DEMPSTER and FOSTER BOUNCE BACK TO LEIGH

Date: 2nd February 2015

A Paul Edwards copyright exclusive for L&DCC Official Website.

Welcome return to new look Beech Walk

Sometimes it is necessary to be parted from a place in order to appreciate it. That, at any rate, might be the thinking at Leigh this season when the club welcomes back both Richard Dempster and Tom Foster after spells in the Bolton Association and Bolton League respectively.

Foster will add his invaluable, gritty batting and Dempster his left-arm seam bowling to a side which reserved most of its best displays for the Ray Digman Trophy last summer, only succumbing to New Brighton in the final. The departure of that fine cricketer Paul Keenan to Westleigh will further reduce the average age of a side which learned a lot about seven-hour Premier League cricket in the course of a season which ended with Mattie McKiernan’s team in eighth position.

“It’ll be good to have both Tom and Richard back with us,” said McKiernan. “Tom’s a quality player and, though he may be young, he’s got an old head and a good cricketing brain. Richard offers a different angle with his left-arm seamers and he also gives us something with his batting down the order.”

The 2014 season was a curious affair at Leigh. Only McKiernan (38) took more than 20 wickets and only Ross Zelem (597) scored more than 400 runs. The team battled away decently but the loss of Hamish Kingston after seven games and a collective loss of form late in the campaign prevented them challenging for a place in the top half of the table. The Premier League can be an unforgiving environment in such circumstances, although McKiernan reckons it is that very toughness which makes it such a fine preparation for young county players contemplating a career in the game.

“Competing against the top sides can be similar to playing Minor County or Second XI cricket,” he said. “You only have to look at the county cricketers who have come into the Liverpool Competition recently.”

“The Premier League is strong from top to bottom and we all learned from playing against so much experience and quality. We showed what we’re capable of and it’s important that we’ve kept the majority of the side together.”

Helping Leigh out when their first-class commitments permitted were the familiar figures of Steven Mullaney and Karl Brown. McKiernan is hopeful that both players will be available in 2015, although he knows their appearances will be entirely dependent on their county commitments. In the meantime he will be looking to his young players to continue their education in one of the country’s most searching cricket leagues.

* Picture shows the progress with the new facilities at Beech Walk.