1st XI Match Reports
Burnley v Rishton, 20th June 2010
Report by David Brown
Burnley entertained Rishton in the Thwaites Original Lancashire League match and having won the toss for their third match of the weekend, Burnley elected to bat on a fast track and outfield with openers Daniel Pickup and Qasim Ali once again in sparkling form. The score board rattled on to 89 before the first wicket fell, that of Ali for 49, a hotly disputed dismissal that left a scorch mark on his shirt on his waist. He was far from happy but had given Burnley the start they were looking for. More drama was to follow at 92 when Burnley’s professional was allegedly stumped without leaving his crease. Was this to start a Burnley collapse the spectators were asking? It might well have been as Pickup (36) departed on 96. But with 27 overs to go, Burnley still had a chance to post a big score.
However, Rishton’s bowling tightened up as well as their fielding and runs became hard to acquire. Michael Kelly contributed 13 before he to was adjudged lbw when quite clearly he felt the ball had come off the bottom of his bat. Skipper Steve Brunt joined Bharat Tripathi and with a partnership well guided put on 33 runs which were to prove invaluable. Brunt (15) left the arena soon to be followed by Aidan Tate (3) but this brought Ehsan to the wicket to join Tripathi and runs began to flow once again with Ehsan taking 14 off one Hutchinson over. Tripathi was stumped for 32 off the erratic bowling of the Rishton professional, Agathagelou and with Ehsan (24) run out it was left for young Josh Whitehead and Graham Lalor to add the final few runs. The Ehsan/Whitehead partnership had complied 28 runs. Burnley finished on 197-9 off their allotted overs.
The Rishton innings started completely opposite to Burnley’s with only 17 on the board after 9 overs with 6 extras and one of the openers, Karl Andrews, not having scored. A four brought him some relief but was then clean bowled by Graham Lalor without adding further runs - his misery was over. One felt at this stage Rishton were not aware of the league rules as they prodded and poked about in the face of some very tight Burnley bowling backed by a spell of excellent fielding. Were they playing for a draw or bad light on a beautiful sunny evening? At 23-3 the game was surely there for Burnley’s taking.
An improvement was to follow by professional Agathagelou and Captain/Stumper Hamill who took the score to 77 before the Pro was out to a skier well taken by Stephen Brunt for 36. 77-4 soon became 85-5 with the dismissal of Patel (1) but again a spirited partnership and some indifferent Burnley bowling when Hamill was joined by Hacking took the score to 137-7 with some 16 overs to go. However with Capstick (4-46) and Bharat (3-55) wrapping up the Rishton tail with some 10 overs to go Burnley were home by a mere 10 runs. Lalor( 2-49) and Behardien (1-17) off only 8 overs backed by some wonderful fielding and Rishton’s inability to score runs at the beginning of the innings saw Burnley home to another 12 points.
Skipper Steve Brunt was quick to praise an all round team performance in all three weekend matches which saw his team unbeaten.
Enfield v Burnley, 19th June 2010
Report by David Brown
So to Enfield away in the Thwaites Original Lancashire league fixture. Burnley won the toss and decided to field first after their scare last week-end when they lost five cheap wickets. Opening bowler Graham Lalor struck early having the Enfield skipper back in the pavilion for one soon to be followed by having home Professional Adam Bracewell lbw for only 17 with the score on 51. Aneeq Hassan an ex-Burnley player soon followed after a sound 33 leaving the home side on 53-3. It did not get much better for Enfield as the visitors continued to dominate with excellent fielding and tight bowling. The last six wickets fell for 47,the evergreen Capstick getting in on the act with 4 wickets off his 13 overs having only conceded 18 runs. A truly remarkable effort. He was ably assisted by Lalor (3-38) and Bharat Tripathi(2-14) of eight overs. The home side finished on 110 all out having been despatched in the 43 rd over. Could Burnley finish off Enfield like they had done Todmorden on Thursday in the same quick style?
Daniel Pickup went for 5 with the score on 17 and Q.Ali (61) and Burnley Professional Behardien (33) saw them home inside 23 overs. Game over, 12 points in the bag, bring on Rishton on Sunday. Ali’s innings had 7 fours and 3 sixes in an 80 ball innings was part of the 94 run stand that saw the game through. What a revelation Ali has been this season, relishing in his opening position and looking every bit an accomplished batsman.
Accrington v Burnley, 8th May 2010
Report by David Brown
Burnley travelled to Thwaites Original 2009 League champions Accrington on the back of a defeat by Haslingden the previous week, looking for a more positive display.
Accrington, having won the toss, decided to bowl first and had their first success with the score on 17 when Daniel Pickup (5) was comprehensively bowled by Ormerod. This brought Jonathan Clare to the wicket, recuperating from injury, and having lost Q Ali (17) with the score on 47, he went on to compile a majestic 70 runs despite being dropped twice in the process. He took 7 fours and a six off the Accrington bowling whose overall fielding let them down. Burnley professional Behardien, who joined Clare, hit an highly entertaining 76 from 93 ball with 6 fours and a six taking the Burnley score on to 140-3 then to 205-3.This soon became 205-4,Chris Burton having quickly compiled 26 before being bowled by Accrington professional, Driver, who went on to take the wicket of Whitehead (10).The evergreen Ormerod, bowling unchanged throughout the Burnley innings, finished with highly creditable figures of 5-77 off his 25 overs. Burnley finished their 50 overs on 230-8.
