For the past decade, Lostock Cricket Club has had a sub-group, namely its so-called ‘10,000 Club’ - so exclusive it had but a single member!

For an amateur batsman in local league cricket to reach a career aggregate of 10,000 runs is a truly remarkable milestone, cherished by many, but achieved by few.

And it was not until 2014 this iconic landmark was reached by a Lostock player.

Most fittingly, the trailblazer was none other than a man synonymous in the minds of many with cricket at Lostock, namely Phil Knowles, now the club’s dedicated chairman, and a perennial reminder of his achievement is a specially-commissioned embroidered shirt, framed and mounted on the clubhouse wall at Chew Moor.

But, just like London buses, after a wait of 10 years, two more have come along in quick succession, tripling the prestigious Lostock group almost overnight.

Joining Phil Knowles during the past month have been, firstly, Stephen Kaye, and then, shortly afterwards, Luqmaan ‘Lucky’ Issa - both of whom have been dedicated servants of the club since the age of 13.

Kaye played his first game for the club (then known as British Aerospace) in the Under-15 XI in 1985, later moving up to the U18 team, and then rapidly progressing into senior cricket in the second XI. Ultimately, he was to spend many seasons in the first XI, including three as captain.

In addition to reaching the coveted career aggregate mark, earlier in the season he topped the list of most half-centuries for the club (55), overtaking the long-standing record held by former professional and first-team captain, Les Barlow.

Issa played his first game at Lostock in the newly-formed U13 team in 1989, enjoying immediate success when a bunch of talented juniors were crowned as Bolton Association champions at this age-group level, with the triumphant team captained by Charles Dagnall, who went on to play county cricket for Leicestershire and Warwickshire before taking up his current roles in the media as commentator for both BBC and Sky Sports.

Although now aged 53 and 48 respectively, Kaye and Issa are still turning out regularly and enthusiastically for the second XI, and although it’s a topic unspoken, there’s a feeling they both wish to continue, in an attempt to overhaul the total of 10,966 set by Knowles prior to his retirement in 2016.

The continued presence of these two veterans is seen as a great positive, bringing some very considerable experience to an otherwise very young team, and acting as role models vis-à-vis dedication, commitment, and loyalty as ‘one-club men’ in an era when many players choose to become cricketing ‘butterflies’, regularly flitting from club to club for reasons best known to themselves.

For Issa, 2024 has certainly been a season to remember, since, in addition to the 10,000 aggregate, he has now overtaken Knowles as having played more games for Lostock than anyone else - a remarkable total of 839.

And as if that wasn’t enough, earlier in August he reached another remarkable landmark, when he became the first Lostock wicketkeeper to take a total of 400 catches.

This flurry of special landmarks at Lostock has naturally prompted a great deal of inter-club banter, but, perhaps contemplating the fact he may be ‘usurped’ in his position at the top of the pile over the next two or three seasons, chairman Knowles was anxious to have the last say.

He said: “It’s most laudable that Steve and Lucky have been such loyal servants to the club, and while they are to be congratulated on their marvellous achievements of 10,000 runs, I should point out that all their runs have been scored for Lostock, while I didn’t join the club until the age of 27, having played 13 seasons of competitive cricket with Farnworth in the Bolton League.

“Accordingly, if I combine my Farnworth and Lostock tallies, my career aggregate leaves these two ‘youngsters’ trailing well in my wake!”