t e *
86 : 'i fij;
ruled out of the
Lions tour IAIN Balshaw has cruelly been ruled out of the British and Irish Lions’ tour to New Zealand. The Leeds Tykes cap-
“^’^tain, and former Stony- hurst College pupil, Bal shaw. has not recovered ' ■ from a torn thigh muscle
• and is expected to be out . for another four weeks. • Sale Sharks winger
Mark Cueto has been called up to replace the former Bath man. Lions coach Sir Clive
Woodward said: “Obvious ly everyone is extremely disappointed for Iain. • “He is a terrific player
and would have been a great asset to the tour.”
S:- The Lions prepare for the tour with a game against Argentina on Monday in Cardiff, before travelling to New Zealand, where they will face the Kiwis on June 25th, and July 2nd and 9th.
Outstanding Anna stars in
county games ATHLETE Anna Grif fiths was outstanding at the Lancashire AA Cham pionships at Blackpool,
a::- She won the 400m Hur dles in a personal best time of 66.2 seconds-not quite as fast as she wanted, but encouraging as she is still very much a novice at this event, this being only the third time she has run it. She went off too fast
and paid the price in the home straight. Anna still got closer to
the English Schools entry time, which is her target for the season. She went on to the dis-
^^cus, where she was close to her PB with a season’s best of 31.03m, and th a t on very few training sessions this winter. That throw was enough for the silver medal. Her last event of the day
was the shot, where she threw a huge PB, over half a metre further than her pre vious best. She threw' 11.37m, way over the ESAA entry standard of 10.50m, but the 400m Hurdles remains her main target. ■ Anna made four putts
over 11m, and became Lancashire Champion by , beating the specialist shot
putters. She was very pleased-
^ In the-meantime, next ’ Sunday she will be compet-
with her day, and wll now be working hard for her next major competition, the North of England U20 Championships at Barns ley in a fortnight’s time.
- ing for .Wigan at the next. National Junior League. Anna would like to thank
Hicks health club for their help with Pilates classes —^*and use of their facilities.
OLYMPIAN James Hickman took time out to school local swimmers recently. Hickman, the five-time
World 200m butterfly champi on, spent over two hours at the Gallica East base at Shadsworth, Blackburn, to pass on his expertise to youngsters from around the region. The session was sponsored by Fras er Eagle coaches. James, who swam at the
Olympics in Atlanta, Sydney and Athens, is pictured with Alexandra Perry and Claudia Lensky, Rosegrove SC members from Burnley, Clitheroe’s Louis Nicholls, and Charlotte and Ben Edwards
from
Barnoldswick, all of whom are Blackburn Centurions swim
mers. James, who competed at the
Sydney Olympics alongside Gallica and Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council com munity coach Rob Greenwood, demonstrated technique, kick, stroke and underwater work, which was very useful and interesting to the swimmers and the watching coaches. He-also talked about his
international career, and also brought his gold medals in for everyone to see. The water session ended \vith
a fun relay, which saw James take on the relay teams by himself. The races didn’t all go James’
way however, and a few of the swimmers can now say they beat a World Champion! A question and answer ses
sion followed, where James answered questions from swim mers and parents, and his infec-
tious enthusiasm and inspira tional words should inspire the squad when they compete at the first Manchester open this weekend. Gallica has over 50 swimmers
from all over the county, from the Fylde to the Yorkshire bor
ders, who train early morning and evenings at Blackburn, Pre ston and the Fylde, coached by head coach Dave Evitts and Greenwood. At the moment the squad has
over 32 swimmers who will com pete at the National age groups
championship. National Youth championship and Common wealth Games trials this sum mer in 97 events. If anyone would like to know
more about the squad, the club website address is
www.galli-
ca.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk
Spinners are in a spin! &#>■'
Chipping .................... J down the flanks. Top Spinners ..............0 CHIPPING rounded off another season with a fine home victory over Top Spinners from Adlington. There was very little
attacking play in the early exchanges as both teams fought to gain the upper hand in the middle of the park. The best chance in the
B STEPHEN Kerr beat Steve Almond 3- 0 to win the annual Norman Garner Memorial snooker tournament at Clitheroe Royal British Legion. Throughout March and April, Legion
members took part in the competition, organised by the Garner family Susan, Sarah, Matt and Morgann, and the finals night was held earlier this month. Norman’s granddaughter Morgann
made the draw for the semi-finals, with Kerr beating Mick Peel, and Almond see-.
