Latest news with #DivisionOne
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Kerry SFL: Jack Savage dozen sees Kerins O'Rahillys join Austin Stacks at top of Division 1
On an emotional evening in Strand Road on Friday, Kerins O'Rahillys moved back up to join Austin Stacks at the top of Division One after a two-point win over Ballymacelligott in this re-arranged round 8 fixture. The game had been deferred due to the tragic death of 18-year-old Luke Silles, a member of the Ballymacelligott GAA club, who lost his life in a swimming accident.
Leader Live
4 days ago
- Sport
- Leader Live
Things are going so well for Northop Hall and Chirk sides
Following on from a testing start to the campaign, Chirk have picked up back-to-back triumphs in the Shropshire League. Meanwhile, Northop Hall are targeting promotion from Division Two of the Liverpool Competition and after losing out in their first contest of the summer, Ben Slater's side have triumphed in each of their match-ups since then. Last time out, it was a North Wales derby triumph for Hall in their meeting against Prestatyn. Paul Jenkins was on the money with a four for one return as Prestatyn were skittled for just 69. 'It was just job done in the end,' said captain Ben Slater. 'It was quite humid, so the ball was swinging early. But after 15 overs, that died down.' Northop Hall head to Stockport Trinity seeking to bag their fifth win on the bounce and keep them within sight of the promotion places. Slater is taking nothing for granted and he stressed: 'Southport Trinity will be a decent outfit. 'We have always had good competition when we've gone there. They do know how to win.' Matty Jones, who is enjoying a great season with the bat, returns to Northop Hall's line-up. Northop Hall Seconds will aim to make the most of home comforts as they tackle Spring View Seconds. A more settled side is playing its part in an upturn of fortunes for Chirk, who go to Shifnal Seconds tomorrow in Division One of the Shropshire League. 'It's two out of two and it's been two good games,' said skipper Liam Walker. 'We played really well on Saturday versus Frankton. 'We have bowled and fielded well in the last couple of weeks. Having a full side has certainly made a difference.' Looking to follow up wins over Oswestry and Frankton with another success, Walker added: 'I think Shifnal will be strong. They're always a decent side. They have got some good experience there and we are looking forward to it. We think we will be okay team wise.' Chirk Seconds host Quatt Thirds.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Lancashire are tearing themselves apart on and off the pitch
The crisis enveloping Lancashire has deepened, as Dale Benkenstein left the club 'by mutual consent' on Wednesday, just a day before an AGM that promises to be explosive. Lancashire are enduring a desperate season on the field. Relegated from Division One of the County Championship last season, they are winless and a single point off bottom place in the second tier as the competition takes its mid-point break for the Vitality T20 Blast. Promotion, for which they were widely tipped, is slipping beyond their reach. A fortnight ago, Lancashire issued an unprecedented apology to members for the 'disappointing start' to the season, bemoaning the flat pitches at Old Trafford, but crucially backing Benkenstein and his coaching team. That statement was issued at 11.25am, but a little over three hours later in a move reminiscent of a scene from The Thick of It, another missive followed saying Keaton Jennings was resigning as captain of the County Championship team with in-form Australian Marcus Harris taking over. After a draw against Derbyshire and a thumping defeat at leaders Leicestershire in Harris's two games in charge, Benkenstein has now followed Jennings in leaving his post. Steven Croft, the 40-year-old who retired from playing last season, has been placed in interim charge. The messy, muddled triptych of statements act as an emblem for the club's start to a season in which Lancashire have been so bad that barely anyone noticed Yorkshire's slide to the lower reaches of Division One. South African Benkenstein, who enjoyed a fine career as a player, arrived from Gloucestershire, who finished bottom of Division Two in his last season in 2023 and had won just two Championship matches in two years. At Lancashire, he managed just three red-ball wins, all of them in a relegation campaign last year, out of 21 matches. It leaves the club at a low ebb; a far cry from 2022, when they finished second in all three county competitions. To compete on all three fronts is a fine achievement. All the while, a host of Lancashire products thrive elsewhere, such as Nottinghamshire captain Haseeb Hameed, Warwickshire captain Alex Davies, and Surrey's lynchpin Jordan Clark. It is unusual for