SKELMERSDALE ENJOYING THEIR 125th YEAR

Date: 1st July 2016

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

Good run has taken them to the top.

Skelmersdale CC has already marked the 125th anniversary of its founding in many ways. But no one yet knows whether the highlight of this celebratory year will take place.

That will depend on a dozen or so cricketers, some of whom are so young that even a 25th anniversary would seem like delving into ancient history.

Yet in a way all this uncertainty is good news. For it has been caused by the outstanding cricket played by Ben Maddocks’s first team, who currently lead the Second Division of the MI Dental Liverpool Competition by 44 points.

Tomorrow Skem host Wavertree at Scott Rees Park and they will hoping to win their tenth successive match since losing to Liverpool on the opening day of the season.

If the title is won, a dinner will be held at which 125 years will be remembered and one magical season will be toasted. Should that come to pass no one will be raising their glasses higher than Bill Regan, Skelmersdale’s president, and Steve Maddocks, Ben’s father, who manages the first team.

Both men skippered the second team in the past. Both are Skem through and through. It is hardly a wonder they are excited about all that is happening.

‘At the start of the season we tried to build a good young squad by recruiting talent from around the North West and it’s really paid off,’ said Maddocks.

‘The enthusiasm has been tremendous and it’s also infectious. We realised we shouldn’t have lost that first game to Liverpool, so I sat the lads down and we had a chat about where we wanted to be.’

Maddocks does not need to say what was decided at that meeting. The cricket played by Skelmersdale over the past couple of months has shown the rest of the division exactly where they want to be.

Never was that more clearly illustrated than when Skem’s closest rivals, Old Xaverians and St Helens Town, were both beaten by one wicket. They were the sort of victories that decide the destination of titles.

‘I don’t think we would have won those games two years’ ago,’ said Maddocks. ‘But the character and self-belief of the players now is such that they just want to win matches and will fight to do so.

‘We now can’t wait for the next game. If the game’s delayed by rain, every member of the team is out there trying to mop up things up.’

That group of players includes the former Lytham leg-spinner, Danny Edwards, who has so far taken 42 wickets in his first season at Skelmersdale.

The recruitment of Edwards amounted to almost a declaration of intent by Skelmersdale and the ex-Premier League bowlers has combined with another leggie, Matthew Fenney, to take 66 wickets this season and Maddocks stresses that such collaborations are typical of the spirit in the side.

‘I know that Danny has taken an awful lot of wickets for us but every one of the lads has produced something in the course of the season that has helped us to win a game,’ he said.

‘Last week we had to promote Sam Callow up to No8 and he made 41 not out, the highest score he’s ever got. We needed something and Sam dug in but that epitomises the approach of the whole squad.

‘Our overseas player is Ryan Maloney and we brought him over as an opening bowler. He’s tying everything up and the spinners are benefiting from that because batsmen are saying they’ll try and get after the spinners.’

All of which has brought great pleasure to Bill Regan, whose own association with Skelmersdale stretches back to 1958.

In that time Regan has seen the club struggle for members - he describes Skelmersdale as ‘a football town 24/7’ – and he recalls the upheaval when the club moved to its current home 14 years ago.

‘At that time we had to make sure people knew we’d moved and we’ve had to work hard to encourage people to come and play cricket here,’ he said. ‘Gradually, though, we’re building numbers up and our first-team skipper, Ben Maddocks, has been with the club since he was nine.

‘I’m optimistic but we still need the people of Skem to frequent the club and this is an open invitation to people of any age who might be interested in playing or watching cricket to come down.’

‘It’s our 125th anniversary and people think I’ve been here that long