When Accrington took to the wicket Graham Lalor had James Ormerod caught at slip by Clare off his first ball. However Accrington recovered in the shape of Simon Hanson and professional Will Driver who put on 122 in quick time, Driver's contribution being 65 (nine boundaries) and Hanson's 47. Capstick took the wicket of opener Hanson and Bharat Tripathi accounting for Driver. Hefty contributions from Crabtree (16) and Graham Lloyd (33) took the Accrington score within sight of Burnley’s but both fell to Tripathi. With Capstick nipping in with two quick wickets the game again swung in Burnley's favour, four wickets having been taken for the addition of only four runs. This brought David Ormerod and Clarke together with the score on 183-9 and full points were there for the taking. However, Burnley could not dislodge them and they were still together after 50 overs, thus gaining valuable batting bonus points for the champions and being only 19 runs short of victory. Tripathi finished with 4-69 off his 18 overs and Capstick 4-49 off his eleven overs.
A well deserved victory was Captain Brunt's comment after the match with everybody in the team playing their part. He was particularly pleased with the fielding performance of the team.10 points kept Burnley in third position in the league with the prospect of a home game to come against Colne. Surely a satisfactory start to the season for the chairman and the team?
Burnley v Colne, 9th May 2010
Report by David Brown
On what Steve Brunt described as a tricky wicket, Colne won the toss and decided to bat first in the Thwaites Original Lancashire League. What sort of decision was this for the Colne Captain as he saw his side collapse to the medium pace of Graham Lalor who finished with season best figures of 6-15 off 11 overs, five of which were maidens. Not to be outdone Tripathi and Michael Kelly finished with returns of 2-16 and 2-1 to see Colne all out for 59.Only two of their batsmen having reached double figures and the innings lasting only 27 overs. Did Burnley wish to watch their neighbours final game in the Premiership? One would have thought so as they took the field and lost three quick wickets for only 15 runs, the magic batting of Daniel Pickup and Q Ali having deserted them. However professional Faraan Behardien continued his good form with the bat and hit a breezy 43 to see the home side to a seven wicket victory in the 20th over and 12 well earned points in the bag. Substitute Colne professional Bothma finished with very creditable figures of 3-33 off his 10 overs. This left ample time for those who wanted to go next door and then return for a quiet double celebration!
Bacup v Burnley, 1st May 2010
Burnley v Haslingden, 2nd May 2010
Report by Steve Brunt
The weekend for Burnley’s 1st XI produced contrasting fortunes. On Saturday Burnley travelled to Bacup looking to build on their opening day victory. Asked to bat, they took full advantage of this decision. Openers Daniel Pickup (89) and Qasim Ali (82) both continued their prolific start to the season with both scoring 80s, Ali's coming off just 69 balls in an opening partnership of 128. If Bacup thought things would improve when Ali departed in only the 20th over they were to be disappointed as this brought Farhaan Behardien, Burnley’s professional to the crease. He powered a well constructed 94 off 75 balls with Steve Brunt chipping in with 20 to amass an imposing total of 321. In response Bacup never looked likely to challenge the total and ended up at 92-3 off 27 overs with the only real danger being the threat of rain which eventually ended play early. Michael Kelly (2-33) and Bharat Tripathi (1-29) got through 22 overs between them in an hour to make sure the result stood.
Sunday became an early season top of the table clash and Haslingden came out on top having had the better of the pitch conditions. Haslingden batted first and scored 139 all out having collapsed from 107-3 with Tripathi taking the honours with 7-28 off 17 overs and Behardien taking 1-22 and Graham Lalor 1-31 off 10 overs. This turned out to be a very good score and Burnley never got going, collapsing to a disappointing 70 all out having been 20 for none at one stage. Only three made double figures: Ali, Pickup and Behardien. Burnley will look to build on their early season form with a trip to defending champions Accrington on Saturday followed by Colne at home on Sunday.
Burnley v East Lancs Sunday 25th April 2010
Report by David Brown
Burnley opened their Thwaites Original Lancashire league season full of confidence after two wins in their pre-season friendly matches.
A team lacking three experienced players whom have sought pastures new and including youngsters Whitehead and Tate, opted to bowl after Steve Brunt had won the toss. After 9 overs the East Lancs total stood at 42-0 with both openers looking in confident mood taking runs with ease off the Burnley attack of new professional, 26 year old South African Farhaan Behardien and Graham Lalor. The rains then intervened and the noisy spectators moved next door to see the other Clarets against Liverpool. Farhaan must have wondered what was going on with such a large crowd for his debut.
When the teams returned after the downpour, Burnley turned to the ever reliable Bharat Tripathi and the flourishing opening partnership of Dave Pearson(33) and Minhaj Bhada (22)was broken with the score on 55. This was soon to be 60-2 when Tripathi struck again by bowling East Lancs. West Indian professional,Brendan Nash for one.A big wicket this if Burnley were to go on and bowl out the visitors.A fifty run partnership then lifted East Lancs to 119. But both John Turner (31) and Mark Lomas (18) fell to Tripathi,who at this stage had taken five wickets.
Michael Kelly then joined the act and took 3 wickets at a cost of 23 in four overs leaving Tripathi to take his sixth wicket, that of last man Redhead to finish with excellent figures of 6-34 off his 10 overs.The last three East Lancs wickets adding just one run as the visitors closed on 140 all out. Two bonus points were in the bag.
Openers Qasim Ali and Daniel Pickup then took the East Lancs bowling apart as rain again threatened and a partnership of 127 saw Burnley almost to their target. Both openers fell at this figure but without further loss, Behardien (12) and wicketkeeper Chris Burton (2) saw Burnley home to a comfortable 12 points winning start. Ali’s innings of 87 contained twelve fours and two sixes in an 89 ball innings, with fellow opener Daniel Pickup(33) contributing a sound innings.
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