CLITHEROE Tennis Club notched up their fourth consecutive victory of the season with a con vincing 3-1 win at a windy Feniscowles. Derek Parrott returned
ing off Stephen Taylor. Kerr held the upper hand in the final,
and as vrinner of the tournament, donat ed the £380 prize to the Neurological Unit at Blackburn Royal Infirmary and BLISS, a charity that helps families with premature babies. The family, staff, committee and mem
bers of the Legion would like to thank all those who donated raffle prizes. Family members and finalists are pic
tured. (s)
Clitheroe win fourth straight game The two Chtheroe junior
6-1, which left Bush and Hanson Mth a potentially difficult match to claim the vital fourth point. However, they raised
to the top pairing to help stalwart Phil Mileham to a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 mn in the first match. The pairs tactic of letting Mile- ham serve into the wind and taldng even more pace off the ball worked well. Daniel Bush was joined
by debutant Mark Han son, and they started well
■ against the second pair. However, the tricky con
ditions began to take a toll on their aggressive game, and having won the first set, they then lost the next on a tie break, and the third set as well. In the first return match,
Parrott and Mileham had no trouble putting their opponents to the sword 6-2
their game magnificently to outgun the Blackburn outfit 6-3 6-0, Hanson showing that he will be a valuable addition to the side when called upon. Clitheroe B Open team
lost 3-2 to Crosshills B. Neil- Gunn and Will Aspinall won one match and lost the other, and with Peter Bell and Steve Higson also achieving the - same results, both teams had two victories. ' ■ With each team winning
five sets, the bonus point went to the visitors by virtue of two games won. The previous weekend,
teams commenced their sea son with a fixture against each other, and it was the A team of Andrew Hartley, Matt Hanson, Mark Hig son and Jack Dewhurst who emerged 9-0 victors. Despite the scoreline,
the B team of Richard Bell, Emma Calvert Dominic P ar rott and Mathew Cornish can take a lot of credit after some
■ very competitive matches. The B team’s second fix
ture was a 7-2 defeat against Towneley, one of the favourites to take the title. Jack Dewhurst and
the same pairs enjoyed a 5-0 success against Parkwood B, with both teams playing some good tennis despite the gusty conditions.
Dominic Parrott played excellent tennis to share both their matches, and Emma Calvert and Ian Scott, who had not previously played together, also competed well, despite loang to more expe rienced opponents.
early stages came as an excellent move down the left found Valentine in the middle, and he was unlucky to see his clever flick rebound to safety off the upright. The opening goal came
midway through the half. A corner from the left was expertly curled in by Garth, and met by a bullet header from midfield maestro Malley, sending an unstoppable effort into the top corner. This gave Chipping the
all important boost and they began to assert them selves, with Fletcher and Baines offering good width
As the half went on. Top It was Baines who dou
bled the lead just before the break with the most spectacular of efforts. A long kick from keeper Ire-- land picked out Baines on the right, and there looked to be no danger, but Baines looked up and . launched an unstoppable volley over the keeper and into the far top corner from all of 40 yards - a definite contender for goal of the season. The Chipping players
went mad at this moment of pure brilliance, and went into the break with a very comfortable 2-0 lead. Chipping had to resist a
period of sustained pres sure from the visitors fol lowing the break. The back four of W^ood-
head, Austin, Gibson and Hilton stood strong and looked determined to hold onto a precious clean sheet. On the one occasion they
allowed a shot on goal, Ire land was equal to it with a comfortable tip over.
B WITH the Blackburn and District Bad minton Association season over, arrange ments are well in hand for the next season. Invitations are being made to any new
club that would like to take part in local competitive badminton next season. The Association organises matches,
basically on a weekly basis from late Sep- tember until April, with breaks for Christmas, Easter and school holidays. The organisation of the season includes
league matches, cup matches and the chance for individuals to enter many tournaments ranging from those under 18s to Veterans over 40. Clubs are entitled to make use of the
free coaching service that is available, this usually taking place on their club court. Representatives from new clubs are
encouraged to attend the annual meeting, where they gain further information, which this year will be held at East Lan cashire CC, Blackburn on June 21st. Any club interested in joining should
contact either the fixtures secretary (01254 582627) or the vice-chairman (01254 885365).
Spinners began to run out of steam in the warm con ditions and Chipping dom inated for the remainder of the game.. The final goal of the ^
game came from the out- 9 standing Fletcher, who did a fine job playing in an unaccustomed position on ^ the left wing. A free kick ^ was won in a promising ^ position, and he curled a sublime effort past the bemused goalkeeper off the underside of the cross
bar. This has been a solid
first season in the Second Division and they will be very confident as they look to build on their suc cess next season. In the meantime. Chip
ping are competing in the Catforth and District Summer League, with sides in the Second and Third Divisions. Villagers are invited to
come and support the club on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, kick-off 7-30 p.m.
