Prospects are looking good as top youngsters commit for next season
SOUTHPORT and Birkdale’s willingness to host Lancashire age-group matches brought a slightly unexpected benefit this week when two of the county’s finest young cricketers committed themselves to playing for the club next season.
Jack Stanley and Basil Sultan are both regulars in Lancashire’s Under 15 side, where they play alongside S&B’s Jack Carney and, GCSEs permitting, the trio will be available to new skipper, Chris Cunningham, as he seeks to build a first-team squad that will clearly be a mixture of youth and experience.
The decisions of Stanley and Sultan to play their cricket at Trafalgar Road in 2021 are particularly impressive given that Sultan currently plays for Didsbury and Stanley for the Boltonbased team, Little Hulton, but the prospect of substantial car journeys every Saturday has not deterred them or their parents.
“We realised that Basil needs to be in an environment where the cricket is a lot more competitive and he is coming up against stronger opposition, explained Sultan’s father Arshad.
“When we came down for the first time to see what things were like at Trafalgar Road everyone was so friendly that we all thought this is exactly what we want. It wasn’t just the quality of the cricket that attracted us, it was the environment as well.”
However, the pair’s friendship with Jack Carney was also instrumental in the moves as was the desire of three young players who already play their county cricket together to maintain the link in their Saturday club cricket.
“Basil, Jack Carney and Jack Stanley have been playing for Lancashire’s age-group sides for five or six years now and they just get on very well together”, said Arshad Sultan.
“I have to admit that Basil spends more time on cricket than he does on his education, but his mum was a keen cricketer, too, so he gets it left, right and centre from us. He’s keen to go on as far as he can and to become a professional.”
That ambition is shared by Jack Stanley, who is currently skipper of Lancashire’s Under 15 team and has captained every team he’s played for since he was ten. Like Sultan, Stanley is a top-order batsman but he can also bowl a few spinners if required.
“It’s non-stop cricket for me, admitted Stanley. “It’s my number one, two and three sport and my hope is that I can make it as a professional with Lancashire.
“S&B has very good facilities and the Liverpool Competition games are played on better wickets. I know a few of the lads up there so it’s a really good opportunity for me. I just need to improve my general game and I see the move to S&B as a part of that.”
There was also good news off the field for S&B this week when the Chapelhouse car dealership agreed to join the club’s impressive suite of sponsors and signed a three-year deal. Chapelhouse sell both used and new cars across the north-west but their main showroom in Southport is on Liverpool Road in Ainsdale.