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THE MODERN ERA 1970‑1991 By Alan West
1970 was Blackburn Northern's year again, the championship giving them their fifth major trophy in six seasons. Settle won the Ramsbottom Cup, their first trophy for 18 years; it was to be another14 years before the next one came along. 1971 saw yet another double, the fourth in five seasons this time to Whalley who had been in the top four only once in the, previous seventeen seasons. With Alec Anderson as captain and Geoff Hall as professional it all, came down to the last weekend of the season. Blackburn Northern were dispatched on the Saturday with 76 from Neil Duckworth. The Sunday opponents were Earby, only three points behind Whalley. With Whalley 50‑7 it looked hopeless but somehow a total of 111 was painstakingly reached, leaving Earby only 65 minutes to score the runs. In the rush Earby could only manage 60‑7, Geoff Hall taking 6‑15. The double was won and Earby finished league runners up. The Ramsbottom Cup Final earlier had been Gordon Topham's match. His 62 helped Whalley to 165 and came in whirlwind style: 7 sixes and 3 fours, the 50 coming up in 28 minutes. And he completed the win with 6‑44 in Blackburn Northern's total of 125. Much of the credit for Whalley's sudden improvement was put down to the professional who came from Wakefield every Friday to lead the practices. Commanding fashion Amazingly the double was performed again in 1972 and in the most commanding fashion imaginable. Read beat Whalley in the Cup Final by 9 wickets, five wickets each for John Waddington and Paul Tatton. And the league title was wrapped up with five matches still to go, the eventual margin over Blackburn Northern a massive 22 points, Read becoming the fourth team to win the title without losing a match. By now the professional was Alan Worsick. With virtually the same team it was no surprise when Read retained the championship in 1973, the first side to do so since the Blackpool Services team 30 year's earlier. Alan Worsick was again a major factor with 86 wickets at 7.6 each. Peter Fairclough chipped in with 485 runs. But for once there was no double. The Cup went to Padiham for the first time in a low scoring match at Marshfield. Settle were dismissed for 72, three wickets each for Brian Shirtcliffe and Malcolm Heyworth, Padiham got home with five wickets to spare, the joint highest score of the day, 19, coming from another Padiham youngster who was to give yeoman service in the league, most notably as the Earby professional, Stephen Gee. It was the long serving Earby professional of the day who had the individual performance of the season: Malcolm Dennett with 10‑18, all caught, against Cherry Tree. Revitalised It was back to double performances for 1974 and 1975 making it a remarkable seven doubles in the first eleven years of the revitalised Ramsbottom Cup. Out of the blue, the 1974 double went to Barnoldswick, who since their last championship in 1956 had come in the top four only once. It was the start of a sequence of successes which made them the major force in the league for the next twelve years; in that period they had four championships and seven Ramsbottom Cup wins, including two doubles in 1974 and 1985. And it began so inauspiciously. At the start of the 1974 season, Martin Greenhalgh was discovered to be unavailable and the signed professional could not fulfil his contract. A replacement was found in the 21 year old Bernard Reidy, just beginning to make his mark at Old Trafford and destined, after his Lancashire career was cut short, to become one of the most effective professionals in post war league cricket in the North West. In 1974 he contributed 497 runs and 47 wickets and the amateurs gave solid support under the leadership of new captain Graham Whipp: Keith Wilson (565 runs), Jim Roberts (38 wickets), Peter Pickup (67 wickets). Individual performance of the year was another 10 wicket haul from a professional, this time 10‑37 from the new Clitheroe professional Roland Gee against Baxenden; he started his new engagement with a not out century and finished with most league wickets (82). And Read provided publicity for the league and excitement for their followers by making the last eight of the Haig National Village Trophy, going out to the eventual winners, Bormarsund. 