B CLITHEROE RUFC held their annual v end of season dinner and presentation al their Littlemoor clubhouse on Saturday. A large turnout of players and guests, ‘
,
including Nigel Evans-MP, Lancashire County councillor Albert Atkinson and Ribble Valley Council chief Dave Morris, @ were treated to a sumptuous threMOurse meal, followed by some interesting and 9 witty speeches. The loyal toast was performed by club
chairman Andrew Thornber, followed by the club captain David 'Watson, whe toasted the Lancashire Rugby Union. ^ President Colin Silcock replied on behall of the guests and the evening was rounded ^ off in style, with entertainment from comedian Max Pressure. ■
^ James McAloonan was named as *-hf _
second team player of the year a n o ^ Edward Thornber received the most-
improved player accolade. ^ Oliver McEntyre was chosen as the ^
players’ player of the season, Ben Graves was named Golden Harpooner of the sea- . son while Alan Nuttall was selected as -j'
clubman of the year.
- f
Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified) m m
Narrow defeat
CHATBURN lost out by two wickets in their latest Craven Cricket League Second Division fixture at Crossflats. Skipper Stuart Dray-
cott won the toss and chose to bat, and the locals recorded a defend- able total of 164-9 in their 45 overs. Opener Mark Braith-
waite top-scored with 47, including nine fours, while Jamie Hoperaft stuck around for 25. Rod Booth (19), Dray-
cott (15) and Stephen Booth (14) made starts but couldn’t build further, while Andy Booth fin ished unbeaten on 10. In reply, the home side
won through with three balls and two wickets to spare, despite the sterling efforts of Rod Booth, who took superb figures of 3- 20 from nine overs. Draycott also chipped
in with 2-11 from 4.3 overs, but Crossflats just did enough to win, with opener Jones (73), provid ing the platform for victo
ry-
Chatburn seconds were without a game.
Rimington win again
RIMINGTON are the only club with maximum points in the Clitheroe and District Cricket League after just two weeks of the neiv season. Playing against Chip
ping Ramblers, the vil lagers easily overcame the challenge to win by 60 runs. . Riverside got their sea son up and running with a 19-run win against Calder- stones, who remain point less at the bottom of the league. The game between Low
Moor and Chipping A was abandoned due to the council pitch at Roefield not being ready. RESULTS
Riverside 98-5, Calder-
stones 79; Rimington 138- 6, Chipping Ramblers 78.
Scorecards from the
weekend’s' games- and .
selected teams- can be
;found on i jpagie 85
www.clitheroetoday.co.uk
Clitheroe Advertiser’s Times, Thursday, May 19th, 2005 87 Whalley slip up Nawaz is inspiration
AN unbeaten century from Zahoor Elahi consigned Wlialloy to defeat on Saturday. The Cherry Tree professional cracked 113 off just 102
balls, in their 60-run success. . But 'Whalley did manage to deny the visitors the full seven points, after David O’Neill and Nicky Byrne put on 10 runs in an unbeaten last wicket stand.., . -.v. - . : Fielding first, the Station Road side got off to the per fect start, as Nigel Robbins fell for three with just seven runs on the board. > But that brought Elahi to the crease, and he'would stay in the middle until the close. ' He put on exactly 50 runs for the second wicket along side Mark Hadfield, before the opener saw his stumps shattered by Lee Burgess for 21.- , But it was Chris Riley who, alongside Elahi, would
add 77 for. the third wicket on their way to yictory. . Riley eventually fell for a patient 31, which included
two fours, before liis conqueror, Ben Dowling, completed his five^^wickethaul with the additions of Steven Elwood (0), Andrew Robinson (2) and Andrei Sudnik (0). ', > But try as they might; the "Whalley attack could not
-?
budge Elahi,- and he sprinted to his century and beyond to help record 185-7 for the visitors. - Openers Martin, Davies and Andy Pratt stoted well for the home side, slowly laying the foundations for an
assault on the total. But once Pratt (20) and professional Phil Thornton
(2) had gone,’both"off:the bowling of Robert Ince, Whalley were sensing defeat.
