Cricket - Stalwart Wilson bows out before season starts (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Cricket - Stalwart Wilson bows out before season starts

8:00pm Monday 25th April 2011 in Westmorland League By John Glaister

BEFORE a a ball is bowled there has been a dramatic turn of events at the Westgate Club.

All-rounder Peter Wilson has stated his intention not to start the season. Whether he plays any first team cricket at all is left to speculation.

The blow to Westgate is grievous. The loss to the Westmorland Cricket League (WCL) is profound.

For over two decades his has been the dominant name. Star men like Peter are four players in one. They excel at all three disciplines and inspire others by leading from the front.

The eyes of the league will now be on his compatriots to see how they cope without their talisman and defender of the faith.

The strength in depth of the Westgate Club however is second to none which, allied to experience, will still make them powerful opposition. Interesting days indeed for captain Andrew Hill.

The desperate loss for Westgate is matched by an equally joyous gain for Arnside. At a stroke they have gained four players in one with the return to roots of Kevin Howarth.

Father Gordon was a leading wicket-taker for the Club. Kevin, however, brings with him Northern League experience gained with the Kendal Club.

Howarth could easily turn an eclectic bunch of hopefuls into champions. In recent years they have beaten the best and lost to the worst.

Their cause is further strengthened with the return of Ian Bullough after a sabbatical and Oliver Hogg. Add these blokes to the likes of Adam Richardson and Arnside have a team of eleven good cricketers. They could well be the heavy horses of 2011 not the dark horses.

The edited version of last year’s campaign saw Milnthorpe, Shireshead and Westgate strewn on the cutting room floor and Warton crowned as unlikely champions.

It should never have been but the aforesaid three somehow conspired to defeat themselves on the last day of the season. For Warton it was the perfect storm. For the doomed three it was a tsunami.

This year, Warton go for a hat-trick of championships, a feat last achieved in the early 1980s by Burneside and they will be the team to beat. They look to be a powerful outfit.

To add to their established strength, homespun youngsters are queuing up to assert themselves. Andrew Ideson returns from Heysham and an unprecedented acquisition has signed-on for the Hyning Club.

Paul Wilson has crossed the divide from Burneside to Warton, which is a first in history. He fills a much needed gap in the Warton armoury. He bowls left arm and, uniquely in the WCL, augments his stock delivery with a ‘chinaman’ that bounces.

On the large county ground of the Hyning he could be very effective. Interesting days indeed for captain Graham Crowther.

Though by no means threadbare both Milnthorpe and Shireshead are conscious their first team squads are starting to fray with age. Both have also flayed themselves all winter for missing out on the chance of glory in their last games of last season.

At Park Road, Milnthorpe is very much the status quo with Jono Cooper remaining on the staff. With a strong bowling attack the Thorpers will have to become more adventurous if they are to win the Bateman Shield again. The 15 point win rule has become a championship decider.

At Shireshead that familiar dressing room locker is requiring a youthful transfusion but in such circumstances the dilemma is as it ever was.

When do very good young ‘uns replace proven old ‘uns at senior level when said old ‘uns are still worthy? Despite losing bowler Irfan Quyylan to Morecambe, the Clifton Park Club welcomes back Dave Murphy from Westgate thus adding to that club’s woes.

Dave will reoccupy the station behind the sticks where his dad Harry served many a year with distinction. Much this year is expected of brothers Tom and Rob Jacques.

In recent seasons the Burneside Club has shown some signs of recapturing their illustrious past but they have suffered a double-whammy set back on the bowling front.

With Paul Wilson about to pull-on a Warton sweater, the loss of Chris Dixon to a football injury was hole-in-the-head news. Only time will tell if a newcomer to the WCL in Paul senior provides some compensation with the ‘cherry’. The batting department at Ellergreen looks to be in safe hands.

The bottom half of the table will be occupied by Bolton-le-Sands, Heysham, Silverdale, Windermere, Sedgwick and Kirkby Lonsdale with two of the last said three in the dog-fight to avoid the drop.

Now that he’s 20 years old Adam Dyson is permitted to bowl more than seven over spells. Such is his talent that he alone should keep Sands afloat.

In tandem with Mark Clarkson he asks lots of questions of batsman. The explosive young batsman Mark Beaumont could ask questions the other way round.

Heysham losses are tempered with gains.

Andrew Ideson’s departure is added to by Josh Dixon moving onwards and upwards to Northern League Morecambe swapping places with Graham Cassidy heading the other way.

Bowling restrictions no longer apply to Sam Calvelley and powerful batsman, Andy Hill (jnr) returns from Trimpell. Heysham look useful and could upset a few apple-carts.

Despite losing Graham Dodds to Appleby CC as player/coach and Liam Moffat back to Lancaster, Silverdale should have sufficient resources in the bank to keep out of trouble.

August usually sees the seaside club at its most vulnerable so captain Jon Mason will want points in the deposit account by then. Much will depend on him personally.

Come the end of the season either Sedgwick or Kirkby Lonsdale could well be keeping an eye on how Westgate ‘A’ are doing in Division Two. Three times since 2003 they have saved the bacon of a first division club by finishing in the top two but denied promotion by a league rule.

Captain Steve Troughton is likely to find the perennial problem of availability remains the perennial problem at Kirkby. Phil Pease’s appearances will be a determinant.

Apart from 18-year-old Chris Evans, Sedgwick look little different to the side demoted in 2008. Survival for the ancient club would count as success, but hope springs eternal.

There are no major changes to playing conditions for 2011 but there is a growing awareness of just how significant the 15 point win rule adopted in 2006 and refined in 2009 has become.

The thinking behind its introduction was to encourage brighter and more attacking Saturday afternoon cricket. It has done that and more.

John Glaister, WCL Historian