runs at 12.6), Mus Ahmed (225 runs at 12.5), Tariq Hussain (242 runs at 12.1) and Sajed Sadiq (162 runs at 14.7, including an unbeaten 72) offered the most support. Three bowlers took over 20 wickets; Damian Clarke (24 at 28.5), Steve Juliff (23 at 18.7) and Tariq Hussain (21 at 28.0) Big
disappointment Runs
galore but no success 65
year-old record goes The
Big Guy's Back Disastrous season The professional Tama Canning was a pale shadow of the player who had won eight matches off his own bat the previous season. Canning came late due to domestic commitments and when he arrived he brought with him a knee injury which would cause him to miss just two matches, but he was far from fit for some time into the season. Canning's statistics tell a sad tale. His 534 runs at 24.3 left only Haslingden's Pasan Wanasinghe behind him in the averages. Canning's 43 wickets at 29.2 were by far the most expensive of any professional with just one five wicket haul to show in a total of 376.2 overs. So it was hardly surprising that the team fared so badly. Accrington's sole league victories were back to back matches at the end of July against Nelson and Haslingden after 16 successive defeats. After coming so close against Enfield on the previous day, it looked to be the same old story as Accrington chased a target of 185 for that elusive first victory but cometh the hour cometh the man as Tariq Hussain took the match by the scruff of the neck with his side slipping to just 1 wicket from another defeat with 22 runs still needed off 9 balls. The all rounder hit Nathan Hauritz for successive sixes to bring the target down to 10 from 7 balls. Hauritz then bowled a no ball which Hussain dispatched for four, followed by another huge six to notch Accrington's first win in 11 months. The following Sunday at Thorneyholme Road Accrington celebrated a second successive win this time over defending champions Haslingden. Struggling at 54-4, the Wilson brothers led the fightback with skipper Matt returning to the fray to make an unbeaten 27 after having to retire hurt with a back injury. Adam Wilson made a career best 46, Graeme Sneddon 20, Andy Greenwood 20 and Mick Horsfield 11 to take the home side to 180. Zed Afzal then took 6-68 and Canning 4-51 as Accrington won at home for the first time since 18th July last year. Mohsin Ahmed finished as leading run scorer for the fourth season in a row, hitting 573 runs at 22.0, 39 more than Canning achieved, a fact even more remarkable because his season began with successive ducks. Mohsin has been a regular for four seasons, during which he has scored 2095 runs, a four year total only bettered by Graham Beech at his peak in the club's entire history. This is a superb achievement especially with the team struggling. Another star performer was Zahir Afzal, who hit 484 runs, including two half centuries, and he also took 30 wickets. Skipper Matt Wilson had his best season with the bat, hitting 474 runs at 26.3. Once he moved himself up the order, Wilson flourished. He also kept wicket after Adam Barnes stepped down. The return of Tariq Hussain brought some moments of brilliance from the talented all rounder. His match winning knock at Nelson and his half century at Werneth showed glimpses of his batting ability and his 8-44 against Lowerhouse was the best amateur bowling figures of the season. Hussain also took 8-98 against East Lancs but injury restricted his bowling and he finished with 37 wickets. His strike rate, 23.97, was the best of any amateur bowler. Only East Lancs professional Loots Bosman bettered this. Stuart Crabtree also showed some promise, his unbeaten 72 at Rishton was his best knock in a total of 249 runs but Graeme Sneddon's average of 9.8 from 216 runs is not a true reflection of his ability. Damian Clarke only had limited opportunities with the ball, but he managed a career best 6-45 at Burnley in taking 15 wickets at 32.1. New recruit Mick Horsfield also chipped in with 10 wickets. In the Worsley Cup, eventual winners Ramsbottom ended Accrington's interest in the first round. The club's best moments came in the Inter League Challenge Trophy with a second successive appearance in the quarter finals. The first round win at Walsden featured Canning's best performance of the season when he hit 94 in a 2nd wicket stand of 170 with Zahir Afzal, who hit an impressive 75 in a 3 wicket victory. A second round win at Werneth followed with half centuries from Canning and Tariq Hussain, but the most pleasing aspect was the contributions of youngsters Andrew Greenwood, Stuart Crabtree and Graeme Sneddon. Littleborough again proved too good in the quarter final as Accrington were defeated by the competition's eventual winners again. By stark contrast to Accrington's current failings, one former Accrington professional shone like beacon in the year that cricket became popular again thanks to the fantastic Ashes Series which proved to the the best in the games history. It is hard to believe now but it was 1991 when Shane Keith Warne had one season as professional at Accrington as a fresh faced inexperienced 21 year-old with just 1 First-class match behind him. At times Warne seemed to be playing against England on his own with him leading a constant rearguard action after his batsmen had been ripped out by England's potent attack. Warne made 249 runs, including 90 at Old Trafford but it was his 40 wickets at 19.9, including two ten