Chairman's Report - 2003

John Hutchinson (March 2004)

This is my final annual report as Chairman of the Junior Section of the Warburtons Bolton League. I have enjoyed the role immensely, but I have felt for some time that my ideas of the future development of junior cricket in Bolton are at odds with the majority of member club representatives. It is, therefore, right and proper that I make way for a new chairman, this being the League Chairman, Mike Hall. I wish Mike well in his new position, and am pleased to say that I shall continue to serve on the Junior Committee as the u15 section co-ordinator.

The 2003 season also saw the resignation of our long-serving Junior Section Secretary, Mike Buckley. As most of you will be aware, Mike devoted a large proportion of his life over several years to the administration of junior cricket in Bolton. It was a task he performed diligently and often without reward, and I would like to place on record my thanks to Mike for all his efforts on behalf of the Bolton Cricket League. Disappointingly, 2003 also saw a continuation of the trend of teams being unable to fulfill their fixtures, particularly at Under-18 level. Hopefully, the clubs involved have now had enough time to review the situation and examine the possible reasons for their inability to comply with the League's requirements. The League itself has acted to relieve the situation for 2004 by introducing a one-year 'opt out' clause which a member club may invoke at a single age-level. This should help, but, at the end of the day, junior cricket mirrors many other walks of life - the more you put into it, the more you get out. Unfortunately, the converse is also true! At ECB level, 2003 also saw the introduction of the 'Clubmark' and CCDF schemes, designed to encourage community cricket clubs to adopt 'best practice' in their normal day to day operations, particularly with reference to the development of young cricketers. 

To this end, I must congratulate both Little Lever CC and Farnworth Social Circle CC on reaching CCDF status, thereby becoming two out of only 200 clubs in the country to be so designated. Hopefully, they will be followed by many more of our member clubs in the years to come. Interestingly, many of the ideas of 'Clubmark', for example the introduction of documented child protection procedures and the organisation of courses specifically aimed at team-managers, were originally mooted by Bolton League officials such as Mike Buckley, Richard Dearden and Paul Tebay some two and a half years ago. This just goes to show once and for all that where the Bolton League leads, others follow! 

2003 proved a successful year for the Bolton League's junior teams at Inter-League level. The Under-18 XI performed with credit, but the highlight was the victory of the Under-13 XI in the Final of the North West Peak Sports Trophy against the Bolton Association at Hadfield CC, Derbyshire. It was certainly a nail-biting affair, with the League looking to be strolling to victory needing 10 runs to win with 6 wickets left, before promptly losing five wickets for six runs in the space of four overs. Fortunately, last man Jake Wilde was wise to the situation, calmly and heroically dispatching the second ball he faced for a match-winning boundary high over mid-wicket.

 Congratulations to all the players who contributed so much to the team over the season, and also to coaches Mike Fletcher, David Fairbrother and Will Halton, whose meticulous preparation (both in winter nets and during the summer) got the reward it so richly deserved. Thanks also to guest coaches Peter Lever, Mike Watkinson and Otis Gibson for their efforts with this group of players during the winter months. and for giving up their time so willingly to help the Bolton Cricket League.

At League level, the 2003 season was notable for the across the board successes of Harwich CC at Under-15 level and Farnworth Social Circle's Under-13's. In contrast, the Under-18 section provided three different winners, with Bradshaw collecting the Jake Tatlock Trophy before going on to lose agonisingly by one run to Farnworth Social Circle in the League play-off Final. Earlier in the season, Heaton had continued their domination of the Reuben Mather Cup, winning the competition for the third successive year under the fine leadership of Michael Hobbis.

Pleasingly, Horwich and Farnworth Social Circle both went on to compete with distinction in the Lancashire Knockout Competitions for Under-15's and Under-13's respectively. Indeed, the latter emerged as winners, defeating Penwortham CC in a thrilling final which even had seasoned observers such as Ken Standring and Jack Cross shaking their heads in disbelief.

Farnworth Social Circle's Steven Collins will surely never again achieve what he did that day. For once, it was a privilege just to sit and watch! Circle went on to reach the northern Finals of the Under-13s competition before losing narrowly to the Staffordshire winners in the semi-finals. Congratulations to all concerned on a successful season.

Well done, also, to Bradshaw's Nick Lester, whose consistent batting performances throughout the season earned him the title of Young Player-of-the-Year for 2003, and to all those other players successful in winning individual awards during the season.

Once again, it was pleasing to note the continuing development of Sajid Mahmood and Tim Rees within Lancashire County Cricket Club. This can only serve to reinforce the message that the Bolton League continues to be one of best breeding grounds for young talent in the county.

Let us hope that it stays that way for many more years to come.