a county coach to depart mid-season, but this one was greeted with little surprise and few complaints. Now, attention among a restless, angry support base will turn to those who hired him just 18 months ago with such a modest record: Mark Chilton, the director of cricket, Daniel Gidney, the chief executive, and Andy Anson, the chairman. They may feel that the departure of Benkenstein will slightly quieten the music they face at the annual general meeting at 4pm on Thursday, but that seems optimistic. Many will see the coach leaving as mere window dressing. Lancashire are as busy as any county cricket club. On the cricket side, they host men's and women's internationals, a Hundred franchise (which they are partnering with Indian Premier League side Lucknow Super Giants), a men's county team, and a tier-one women's team. They are also developing a playing and training base away from Old Trafford at Farington near Preston. Off the field, at their headquarters they have two hotels, a successful conferencing and events business, and have hosted major concerts. This makes them, and Surrey, the envy of other counties in terms of year-round non-cricket business. The two sides of the business should be able to coexist, but the sense among those close to the club is that the building of the off-field business has contributed to a loss of focus on cricket. Club legend David 'Bumble' Lloyd used his column in the Daily Mail last week to opine on the club's demise. 'There is a feeling, from both within and outside the club, that cricket isn't the main priority,' he wrote. 'Rather the balance sheet is. That is a real concern. We must get back to being a cricket club.' Lloyd described Anson, who is also CEO of the British Olympic Association, as a 'thoroughly decent bloke who is very busy doing lots of other things, so he can't be hands-on', adding that the well-respected board member John Abrahams is the 'only one with any cricket knowledge at senior level'. For context, Lloyd's lifetime in and around the club has led to him becoming one of 29 vice-presidents at Lancashire, and he still works for the club in commentary and commercial roles. He knows the place like the back of his hand, and his words carry weight. Lloyd's words would chime with many of Lancashire's members, who have been vocal in their dissent for some years. As one says: 'Lancashire and Old Trafford have become an events business attached to an inconvenient cricket team, and an even more inconvenient membership alongside that.' The members have a fraught relationship with the club's leaders. Anson has been in charge since 2020, and Gidney was appointed CEO in 2012, making him one of the longest-serving officials in county cricket. He has helped transform Lancashire off the field, has been innovative in his courting of the lucrative Indian market, and has been a great champion of women's cricket. It should be noted that Lancashire won the inaugural Vitality Women's County Cup on Monday, so it has not all been bad on the field at the start of the season. But he has also had a way of angering cricket fans, not least when he told a Lancashire members' forum that some non-host counties were like 'heroin addicts' in their reliance on the England and Wales Cricket Board. This matter is understood to have been raised at meeting of county leaders. On the more extreme fringe of the Red Rose membership was the Lancashire Action Group, which was founded in 2014 and replaced by Lancashire CC Members Group last year. Earlier this month, their leader Alan Higham wrote an open letter looking ahead to the AGM, saying 'the club is struggling – both on the pitch, financially and for the continued support of loyal fans'. They laid out a series of complaints, including the failure of the club to allow members to be represented on the board, and the stifling of dissent. Some of these issues can be expected to dominate proceedings at the AGM on Thursday. But chief among their complaints was 'a loss of focus on Lancashire CCC'. They accuse the club of failing to encourage attendances at Lancashire matches. In 2019, the last season before the pandemic and the inaugural Hundred, Lancashire's Blast attendances averaged more than 10,000. In 2024, not helped by a washed-out Roses match, that dropped to under 5,500. The highest attendance was still the Yorkshire fixture, at 7,699, with the lowest just 3,768. Blast numbers have been declining across the country since the Hundred (and will continue to do so this year, with advanced sales very poor), but Lancashire's is an extreme example. Membership figures have been dropping, too; in 2006, Lancashire had more than 12,000 members. Now they have just 1,400 full annual members, along with a few thousand others in lower categories that allow access to international tickets. This group clearly fluctuates year-on-year; there