Fylde coast cricket preview: St Annes' big weekend in league and cup

Tomorrow sees them host Northern Premier Cricket League leaders Kendal, looking for a fifth straight win in all competitions.

Two of those four consecutive victories have come on league duty despite the recent poor weather.

Ten of the 12 NPCL games scheduled for the last fortnight have been abandoned: the other two have seen St Annes pick up a maximum 30 points in defeating Eccleston and Penrith.

Those wins have lifted Armstrong’s players to eighth in the table, 46 points clear of the drop zone, ahead of Saturday’s match against the joint leaders.

The captain said: “Kendal is always a good game and, as always, they have a good team.

“They’ll be looking to show why they are top of the table but that doesn’t mean we can’t take 15 points away either.

“I feel like, in the first half of the season, we didn’t have the bits of luck you sometimes need but, now we’re in the second half, our luck has definitely improved.

“Getting those two games on against Penrith and Eccleston – and winning them – has been massive.

“I’d be lying if I said there weren’t some concerns about the league position at some points during the season but we’ve improved as a unit.”

Having won at Penrith last Saturday, St Annes followed it up with victory in the ECB National Club Championship at Northern 24 hours later.

Play never got underway, meaning a bowl-out which St Annes won to set up a quarter-final at Richmondshire CC on Sunday.

Their hosts sit fifth in the North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League ECB Premier Division.

While Armstrong concedes that he doesn’t know much about their opponents, he maintains all of the quarter-finalists must have something about them to have reached the last eight.

He said: “No-one’s a bad side if they’ve reached the quarter-final of a national competition.

“The game is an exciting one but, at the end of the day, we’ve got to play good cricket and enjoy the experience.

“The goal is to go there, win the game and get to the semi-final – to get to the last four would be fantastic.”

SATURDAY FIXTURES:

Northern Premier Cricket League (12.30pm): Blackpool v Garstang, Fleetwood v Netherfield, St Annes v Kendal.

Liverpool and District Competition (12pm): Lytham v Spring View.

Moore and Smalley Palace Shield Premier Division (1pm): Carnforth v Thornton Cleveleys, Kirkham & Wesham v Vernon Carus, Mawdesley v Great Eccleston.

Division 1B (1pm): Fylde v BAC/EE, Great Eccleston 2 v Blackpool 2, Grimsargh v Fleetwood 2, Thornton Cleveleys 2 v New Longton.

Division 2 (1pm): Norcross v St Annes 2.

SUNDAY:

ECB National Club Championship (1pm): Richmondshire v St Annes.