1975 was regarded by many Barlickers as an even better season with third place in the league, runners up spot in the Cup and a memorable day at Old Trafford in the Harp Lager Lancashire Cup Final against Blackpool. But the coveted double went to Read, who avenged their narrow Ramsbottom Cup Final defeat at the hands of Barnoldswick the previous season, and pipped Great Harwood by three points for their seventh league title, their third in four seasons. Remarkably they were by now without a professional; no other side has ever won the championship without a professional. The mainstays of the batting were David Hindle (505), Mike Ranson (433) and David Rigby (360) and the wickets were shared between John Waddington, Frank Newby, Richard Goodway and Mike Ranson. Great Harwood under a young David Edmundson kept the championship battle alive until the very last match. They beat Padiham but Read had won too against Whalley to stay three points ahead, thanks to 8‑39 from Richard Goodway and 52 not out from a young second teamer who was to become a first team stalwart and captain, Steve Rushton. The Lewis Cup was Great Harwood's first trophy since the championship of 1900 and due in no small measure to Keith Barker their West Indian professional: 719 runs and 63 wickets. The feat was repeated the following year, the Lewis Cup for runners up won jointly with Barnoldswick. Fourteenth title The 1976 champions were Whalley, their fourteenth title. Jim Rudd back from a brief career at Blackburn Northern contributed 49 wickets and Ken Snellgrove, the former Lancashire batsman, added 857 to the 961 runs he had made the previous season. Player of the season though, was the Baxenden Pakistani professional Ibrahim Elahi who topped the league's batting with 961 runs at an average of 73.97 and included in his 53 wickets, 10‑35 against Read. Great Harwood, were again runners up, Keith Barker still an influence with 436 runs and 52 wickets, but their premier batsman was a new phenomenon, not seen since the pre‑war days at Blackpool: the overseas amateur. Roger Woolley, a young Tasmanian later to keep wicket for Australia, took the league batting prize with 544 runs at 36.3. His 1977 performance went one better with the batting prize won again with 660 runs at an average of 60.0. In 1977 rivals Barnoldswick and Earby took the senior honours: Barnoldswick the league champions with a five point advantage over Cherry Tree and Earby the Ramsbottom Cup beating Read in the final. It was a good year for batsmen. Michael McLeod of Burnley, the Padiham professional, scored 1045 runs, a season's total second only at that time to Leslie Warburton's 1356 in 1949. Blackburn Northern professional Tudge set a record individual total of 165 not out against Read which beat the 42 year‑old record of Wilf Davies but was to last only a season. And three times the match aggregate record of 466 runs was in danger. Padiham and Settle were only 2 runs short in the Ramsbottom Cup (Padiham 274‑7, Settle 217). Two league matches finished in the 460's. Baxenden 229‑4, Cherry Tree 231‑4 and Read 229‑7, Blackburn Northern 232‑4. For the fourth successive season Roland Gee, the Clitheroe professional, took most wickets, making a total for the four seasons of 288 wickets. It was Barnoldswick and Earby again in 1978 but this time the other way round. Earby won their sixth league title with 547 runs from Ian Clarkson and 57 wickets from professional Alan Sharpe. And for the second time in three years Barnoldswick beat Earby in the Ramsbottom Cup Final. Philip Sant of Settle won the league batting prize and was top scorer for the season with 756 runs, including a league record 172 against Blackburn Northern. Despite all professional David Bonner's efforts, 640 runs and 61 wickets, Cherry Tree slipped down to ninth in the table. Casting vote Read took their fourth league title of the 1970s in 1979 after being runners up in their centenary season the year before. Professional Barry Curtin from Australia contributed 574 runs and 22 wickets whilst Steve Rushton made 448. Richard Kawalec's 50 wickets at 11.2 won the league bowling prize. And Richard Goodway was named League 'Player of the Year. Earby beat Read in the Ramsbottom Cup Final to foil them in their attempt at a third double in eight years. The 1979 season saw the introduction of new playing rules and the much maligned winning draw. Various attempts to introduce overs cricket at the AGM's over the previous few years had come close to success, most notably in 1977 when votes were tied and only the President's casting vote preserved the status quo. At the league meeting in December 1978 the details were worked out of a system which would not mean straight overs cricket but would ensure some kind of result for every match. For this first season, the only overs restriction was 40, 8 ball overs for the side batting first. There would be 5 