were a total of 8,604 members for the Ashes year of 2023, but that dropped to 5,022 in 2024. Members are always likely to grumble when a team perform as poorly as Lancashire are now. But for all that the off-field business is well set up, the club's finances are in a tight spot. When their last accounts (for 2023) were published, Lancashire had £32.2 million of debt, which is expensive to service. The club's finances are tied to the England calendar, and are vulnerable to the whims of the weather. In 2023, they hosted an Ashes Test, but two days were badly affected by rain, costing them revenue. Last year, their Test against Sri Lanka was a low-key affair, while the Roses match and T20 international against Australia were both rained off – bad luck, and brutal for the balance sheet. Next year, Old Trafford does not host a Test match of any sort, denying the club income from advance ticket sales, and in 2027 they are due to host a Test, but not in the Ashes. Last summer, concern about the club's cash flow rose among the playing group when there was a delay in their expenses being paid, affecting some players' personal financial position. When contacted by Telegraph Sport about this last year, the club accepted that one payment was delayed, putting it down to a change of system. Concerts, like Test matches, have been a sure-fire money-spinner for Lancashire in recent decades. There are currently no concerts in the diary, which the club say is because they are focusing on cricket. But reports in local and national media earlier this year revealed that Trafford Council, the local authority, had taken Lancashire CCC and mega-promoter Live Nation to court over an incident in which a member of the public was injured at a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert three years ago. The trial will not happen until March 2027, and Lancashire are still able to host concerts while this happens, although it could be that the opening of the Co-Op Live arena in Manchester affects who performs there. Later this year, Lancashire will be offered a route out of their financial difficulties by the Hundred sale. Gidney, Anson and former board member James Sheridan deserve credit for their work on this, which secured them the IPL partner they so desperately sought, Lucknow's billionaire owner Sanjiv Goenka, and a good overall value of £116 million. Lancashire were gifted 51 per cent of the franchise by the ECB, and chose to sell 21 per cent and keep 30 per cent of it, meaning Goenka is buying 70 per cent overall. When the deal is eventually done – and it is not Lancashire or their partners dragging their feet – the club could receive upwards of £40 million and an opportunity to write off some of that debt and build the business further. That can wait, though. The first step out of Lancashire's crisis will be to win a few games.
Powys County Times
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Powys County Times
Sam Curran steers Surrey to draw while Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire earn wins
Sam Curran's second consecutive first-class fifty helped Surrey bat out a final-day draw at home to Essex in Division One of the Rothesay County Championship. Champions Surrey started 386 runs short of an improbable victory target of 418 and when Simon Harmer accounted for openers Rory Burns (39) and Dom Sibley (40), Jamie Porter's three wickets in quick succession – on his way to five for 88 – set up a tantalising evening session at Kia Oval. Struggling on 167 for five, England outcast Curran backed up his first-innings 80 with another mature knock of 77 from 121 balls before his dismissal sparked brief hope for Essex. Match drawn 🤝 We take 12 points from a tense game at the Kia Oval. 🤎 | #SurreyCricket — Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) May 26, 2025 Further light showers in a rain-affected day four halted the visitors momentum before Surrey's fifth draw from seven fixtures was confirmed after they got to 289 for seven from 84 overs. Leaders Nottinghamshire strengthened their grip at the top of the table, seeing off Yorkshire with five wickets on the final day at Headingley. The Division One pace-setters racked up their fourth win of the campaign by 163 runs, with Dillon Pennington making the running. Pennington, an unused member of the England Test squad last year, had two wickets overnight and finished with five for 106 as he prised out the defiant Matthew Revis, stand-in skipper Dom Bess and tailender Ben Coad. 