I'M glad I went to Kearsley on Sunday, writes Peter Stafford. I badly needed to see something memorable and exciting after having watched the equivalent of paint drying the previous evening at Egerton.
In the past, I've been singularly unlucky when it comes to being able to say 'I was there' when the really big innings have been played.
Of the 32 previous Bolton League scores of 150 and over, I only actually saw three - Richard Chee Quee's 178 at Walkden, Steve Storey's 166 at Piggott Park, and Syl Oliver's 156 at Farnworth. In fact, I was just as responsible for the third one as Syl, having dropped him before he scored!
What Darron Foy's unbeaten 199 had in common with the other three was a kind of super confident 'It's my party, I'll do what I want and nobody can stop me'-type of attitude.
The shots that stick in the mind are the three huge sixes over the longer of the two mid-wicket boundaries. But, having said that, there were so many other things to enjoy. Delicate cuts backward of square, great booming off-drives, and a handful of straight sixes right out of the Dublin Coaching Manual. Eagley's attack isn't the strongest in the League, but it's a long way from being the worst.
It's worth remembering that in the two previous league games DeVos and his colleagues had taken 19 fairly cheap wickets in beating top of the table Bradshaw and, ironically, Kearsley themselves!
The tie itself, of course, was dead and buried by tea-time.
Whatever brave and optimistic words may have been uttered in the Eagley dressing-room between the innings, everyone on the ground - players, umpires and spectators alike - knew that the kind of lightning produced by Foy doesn't strike twice on the same day. To their eternal credit, every Eagley fielder shook Foy's hand as he left the field at the tea interval, just one run short of the 200 everyone was willing him to get and, as I took down the match details at the end of the game, Kearsley scorer Dave Price remarked that it had been a privilege to have been there. I can't improve on that! We're getting towards that stage of the season now when local supporters are becoming more able to differentiate between the clubs who will and those who won't - those that can and those that can't.
I suppose, if you were to draw a line across halfway down the current table, you'd have identified the two categories.
Of those in the top half, Egerton need to get in to the winning habit sooner rather than later. Eagley have started well but probably depend too heavily on DeVos and Ward and, while Bradshaw's three wins have each had the stamp of authority, they have all been against teams in the lower half of the table.
Westhoughton, similarly, have yet to prove themselves against the top sides. Their only two successes have been at the expense of the two Farnworth sides, neither of whom are, as yet, posing much of a threat. Indeed, the Bridgeman Park team look to have a real fight on their hands to avoid filling the bottom spot for only the third time in their history. I still have vivid memories of the first of those occasions, back in 1967. (Their other wooden-spoon year was 1979.) It came after we had been champions in 1964 and 1965, and joint champions in 1966, when we lost the title in a play-off against Little Lever.
During those three years, we had only lost eight league games, but it all counted for nothing as we plummeted to the bottom in 1967. The losses of David Hughes to the County, Alan Thomas to Social Circle, and Bill Taylor to Leek all proved crucial, although Paul Tatton was acquired to replace Taylor and in fact produced better figures than had the future Notts fast bowler.
But, as Little Lever discovered last season, and Farnworth are finding out at the moment, the loss of players in key positions is a difficult, if not impossible hurdle to clear.
It's much the same story at Piggott Park and Walkden. The Parkinsons' departure has virtually cost Circle three and a half players, while a Walkden side bereft of Smiths, not to mention Alladice and Gaskell, is, at the moment, one without much hope.
Of the three teams at the top, Heaton have drawn heavily on the talents of Dave Smith and Matt Parkinson so far, and must be prepared to dig a little deeper when the occasion demands.
They aren't short of ability, though, and probably won't be far short come September. Neither will Little Lever, who also have depth in their side and, equally important, match-winners, something they lacked last year.
Speaking of match-winners, Iqbal's 35 wickets in seven games will have sent shock-waves around the League. Not to mention Ian Taylor. Or Berry, Garner, Anderton and Northrop. Or back-up players of the quality of Waller, Aspden, Shepley and the rest.
One thing's for certain. If any club does have the ambition to relieve Tonge of their title, they'll have to earn it the hard way!?
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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