points for a win, 3 points for the side with the better run rate in a drawn game and 1 point for the side with the lesser run rate. Eventually there would be a set number of overs for each side and for a brief period the reward for a win was increased to 6 points. The system was to last until a straight win or lose system was finally introduced for the 1991 season. The 1980s began with another near double. Baxenden, beaten by Whalley in the Ramsbottom Cup Final, went on to pip Earby by three points for their second championship title after an 18 year gap. Kevin Lace with 483 runs at an average of 40.25 took the league batting prize and with 28 wickets, took most wickets along with professional Paul Allott, whose blossoming career at Old Trafford restricted his contribution to 114 overs. Within a year, of course, he was performing heroically for England against Australia. Roland Gee, back in the league as Padiham professional, almost inevitably captured most wickets in the season 69. Level on 636 runs in the season were Mike Chapple of Earby and Malcolm Dennett, now back at Ribblesdale Wanderers as professional. Back to prominence Yet again there was a near double in 1981. Blackburn Northern after a desolate few years sprang back to prominence as runner's up to Barnoldswick in the Cup and as league champions, six points clear of Read. David Parsons the professional had 90 wickets, second in the league averages behind his colleague Peter Jones, whose 23 wickets cost only 8.9 runs each. 500 runs was exceeded by a young David Pearson and Bernard McNulty. 224 runs were contributed by Ian Folley, recruited from his home club of Padiham, and soon to join Lancashire where his fast medium bowling would be converted to left arm spin. Another past Padiham player Stephen Gee, had gone to Earby as professional and in his first year amassed 913 runs, a club record aggregate which he increased to 955 the following year. The record lasted until Earby's glory year of 1991 when the young Australian amateur, John Rainger, became the first Earby player to pass the 1,000 run mark. After many years of doubles and near misses, honours were spread around in 1982. Earby beat Blackburn Northern by one point for the championship. On the last day of the season Blackburn Northern could only manage one point in a tense match against Whalley when the scores finished level. Barnoldswick retained the Cup by beating Whalley in the Ramsbottom Cup Final. For Earby, in addition to Stephen Gee's 955 runs there were all round efforts by Mike Chapple (459 runs and 30 wickets) and the double winning skipper Stephen Hipgrave (301 runs and 22 wickets). Peter Jones of Blackburn Northern again topped the league bowling with 45 wickets at 11.1, this time with enough wickets to take the bowling prize. Most prolific wicket taker was the Clitheroe professional Andrew Townsley with 86. And outshining even Gee's 955 in the batting averages was Aftab Baloch's 1213 (average 71.35) for Great Harwood. The league batting prize, reserved for amateurs, went to Read's Mick Georgeson (646 runs at 30.8). Sponsorship The league became the Thwaites Ribblesdale League for 1983 and the following three seasons, as sponsorship was acquired for the first time. Barnoldswick, Cup winners the two previous years and in the top four in the league for the previous four seasons, won their fifth championship. Trevor Franklin, called up to join the New Zealand tourists, was replaced as professional by Barry Wood of Lancashire and England and by Ian Callan of Australia. Few teams can boast three Test players from different countries as professionals in a single season. There was good support from Richard Bedford, Keith Wilson, Barry Grave and Martin Greenhalgh, who took the league bowling and fielding prizes and added 362 runs for good measure. Clitheroe were eventually pipped by one point. On the last day of the season starting on equal points, Clitheroe could only draw against Padiham while Barnoldswick made short work of Whalley (Trevor Franklin 42, Martin Greenhalgh 5‑41). In 1984 Barnoldswick won a major trophy for the fourth successive year, beating Settle in the Ramsbottom Cup Final and thus depriving Settle of the coveted double. Settle's league title, the sixth in their history, was the first for 32 years and quite a turn around after being bottom of the table the previous season. Don Weavers, the former club professional, made 518 runs and took 62 wickets as amateur, taking the league bowling prize and the Player of the Year Trophy, and Kevin Sample, the new professional contributed 48 wickets and 224 runs. With 486 runs