' Davies did go on to make 34 before he fell leg before to Nigel Robbins, his first of four victims of the afternoon! V Jon Rain had made asolid 20, but he also came to far across his line and was out Ibw, once again, to Robbins. ' George Thomas faced just three balls before he was out for a single, and when Dowling was just settling
- '
himself into a rhythm, he was run out for 15.. . And from that point on, not one of The'Whalley late order reached double figures, as the innings began to
crumble. ; 'But they did manage to deny Cherry Tree the maxi mum point-haul, as their opponents leapfrogged them
in the league standings. ’- 'And Whalley Avill hope for a return to ivinmng ways when they, travel to Blackburn Northern on Saturday,
wickets pitched 2 p.m. Bad start extended
RIBBLESDALE Wander ers’ poor start to the season continued as they were beaten by Baxenden at. Church Meadow. The visitors elected to
bat and were put under pressure by tight bowling from paid man Gerard De Bruin and David Howard, who restricted the visitors to just four from six overs. De Bruin removed open
er Dave Usher with an in swinging yorker, but Bax- enden added 68 in 13 overs before Simon Payne was removed by Terry Braith- waite, who had taken over from De Bruin in attack.
. Sri Lankan paid man Indike Gallag'e scored at better than a run-a-ball, as the Ribblesdale bowlers
looked short of ideas. Partner Rishton never
looked in danger, and Gal- lage raced to 50, taking full advantage of some way ward bowling. Gallage finally went after
making 59 from 51 balls, after Braithwaite deceived him with some good flight, but not after 104 had been added to the total. Rishton reached a well-
deserved unbeaten ton in the latter overs as Baxen den managed 221-4, with only Braithwaite looking threatening in the Ribbles dale attack, who gifted their opponents 35 extras. The Ribblesdale reply
' The pair put on their third 50-plus p^nership of the season, which looked to
Marsh in good form.
'have provided a great plat form.
Marsh went for 17 after
being adjudged Ibw with the reply on 56 in the N th , over, and McGuire only made three before skipper for the day Howard came to the crease. He was rarely in trouble
as he and Gladwin increased the scoring rate healthily, moving past 100 within 28 overs. Howard had found the
fence four times in his 25 before being caught by Payne off Usher, while Gladwin reached his first half century of the season before he was caught look ing to reach the boundary again, making 59. The game now looked
beyond Ribblesdale, and Gallage earned his money after a fantastic 20-over spell, which had given him
three wickets. Only Stewart Trotter
managed double figures of the late order, but he was out off the last ball of the innings as the locals spi ralled to defeat. The locals then crashed
out of theLCB Knockout on Sunday at home to Den ton St Lawrence. Wanderers made a
started well, with both Ryan Gladwin and Alastair
healthy start, with Glad win reaching his half centu ry, to stand at 119-1 off 19
overs. But they were all out for
210. Denton made a fist of it
throughout, and ultimately reached their target with just three balls to spare.
m I ■
CLITHEROE Cricket Club record ed a comprehensive nine-wicket vic tory over Earby on Saturday, thanks largely to professional Shahid Nawaz and captain Neil Bolton. On what the Chatburn Road skip
per called a “tremendous wicket”, the locals took to the field after Earby elected to bat first, having won the toss. The visitors started well, and had
Bolton and his side worried at first as Sam Munns and professional Mohammed Ayub put together 129 for the first wicket, as Clitheroe struggled with their howling. ' However, after the opening pair
had finally been removed, thanks to the bowling of Naeem Ashraf and Bolton, with the first of his 4-48, Clitheroe applied the brakes to
restrict their Applegarth visitors. Stephen Pickles was caught
behind by Simon Coulter off Ashraf without score, and both Ian Clark son (12) and Andrew daggers (0) were bow'led by Bolton as Clitheroe gained the upper hand. An undefeated Pete Baistow last
ed the course though, Mth a further 36 runs, but Stephen Hipgrave made it four wickets for the captain, which could have been five but for time restrictions coming into play. A further 16 extras from 10 no
balls saw the score swell above the double century mark to 206 - need ing a big effort in reply from the Clitheroe professional. The former Ribblesdale Wander
ers paid man did not disappoint. He made the most of a sublime
batting track to tonk 127 not out, first with his captain Bolton and then with undefeated Mark Bolton, who creditably earned his own half century with a 56-run effort. The only blip was when Neil
Bolton (22) was bowled by Dave Cockell for the West Craven side’s.- only wicket of the afternoon. With Nawaz in form in the mid
dle, having hit two centuries in as many games, things bode well for Clitheroe going into Saturday’s showdown against Settle. Bolton admits that their bowling
needs some improvement, but insists they won’t get the kind of mauling they suffered in the cup as they go in search of retribution, wickets pitched 2 p.m.
