The Bolton Cricket League is a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

league comprising fifteen teams in and around

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

. The league runs competitions at First Team, Second Team, Under 18, Under 15, Under 13 and Under 11 levels. It expanded after the 2015 season, with nine clubs joining from in and around the area. However, the league lost two established clubs in the process, due to the formation of the Greater Manchester Cricket League in 2016.

History

The league was established in 1930 after breaking away from the Bolton Cricket Association. The League Heahquarters is based at Barley Brook Meadow,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

. The League also hold the Hamer Cup competition; a knockout cup competition for first teams in the Bolton Cricket League. The most successful team(s) to date is both

Walkden Walkden is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, northwest of Salford, and of Manchester. Historically in the township of Worsley in Lancashire, Walkden was a centre for coal mining and textile manufacture. In 20 ...

and Farnworth who became league champions for the fourteenth time in 2019 and 2017 respectively.

Champions

League performance by season from 2011

Notable players

A number of quality cricketers have played in the Bolton Cricket League including: * Michael Atherton *

Ian Cowap Ian Cowap (10 June 1950 – 10 February 2016) was an English cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and right-arm medium-pace bowler who played for Cheshire. He was born in Nantwich, Cheshire and attended Nantwich and Acton Grammar School; h ...

* John Crawley *

Kapil Dev Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj (Pronunciation: əpiːl deːʋ born 6 January 1959) is an Indian former cricketer. He was a fast-medium bowler and a hard-hitting middle-order batsman, and was named by '' Wisden'' as the Indian Cricketer of the Cen ...

* Charlie Griffith *

Matthew Hayden Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer. His career spanned fifteen years. Hayden was a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, who along with opening partners, Jus ...

* Ronnie Irani *

Dheeraj Jadhav Dheeraj Jadhav (born 16 September 1979), is an Indian cricketer who currently plays for Assam. He has represented Mumbai Champs in the Indian Cricket League and Maharashtra in domestic cricket. Although he used to bat in the middle order, he ...

* Collis King * Javed Miandad *

Sir Garfield Sobers Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, (born 28 July 1936), also known as Sir Gary or Sir Garry Sobers, is a former cricketer who played for the West Indies between 1954 and 1974. A highly skilled bowler, an aggressive batsman and an excellent fielder, ...

* Mark Taylor * Mark Waugh *

Farokh Engineer Farokh Maneksha Engineer (born 25 February 1938) is an Indian former cricketer. He played 46 Test matches for India, played first-class cricket for Bombay in India from 1959 to 1975 and for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England from 196 ...

Aiden Markram Aiden Kyle Markram (born 4 October 1994) is a South African cricketer who is the current captain of the South Africa national cricket team in Twenty20 International cricket. and captained the South African under-19 cricket team to win the 2014 ...

*Footballing brothers

Gary Neville Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English football pundit and former player. He is also a co-owner of English Football League club Salford City. After retiring from football in 2011, Neville went into punditry and was a comm ...

and Phil Neville also played in the Bolton Cricket League.

References

{{Reflist

External links