Northern Club Cricket Round-Up - April/May 2012

Northern Club Cricket Round-Up - April/May 2012

Stephen Parry has been in fine form for Bootle in the Liverpool & District Cricket Competition.

©Action Images / Jason Cairnduff

Leek are the only unbeaten side in the North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Premier League and have a comfortable 24-point lead at the top of the table of second-placed Checkley. Last year’s winners Wood Lane are fifth behind Porthill Park and Checkley, while Little Stoke and Burslem occupy the two relegation positions.

Batting – Top three
1. Craig Spearman (Hem Heath) – 307 runs from seven matches
2. Shaun Jenkinson (Cheadle) – 270 runs from six matches
3. Richard Harvey (Stone) – 254 runs from six matches

Bowling – Top three
1. Greg Willott (Leek) – 30 wickets at 9.9
2. Asad Ali (Wood Lane) – 24 wickets at 11.75
3. Nayyar Abbas (Knypersley) – 22 wickets at 11

Player of the month: Greg Willott is third in the overall rankings and has 94.9 points. While this is mainly due to his outstanding start to the season with the ball, his innings of 62 not out at number six against Porthill Park shows his ability with the bat, and helped him to see off the challenge from last year’s Cricket World Club performer of the Year, Nayyar Abbas.

The newest of the 26 ECB Premier Leagues, the North Yorkshire & South Durham Premier Cricket League, is led by Darlington, who have won five and lost just one of their first seven games. Richmondshire are one of three unbeaten sides in the league – along with fifth-placed Great Ayton and eighth-placed Marton – but have suffered three washouts so trail the leaders by eight points. At the other end of the table, Stokesley are comfortably last, having lost six of their matches, and are joined in the relegation zone by Sedgefield at this early stage in the season.

Batting – Top three
1. Kasun Bodhisha (Hartlepool) – 232 runs from five matches
2. Paul Johnston (Middlesbrough) – 232 runs from five matches
3. Janaka Gunaratne (Normanby Hall) – 230 runs from four matches

Bowling – Top three
1. Kasun Bodhisha (Hartlepool) – 18 wickets at 10.94
2. John Barnes (Darlington) – 16 wickets at 10
3. James Beaumont (Stokesley) – 15 wickets at 10.4

Player of the month: With Kasun Bodhisha leading the way in both the batting and bowling charts, it is no surprise that he is the highest ranked player in the overall rankings with 92 points to place him sixth. The highlight of his season so far was his match against Billingham Synthonia on 7th May when he hit an unbeaten 119 from 145 balls and took six for 15 with the ball.

The Yorkshire Premier League is a closely contested affair, with Harrogate just six points ahead of joint second-placed sides Rotherham Town and Barnsley. Defending champions York are a further two points adrift, while Doncaster Town and Hull are yet to escape with anything other than a loss from their three completed matches and are joint last with just nine points. The leagues four unbeaten sides are Harrogate, Barnsley, fifth-placed Cleethorpes, and the seventh-placed Yorkshire Academy.

Batting – Top three
1. Aamer Sajjad (Driffield Town) – 454 runs from six matches
2. Jack Leaning (Yorkshire Academy) – 282 runs from five matches
3. Darren Harland (Scarborough) – 273 runs from five matches

Bowling – Top three
1. Tom Pringle (York) – 21 wickets at 12.9
2. Ryan Hercules (Barnsley) – 16 wickets at 13.06
3. Alex Osmond (Cleethorpes) – 15 wickets at 10

Player of the month: Tom Pringle is the top ranked Yorkshire Premier League player according to our overall rankings. He is ranked 61st and has 59.8 points, mainly thanks to his two five-wicket hauls against Driffield Town and Yorkshire Academy.

© Cricket World 2012