wicket hauls, that confirmed his status as probably the best bowler of all time. Shetty and Dibber boost Boosted by the return of David Ormerod and the early season form of new professional Nishit Shetty, Accrington improved to ninth place in 2006 with nine victories. Returning to the club where he began as a junior, Ormerod became the leading amateur wicket-taker for the seventh time in the last eleven seasons. The medium pacer's total of 62 is the best by an Accrington amateur since Alan Worsick took 75 in 1971 and he is the first Accrington bowler since Worsick claimed 59 victims in 1984 to be the league's leading amateur wicket-taker. Rarely can a batsman have arrived on the Lancashire League scene with the impact that Shetty had. The Indian made a terrific start with exactly 500 runs from his first five league innings plus an unbeaten century at Norden in the Inter League Challenge Trophy and 88 in the Worsley Cup, finishing with 1159 league runs, including three centuries and six half centuries. Shetty began with a superb 155 in the opening day win against Colne and on May 6th he hit a brilliant 173, the second highest by an Accrington player, against Rawtenstall as Accrington smashed the record for their previous highest score, hitting 341-6 to erase a 93 year-old club record from the books. In all matches the Indian hit 1371 runs from 25 innings. He also took 47 league wickets plus 4 in the cups. Skipper Matt Wilson was the only amateur batsman to shine, equalling his personal best tally of 474 runs at 27.9 with two half centuries. Of the other batsmen, Graeme Sneddon hit 255 runs at 11.6, Zahir Afzal 232 at 12.9, Adam Wilson 221 at 13.8 with a career best 72 at Church, Mick Horsfield 203 at 12.7 and Stuart Crabtree 198 in the absence of Mohsin Ahmed who moved to rishton and then Great Harwood. The loss of all rounder Tariq Hussain for all but the 20/20 matches was also a major blow. Simon Hanson showed promise after making his senior debut and Waqas Ahmed had an extended run in the side. Special mention must be made of young wicketkeeper James Ormerod who bagged 29 victims which was a remarkable achievement in his first season in senior cricket and with little previous experience with the gloves. Afzal picked up 19 wickets at 34.2 and Damian Clarke had 11 victims at 23.8 with the ball. Yet another early exit from the Worsley Cup plus two completely rained off home games didn't help the finances, but the club enjoyed a couple of home games in the 20/20, narrowly failing to reach a money spinning semi final after an unexpected defeat by Church. Return of the bad times After an improved showing in 2006 the dark days returned both on and off the field in 2007 when Accrington finished bottom for the eighth time in the last 14 seasons. Off the field problems with finances put the club in the news when an EGM was called in June. In a season when the weather played havoc with cricket the full length of the country, Accrington had five matches called off without a ball being bowled. The first eight matches were lost before a victory at Rawtenstall stopped the rot. Captain Matt Wilson resigned and under new skipper David Ormerod, the club won four of its last nine matches to total six victories and 14 defeats, briefly climbing off the bottom after beating Burnley in September. Professional Nishit Shetty had a disappointing season. A mix up led to him missing the first three matches. Sub professionals Michael Papps and Mohammed Asif scored unbeaten centuries in successive days but both matches were lost. Shetty returned to form in the win at Rawtenstall with an unbeaten 152, but he only scored 651 runs at 40.7 and he picked up 35 wickets at 16.0 with a best of 7-88 against Lowerhouse. A freak injury in the field at Haslingden severely disrupted David Ormerod's season with the medium pacer missing for over two months. The return of Mohsin Ahmed didn't go smoothly with the opener also missing over a month of the season. Brian Heywood joined the club from Todmorden but he too missed many matches due to a variety of injuries. The success story of the season was another new signing, the left arm spinning all rounder Toby Bulcock who joined the club from Baxenden. The 17 year-old made a big impression as he scored most runs and took the most wickets. Bulcock hit 301 runs at 18.8 and he took 34 wickets at 22.9. His finest moment came in the home win against Enfield when he took a career best 7-66 after top scoring with a club best score of 38. Simon Hanson also impressed with 165 runs in a season that saw him opening both the batting and bowling. David Ormerod picked up 22 wickets at 26.0 from the 19 matches that he played but no other bowler reached double figures apart from Bulcock and Shetty. The batting also left much to be desired with Stuart Crabtree (193 runs at 12.1), Graeme Sneddon (162 runs at 8.5) showing only glimpses of their potential. Brian Heywood managed 135 runs at 15.0, Mohsin Ahmed 177 at 12.6, including an unbeaten 72 at Bacup and Matt Wilson 194 at 10.2 with a top score of 29. Injury also caused Adam Wilson to miss almost the entire season and limited availability restricted the appearances of Zahir Afzal to 9 matches. The club's appalling Worsley Cup record continued with a first round exit at the hands of Todmorden and all four 20/20 matches were lost.
Early
Days (1846 - 1890)
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