from Stephen Andrews and 324 and 20 wickets from David Scothern, the two wins and ten defeats of 1983 became eight wins and only three defeats in 1984 and Barnoldswick were beaten by 4 points. The league batting prize went to young Craig Smith of Cherry Tree with 740 runs at 49.3; he was later to score a rare 1,000 runs in a season in the Lancashire League for Rishton and join the professional ranks with Blackrod in the Bolton Association. Stephen Gee topped 900 yet again at Earby, as did young New Zealander Stephen Robertson. Most wickets were taken by Hugh Page, a tall South African, who replaced Snellgrove as professional at Whalley and was later to play for Essex. Reidy returns 1985 was Barnoldswick's fifth successive year at the top, this time winning the double of Cup and League. Bernard Reidy who had returned after a successful Lancashire career to be the Barnoldswick professional again in 1984 was once again the star. 724 runs and 44 wickets in the 1984 league season was followed by 771 runs and 62 wickets in 1985. Barry Grave contributed 361 runs and the Scothern family as always played their part ‑ Ian hitting 415 runs and Michael, who went on to play as a professional in the Bolton Association, taking 46 wickets and winning the league bowling prize. The double did not in fact come until April 1986, the Ramsbottom Cup Final against Padiham being postponed because of the weather. Settle maintained their form coming second in the league seven points behind the leaders but a massive 18 points ahead of Whalley in third place. Kevin Sample, the Settle professional, topped the bowling with 64 wickets at 9.7 followed by Whalley's new overseas professional Laxman Sivaramaktishnan, who despite the unfamiliar cold weather and an early departure managed 51 wickets in only 221 overs. South African David Norman, the new Clitheroe professional had most wickets, 79 including 10‑44 against Great Harwood, the first 10 wicket haul for nine seasons. Yet again Stephen Gee of Earby had most runs with 824. The batting prize went to a 20 year‑old Peter Bowler of Baxenden, who went on to play for Derbyshire and Somerset. Yet another double was recorded in 1986; this time it was Clitheroe's turn under the captaincy of Billy Slinger. Their new 19 year‑old professional Ian Austin had a magnificent season, with 975 runs and 55 wickets. The Australian amateur Grant Jordan, who was to take over as professional the following year, added 768 runs. The championship was a close run thing all season. The final Saturday arrived with three clubs still in contention: Clitheroe 74, Earby 71, Whalley 70. Clitheroe took 3 points from a winning draw against Barnoldswick, Grant Jordan signing off as an amateur with 134. But Earby could only manage three points too against Settle to finish runners up. Whalley had the worst of a draw against Great Harwood to finish third. But the Ramsbottom Cup Final was the most one sided ever. The old enemy Ribblesdale Wanderers, in their first final were all out for 101 (Man of the match Rod Booth 4‑18) and Clitheroe knocked off the runs without loss with overs to spare ‑ Grant Jordan 63 not out, Keith Fawcett 33 not out. The professional did not even get to bat. With Clitheroe's 2nd XI taking the Division One title for the second time in three years, it was a vintage year at Chatburn Road. Rick Darling, the Australian Test player, was Whalley's new signing. His 1196 runs, including a league record eight successive scores of 50 plus, put him third in the all time list and helped put Whalley into third spot. His sequence is worth recording: 89*, 84, 119*, 73, 116, 70*, 93, 69, (713 runs at an average of 142.6). League runners up were Earby, for whom Stephen Gee continued to pile up runs and wickets ‑ 809 and 37. Kevin Hayes, having finished a distinguished career at Oxford University as captain of both cricket and soccer, was by now on the Lancashire groundstaff and resumed his Ribblesdale League career for what was to be a very productive four years. At Read and then back at his home club of Cherry Tree he amassed what was to be for him the modest total of 733 runs at an average of 104.7, the first average of over 100 since Les Warburton in 1949. Hartley, the Padiham professional had a golden day against the champions Clitheroe: 9‑80 and 59. The Padiham amateur batsman A. Bhattie achieved the rare feat of two successive centuries. First championship 1987, the first year of Whitbread sponsorship, saw a first championship for Cherry Tree with Kevin Hayes nearly repeating his 100 average (99.6 for 697 runs over 13 innings) and Bob Ratcliffe, former Lancashire