Stacks on cup trail
STACKSTEADS CC are back in action this weekend when they travel to Brinscall in the first group match of the Ramsbottom Cup.
The New Hall Hey side, along with Burnley Belevedere have been invited to step up to replace Clitheroe and Great Harwood in the senior cup competition, however they will have to play all of their games away from home, due to the standard of their respective grounds.
Stacksteads have decided not to employ the services of a professional, so will rely on home grown talent to produce a surprise result against opposition from the division above. ●● Bacup opener Tim Farragher CHRIS OSTICK ON September 7, 1996, an 11-year-old Lancashiremad Stephen Parry stormed onto the Lord’s outfield to celebrate another Red Rose one-day trophy.
He had just watched man-of-the-match Glen Chapple take 6-18 and rip apart an Essex side who were dismissed for 57 in the NatWest Bank Trophy final.
Now Parry wants to return to the Home of Cricket as a Lancashire player - and with Chapple as his head coach - to fulfil a lifetime’s ambition.
It’s an ambition that is as strong as ever, with the left-arm spinner having seen team-mate Tom Smith forced out of the game through injury.
“I really want to win a 50-over competition before I finish,” said the 31-year-old. “Winning the T20 Blast was unbelievable, but I remember going to the Lord’s final with my dad, running on the pitch.
“They are the moments growing up with my dad thinking ‘that’s what I want to do.’ I have had eight or nine years of trying to do that now and reached one quarter-final and one semi-final.
“I have had some good years in the competition, but as a group we haven’t been able to put it together.
“When you see what happened to Tom, you realise this doesn’t last for ever and that you need to cherish the time you have left playing the game.”
Lancs today (Friday) open their Royal London One-Day Cup campaign at home to Leicestershire.