Investment now paying off for improved ‘Bash’ in second tier

That is the view of the club’s chair Ed Aspinall, who was speaking after last Saturday’s Championship win at home against second-placed Walkden - by three wickets chasing 152.

Victory was Baxenden’s fifth in 10 games in the league this summer. They are fifth in the second tier, 14 points behind Walkden, who hold the second promotion place heading into the second half of the summer.

Last season, ‘Bash’, as they are nicknamed, won only four of of 23 games in the one division, 24-team inaugural NWCL campaign.

“Three years ago, we only had one team and no juniors,” said Aspinall.

“Since then, we’ve invested in the whole infrastructure of the club, the clubhouse, all these kinds of things.

“We’ve tried to give ourselves a more solid foundation, and we now have three senior teams and a junior section.”

Baxenden will be in the minority when it comes to league clubs - and not just in the NWCL - in the sense they employ a local professional. In their case, it is in-form opening batter Ben Gorton.

He replaced Jake Hargreaves, who ended a two-year pro’s stint ahead of this summer but has remained with the club as their new captain. Hargreaves has just been named as the Championship’s player-of-the-month for June, owing much to 14 wickets in four games.

“Our wins this year have always been tight and our losses have always been tight as well,” continued Aspinall. “Last weekend, we lost by one run against Walkden, but then beat them this weekend.

“But a couple of tweaks to the team this year has, more often than not, converted those tight defeats into wins.

“It’s been a frustrating season in the sense that we could be much higher up in the league had we converted some of those fine defeats.”

Of those ‘tweaks’, Aspinall said: “The main one is Blair Walsh as (Australian) overseas amateur. He’s been a really good signing for us. Blair’s already close to 600 runs for the year (544).

“Jake, our pro last year, has stayed on as captain.

“We replaced Jake as pro with Ben, who was a very good amateur in the Lancs League. He’s averaged 900 runs for the last two years in that league and is on 450-500 runs so far for us (460).”

In terms of the decision to go local with the professional, the chair continued: “What it means is that we can afford to have an overseas amateur.

“We’re not a cash-rich club, so by going local with the pro it means we only have to pay for one flight and accommodation.”

Baxenden’s progression as a club has come on the back of a difficult Covid year in 2020.

“We lost a lot of fans in that year when we didn’t even field a team. But they’re starting to come back,” explained Aspinall. “The year after, we fielded only one team and were getting beat most weeks. Now, we’re getting back to where we want to be.

“There’s a bit of a buzz about the place again.

“We’re also finding it easier to recruit both juniors and seniors.

“Behind the bar, which is open for roughly 50 days a year, we’ve already taken more than we have done over the last few years, and we’re only in early July.

“The Euros football has certainly helped.”

Ironically, both Baxenden’s first and second teams are fifth in their respective leagues; the firsts in the Championship and the seconds in Conference 2.

“The second team are a good group of lads, an average age of 24 and 25,” said Aspinall.

“Zac Bannan, the captain, who actually played for the firsts on Saturday, deserves a lot of credit for that. He’s created a really good place to be in terms of that team as well.

“The third team have played about four games fewer than most others for one reason or another in their league. Hopefully, with games in hand, they can win a few and move up their league. That’s the place where we blood a lot of our juniors.”

And back to the first team, who host league leaders Read on Saturday following a win against Walkden which saw Adam Masood and Matthew Austin claim four wickets each and pro Gorton top-score with 63.

It will be a tough test given they have won nine of 10 matches so far this season, but it’s one they are relishing.

“Looking at Read’s signings before the season started, we all tipped them to be favourites,” added Aspinall.

“Their team has quality all the way through, and they’ll go on to do well in the top division if they do go up.

“But we’ve just beaten second-placed Walkden at the weekend, so let’s go and beat top as well.

“Look, as long as we develop and move forwards each year, that’s our aim. Last year, we finished second-bottom of the one division competition. Moving into this year, we wanted to compete and win games, which we’re doing.”

Tomorrow’s fixtures: Premiership - Eagley v Padiham, Farnworth v Little Lever, Kearsley v Salesbury, Lostock v Astley Bridge, Ribblesdale Wanderers v Blackrod, Tonge v Farnworth Social Circle; Championship - Baxenden v Read, Brinscall v Feniscowles, Cherry Tree v Whalley, Oswaldtwistle Immanuel v Atherton, Walkden v Barnoldswick.