'Weekend to forget for reigning champions
IT turned out to be a weekend to forget for Read.
And it is already looking
bleak for Warren East- ham’s side, just five games into the season. Saturday’s narrow
defeat to Barnoldswick was their second of the campaign already, having lost just three in the whole of last season. And Sunday saw them
crash out of their second cup competition in the space of eight days, both at the first round stage. After a crushing Rams-
bottom Cup defeat to Earby last week, it was Greenmount who over hauled them in the Thwaites LCB Knockout. And I wouldn’t mind
knowing how long it has been since the Whalley Road side languished in the bottom half of the Veka Ribblesdale League? Saturday’s contest at
Victory Park emerged into a tight affair, as the home side clinched victory by a
single wicket. And it could quite easily
have gone the way of the visitors, if it wasn’t for an unbeaten last wicket of 13 between Michael Scothern and James Stead. How ironic it was, that those same two players
would cause Read’s down fall with the ball also, as they took four and five- wicket hauls respectively. • With Read having elect ed to bat, the innings began swimmingly enough with Nick Marsh and William Driver opening. Paul Beech and paid
man Jeevantha Kulatunga came and went out of the attack, as did Sid Sheraz and Stead. Stead’s first spell lasted
just two overs before he switched ends, and that masterstroke proved deci
sive. Marsh and Driver had
put- on 74 in 23 overs before the former fell for 28, holing out to Michael Scothern off Stead. And after Terry Little
had joined Driver in the middle", it would be the 16- year-old opener who would fall next for a patient 43, after Stead trapped him leg before. That -wicket fell with the
score on 93, and just 12 more had been added before Little saw his stumps smashed ' by Michael Scothern. And that third wicket
proved the catalyst for an almighty Read collapse, that saw the innings capit ulate for just 16 more
runs.Professional Thomas
Odoyo made just 10 before he found opposite number Kulatunga off Stead, before Michael Whalley fell two balls later. And from that point on,
not one of the middle or late order produced double figures. Matt Doughty, East-
ham, Tom Marsh and Kyle O’Connor all failed to get off the mark, as the innings crumbled to 117. But Read were to make
a fist of the reply, dismiss ing Ian Scothern for six in the fifth over. Kulatunga and Raja
Arshad steadied the ship before both fell in five balls, the latter fell for 23, ha-ving smashed two fours and two sixes in 15 balls and the professional for 10. Beech’s knock of 31
proved to be key before he was out Ibw to Odoyo, and although wickets fell at regular intervals, each batsman was doing just enough. And thanks to an
unbeaten 19 from Michael Scothern, they passed the target in the 38th over with one mcket standing. As for' Sunday, an
' unbeaten century from Greenmount opener Andy Kerr helped subject Read to a 108-run reverse. After being forced to
field. Read made the per fect start with the wickets of Ryan Senior (3) and paid man Nishit Shetty ( 0) .
. But Kerr and David
Morris (81) would steady the ship superbly, putting their side well in com mand. After collecting both
early wickets, Odoyo also picked up Mark Fallon for 20 after Tom Marsh had picked up the prize wicket Of Morris. But Kerr would remain
a t the crease, helping Greenmount post a mas sive 248-6 from their 45 overs. Nick Marsh and Will
Driver began the reply well, but the wicket of the latter was followed imme diately with that of Whal ley.
And just as the previous .
day, that would be the cat alyst for a collapse that would see none of the mid dle order pick up double figures. Last man in Chris Holt
(14) was the only man to do so, as Read were skit tled for 140 in under 40 overs. And they will hope to
get back on track on Sat urday when they entertain Baxenden, wickets pitched 2 p.m.
Clitheroe final heartache
CLITHEROE Under 11s suffered last ball heartache in the final of the Lancashire Indoor Cricket Champi
onships. After winning all their games in the Ribble Valley sec
tion, the locals then won all their group games. But against Haslingden in the showpiece final, they
were outdone on the final dehvery. The tpam was; Tim Le Bretton, Chris Bowness, Liam
Nuttall, Matthew Ashworth, James Banks, Ross Dent and Chris Parkinson. Meanwhile, in the league, the A team got off to a fly
ing start against Read. ■ Batting first, they made 302, with Le Bretton top
scoring with 23. And they followed that up by skittling their oppo
nents for 188, with Bowness and Jack Kay taking three wickets each.
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