CAMERON SMITH JOINS NEWTON-LE-WILLOWS FROM LEYLAND

Date: 24th March 2015

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

News from Crow Lane East

It could be difficult to find a Liverpool Competition club whose outlook on the business of recreational cricket has changed less over the past two decades than that of Newton-le-Willows. This is no criticism. While one or two others might spend like millionaires, only to find that the heart of their club beats no more strongly for the outlay, officials at Crow Lane East maintain that high-class facilities, a well-maintained ground, a thriving membership and a dynamic junior section are the core of what they do.

If this means that they play in the First Division of the Med Imaging Liverpool Competition, as it currently does, so be it. For four seasons, Newton-le-Willows’ first team was good enough to play in Premier League and to do so without the assistance of a professional. Last year, they looked at the accounts, had a think and opted to employ seam bowler Tahir Maqsood, their first pro since the era of SS Das. Maqsood took 66 wickets at a smidgeon over 12 apiece and helped around the club, not least in coaching youngsters. He will be coming back this summer. Chris Chambers’ side finished sixth and are looking to improve on that position. Quite simple, isn’t it?

‘Our preparations are going well,’ said Chambers, who is about to begin his third season in charge. ‘We’ve had eight indoor sessions, the numbers attending are good and we’ve had a few new players coming down. We’ve got a friendly against Penwortham on the 11th and hopefully an inter-club match on the 4th April.

Newton-le-Willows’ newcomers this season include Cameron Smith, the Lancashire Under 16 and ex-Leyland seam bowler, many of whose friends are already enjoying their cricket in the Liverpool Competition. Chambers reckons that Smith has every chance of opening the bowling with Maqsood and if his batsmen come off in a way they never quite managed in 2014, he thinks they have a chance of being “up there” come September.

‘We want to finish higher and have a better season,’ he said. ‘We improved last year and if we can maintain that improvement, we’ll be thereabouts. We struggled in 2013 and were coming up against pros in every other team. Tahir helped us on and off the field and was very good with the younger players.

“But we’re never going to overstretch ourselves financially. We pay Tahir and I don’t think we’d ever pay anyone else.”

Given that Smith will be joining Maqsood and Danny Barlow - the pair took 108 wickets in 2014 – bowling shouldn’t be a problem for Chambers this summer. However, finding a settled top order and a couple of batsmen capable of scoring in excess of 600 runs each will be vital if Newton-le-Willows are to challenge for the top spots. No one passed the 500-run mark in 2014.

‘We were a little light runs-wise last year,’ admits the skipper. ‘If we’d had someone scoring 700+ runs, I think we’d have gone up. It was due to availability as much as anything. We never had a settled order, although we got more consistent towards the end of the season. It’ll help this season that we’ll have Steve Appleton back with us. He’s committed to the full season and offers something in both departments.’