player and Padiham and Settle professional, contributing 546 runs and 47 wickets as an amateur. Skipper John Swanney, who had taken the league batting prize the previous season, made 591 runs. The winning margin over Barnoldswick was a massive 17 points and Cherry Tree became the fifth team to win the title without a defeat. It was nearly another double but Cherry Tree kept up their consistent habit of losing Ramsbottom Cup Finals, this time to the holders Clitheroe. It was another commanding cup performance by Clitheroe. Cherry Tree were restricted to 133‑8 and 'Man of the match' Mick Dewhurst, hit 83 not out of Clitheroe's 134‑2. This time there were eleven overs to spare. Neil Bradshaw, later to be professional at Cherry Tree, had a magnificent season as Read professional , every home match producing at least 50 runs, his eventual aggregate 1167. Clitheroe continued their winning ways in 1988 with a third successive Ramsbottom Cup which made it four trophies out of six for the years 1986‑8. Cherry Tree were again the unfortunate victims, their third losing final in six years. The league season was set for a good finish with Earby and Blackburn Northern, the contenders, matched on the final Saturday. Not for the first time in the league's history, rain intervened and Earby's two point advantage remained. 1989 was the year of the batsmen, the race for the league championship was close, Cherry Tree eventually pipping Blackburn Northern by one point to take their second title in three years. Professional Kevin Hayes finished his Ribblesdale League career before moving to the Bolton League as an amateur by emulating Les Warburton's feat of 1,000 runs in a season twice. His 1138 runs came at an average of 7 1. 1. Another Australian ‑ Derek Bennett was Kevin Hayes' main support in the Cherry Tree batting with 899 runs along with Kevin's brother David (349), Jonathan Sutcliffe (433) and Mark Veevers (306). Phil Mercer and Peter Benson were the main wicket takers. Neil Bradshaw, the Read professional, also passed the 1,000 mark for a second time, scoring 1004 runs to add to his 1167 in 1987. Anxious to replace Kevin Hayes, Cherry Tree signed up Bradshaw for the following season. But top of the batting averages and just short of the thousand mark was an Australian amateur, John Mitchell of Blackburn Northern who returned as professional the following year. Yet another batsman to pass the 900 mark was Roger Watson, the new Whalley professional, who helped take his team to Ramsbottom Cup success. The Cup Final at Church meadow had the most remarkable of finishes. Whalley had made a confident 206‑3 batting first, 55 from young skipper John Wharton and 75 not out, including 6 sixes, from Paul McIntosh. Padiham with 51 from Stephen Gee had reached 205‑6 when Brian Brown walked up to bowl the final over, the over of his life. Two runs to win and four wickets left. The first two balls produced no runs, the third a wicket, thanks to a leaping catch by the tall Mark Fallon. The fourth ball produced an LBW. The fifth produced a run at last but going for a second winning run the batsmen did not allow for the throwing accuracy of John Wharton ‑ another wicket down, run out! One ball left and the score now 206‑9 so Padiham, having lost more wickets than Whalley, needed a run to win. But Brian Brown produced the best ball of the over to bowl Alistair Woods and incredibly, Whalley had done it. And perhaps not surprisingly in this season of high scores, the record for a match aggregate set in 1925 at 481 runs was beaten in one match and nearly equalled in another. 501 runs were scored for the loss of only 14 wickets at Read ‑ Read 252‑4, Earby 249 all out. 478 runs were scored at Cherry Tree for even fewer wickets ‑ Cherry Tree 240‑3, Great Harwood 238‑4. And Great Harwood came close to the league record for an innings total and certainly set a new mark for limited overs with 292‑3 in 45 overs against Barnoldswick. But Peter Grainger, the Read wicketkeeper, managed to join the select list of those who have claimed six victims in a match, the only one to have them all caught. Whalley walk title No close finish to the league programme of 1990. Whalley were top for most of the season and finished 17 points clear of Ribblesdale Wanderers in second place. Roger Watson, still the professional, led the way with 753 runs and 40 wickets, well supported by Mark Fallon, league 'Player of the year' for his 591 runs and 35 wickets: skipper John Wharton with 381 runs and deservedly named Fieldsman of the Year for a second successive season; Paul McIntosh; South African amateur Leon De