💬"We've got to find some answers because as much as we talk and everything like that, it's about performances." Anthony McGrath spoke on Yorkshire's defeat to Notts and upcoming player availability. #YorkshireGrit — Yorkshire CCC (@YorkshireCCC) May 26, 2025 Yorkshire batted for 120.3 overs to show some grit but were finally dismissed for 299 when Mohammad Abbas claimed the final wicket. While Nottinghamshire ride high, question marks are piling up for the White Rose, who sit second-bottom of the standings with one win from seven, and have just lost captain Jonny Bairstow to the Indian Premier League. Chris Woakes claimed three wickets for Warwickshire, but they were denied victory by rain at Worcestershire. Worcestershire resumed on 57 for two and, while Woakes finished with three for 30, Matthew Waite hit 44 not out amid plenty of showers to help the hosts escape with a draw after they battled to 181 for eight. In Division Two, Derbyshire ended a sequence of five successive draws at Kent's expense, skittling the visitors before lunch to win by an innings and 14 runs. Mickey was delighted after the win over Kent. Watch the full interview ⤵️ — Derbyshire CCC (@DerbyshireCCC) May 26, 2025 Needing six more wickets overnight, they picked them up for the addition of just 90 runs as Kent subsided for 247 after following on. The writing was on the wall when Zak Chappell had Tawanda Muyeye caught behind for 55 off the first ball of the day. A knock of 49 from tailender Grant Stewart was the only real resistance as a cheap double from all-rounder Luis Reece and Jake Ball's injury absence helped Derbyshire to take the result. Rain forced Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire to settle for a draw. After Northamptonshire declared on 259 for six, it set the visitors 350 for victory and a thrilling finish was on the cards when Gloucestershire slipped to 214 for six before wet weather after tea ended the chances of a winner.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Leaders Notts beat rain to seal win over Yorkshire
Rothesay County Championship Division One, Headingley (day four) Nottinghamshire 228 & 393-8: Clarke 94; Coad 3-64 Yorkshire 159 & 299: Wharton 58; Pennington 5-106 Notts (19 pts) beat Yorkshire (3 pts) by 163 runs Match scorecard Five-wicket paceman Dillon Pennington helped Nottinghamshire complete a fourth win in seven matches, this one against Yorkshire at Headingley shortly before tea on day four, to strengthen their position at the Division One summit in the County Championship. Struggling Yorkshire were set a 463-target during the third afternoon and closed on 176-5, losing four of those wickets in the evening session, including one in the day's final over to Pennington. Yorkshire started the fourth day well, with top-scorer Matthew Revis and George Hill sharing a 54-run partnership to raise hopes of avoiding a fourth defeat in seven matches. But they needed much more and were later bowled out for 299 inside 121 overs, slipping to a 163-run defeat. The part-time spin of Freddie McCann made the breakthrough by bowling Hill with the first ball of a solitary over shortly before the new ball. Pennington then removed Revis for 45 just after lunch and finished with an impressive season's best 5-106 from 31 overs. Nottinghamshire claimed 19 points to Yorkshire's three and reach the midway point in the four-day campaign well placed to claim a first Championship title since 2010. Not since 2011 have they won at Headingley, a venue at which they have only ever won five Championship matches, including this. Pennington claimed three of his wickets on Monday in easing batting conditions to keep Yorkshire second-bottom in the table. Revis and new England Lions all-rounder Hill, who contributed 26, batted pretty comfortably through the first 85 minutes of a gloomy and chilly day. Although the former took a painful blow on the right thumb from the seam of Brett Hutton, he played confidently through the off-side off front foot and back on the way to a season's best score in his fourth appearance. But all Notts had to do was stay patient, and you felt success would come. And it did, even if it initially came via the most unexpected route. The off-spin of McCann was brought into the attack to bowl the 79th over, the penultimate before the new ball was due. He dragged his first ball down and Hill's eyes lit up. He went to pull, but the delivery scooted through and uprooted middle stump, leaving the score at 230-6. Seven balls into the afternoon, Pennington forced Revis - playing back - to feather behind to South African Kyle Verreynne with the score on 244. The same combination ousted Yorkshire's stand-in captain Dom Bess for 21 and then Ben Coad for five. By that stage, at 277-9, the outcome of the game was all but certain. With light rain starting to fall, last pair Jack White and Jordan Thompson resisted for more than an hour - and almost 20 overs - to threaten that theory. But Mohammad Abbas got White caught behind by Verreynne, whose sixth catch in the innings and ninth in the match sealed the win. ECB Reporters' Network supported by Rothesay Notifications, social media and more with BBC Sport
