BY SCOTT McHUGH: Although he ended up without the silverware he deserved, seconds skipper Roger Smethurst and his players can look back with pride on 2012. They demonstrated the skills and team ethic they possess nearly all the way through a long, hard and often cold season and we should not be at all harsh Click here for more ….

 

The seconds finally recaptured their form with the bat with an excellent run chase at Clifton on Sunday. It was a heartening performance as they chased down 200 at Manchester Road and put behind them the misery of the past few games that has seen them lose their position at the top of the CLL Click here for more ….

 

Rd 1: Heywood 171-8 (A Dawson 53) Clifton 158-9 (Smethurst 3-24, A Dawson 3-31) Cruising on 136-5 with Andy Dawson and Wes Hunt (38) playing well, Heywood suffered a mini-collapse to find themselves on 138-8, before Scott Jones and veteran Rick Purser put on what proved to be a crucial ninth-wicket partnership of 33. Clifton Click here for more ….

 

Roger Smethurst’s seconds continued their march to league and cup glory with a demolition job of Ashton on Saturday. Star of the show again was all-rounder Simon Dawson, who continues to re-discover the kind of form that makes him a real contender for a push for first-XI selection next season. He picked up 3-43 off Click here for more ….

 
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Heywood Seconds’ powerhouse bowling attack proved too much for Walsden as they moved ominously into the final of the Burton Cup at Crimble last night. The game had gone into a third day (night) after rain had ended proceedings following Heywood’s innings of 184 on Sunday. Walsden resumed last night on 105-4, needing another 80 Click here for more ….

 

Captain Roger Smethurst led from the front as Heywood’s second team went from strength to strength with two great victories over the weekend. On Saturday they beat the weather at Werneth, hammering the home side by 105 runs with Smethurst hitting an invaluable 63. Then on Sunday, with rain in the air early doors, Smethurst Click here for more ….

 
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Heywood seconds made heavy work of defeating a game Unsworth side at a damp Crimble on Saturday. After posting a target of 160 – mainly thanks to a defiant 52 from Adam Fawcett – Simon Dawson struck three times early on to leave Unsworth perilously placed at 10-4. But some determined batting from the visitors Click here for more ….

 

Heywood seconds’ resilient middle order kept them top of the league with victory at Crompton on Saturday. Roger Smethurst’s side were in danger of losing their second match in a row when they collapsed to 27-4 at Glebe Street. Skipper Smethurst and Adam Fawcett then dug deep, putting on 77 for the fifth wicket before Click here for more ….

 

THE Dawson brothers and a determined groundstaff ensured that Heywood Cricket Club’s second team beat the weather and earned a cracking five-point victory over Werneth on Sunday. Heavy rain thwarted every first team fixture in the Central Lancashire League, but Heywood’s determined volunteers worked all morning and early afternoon at Crimble to ensure that a Click here for more ….

 

BY STEVE MCHUGH: ONE of the stalwart members of Heywood CC’s “backroom staff” believes that exciting times are ahead  - if the club’s younger players “want it”. Keith Warren came to Crimble in 2005 after a long association with local cricket, firstly as a player in the now defunct North Western League for Blackley then Click here for more ….