Villiers, Brian Brown and Tony Wright. Cherry Tree kept up their record of losing Ramsbottom Cup Finals, this time at the hands of Great Harwood who had waited 90 years to win a major trophy. Not quite the exciting finish of the previous year once Paul Houldsworth had ripped through Cherry Tree's middle order with 5‑35 to win the 'Man of the match' award, but with over 400 runs scored and only 8 runs separating the sides, the game lived up to the occasion. Mr Robert Atkins, MP for South Ribble and Minister of Sport, as well as BBC Radio Lancashire match commentator, presented the trophies. The semi final between Cherry Tree and Earby had produced a record aggregate and a record individual score. Cherry Tree made sure of a place in the final with 349‑6 off their 48 six ball overs, 208 to Australian amateur Craig Haworth and 94 to professional Neil Bradshaw. Earby's reply of 284 all out in 42 overs would have won most games (Nigel Pickles 125, Andrew Pickles 54 not out). An aggregate of 633 runs in 90 over. Batsman of the year was a popular young Australian amateur, Earl 'the Duke' Eddings, who began his career at Padiham with a whirlwind 115 off 54 balls, including 12 sixes and 5 fours and proceeded to amass a league amateur record total of 1187 runs, beating Joe Massey's 1130 for Blackpool in 1937. It included an amazing 70 sixes. He might have set an individual highest score if the Padiham innings against Barnoldswick had not been declared when he was 160 not out (off 98 balls with 10 sixes). Another young Australian amateur, Glenn Mills of Blackburn Northern, produced the bowling performance of the season with 10‑25 in 17.3 overs also against Barnoldswick. Outstanding all time performance The 1991 season produced the outstanding club performance of the league's history. Earby, already double winners three times since the fully fledged Ramsbottom Cup was introduced in 1965 and once before that, did the double yet again and mopped up too, the double of Division One Championship and Lawrenson Cup in the Junior League, a feat unparalleled in the Ribblesdale or any other league surely. Stephen Hipgrave led a young side to the senior successes, (apart from veterans Mike Chapple and Michael Wiseman) including three Pickles brothers, Nigel, Stephen and Andrew; 17 year old Glen Chapple, son of Mike and who went on to play for Lancashire; and a new professional in Preston born Manoj Parekh who took 64 wickets opening the bowling with his spinners; and Australian amateur John Rainger whose 1035 runs earned him the league batting prize. Whilst Parekh was missing with a sprained shoulder, Bernard Reidy returned from the Bolton League to replace him in the Ramsbottom Cup Final and play as always a crucial all round part which secured Earby the trophy. Nigel Pickles was 'Man of the match' and Craig Haworth, by now Great Harwood professional and captain, found himself for the second year running on the losing side. And despite a lot of rain, batting records continued to fall in 1991. On the first day of the season, Peter Sleep the Australian Test all rounder came from Rishton to replace Gary Yates as Ribblesdale Wanderers' professional for the day and with David Cottam put on an opening stand of 294 which smashed the 44 year‑old league record. Sleep made 167, itself the second best individual score in a league match, and Cottam 111 not out. On the same day Craig Haworth made 165 not out at Barnoldswick to start his career as Great Harwood skipper and professional in fine style. Later in the season the match aggregate record set in 1989 was convincingly beaten with Read again involved. 534 runs were hit in the day: Barnoldswick 284‑4 (Chris Killen, another Australian professional, 132 not out), Read 250‑7 (Killen 7‑99). That was not the fiery Australian’s only glory day. Against Ribblesdale Wanderers he had 115 and 7‑34. The Ramsbottom Cup again produced a mammoth knock, Wayne Phillips, Cherry Tree's Australian amateur scoring 170 in a record total of 3607 against Burnley Belvedere from Division One. For only the second time in the league's history, two batsmen passed 1,000 runs, yet another Australian amateur, John Rainger with 1035 runs for Earby and Craig Haworth with 1003. In the midst of this glut of runs the outstanding individual performance of the season was probably the 93 wickets at 9.7 taken by new Clitheroe professional Ian Wrigglesworth from Australia, the best haul in the league for 40 years. With 650 runs at an average of exactly 50, he almost single handedly took Clitheroe to runners up spot in the league.
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