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It was back to Earth with a bump for Accrington who finished in tenth place in 2010 with just nine victories after winning the title in the previous two seasons. Only one of the first five matches ended in victory including the Ron Singleton Colne Trophy match at Ramsbottom where Accrington lost after a valiant attempt to pass the home sides 233-5 ended with defeat by losing more wickets after the scores finished level. The drier summer blunted the effectiveness of the bowling attack and the batsmen performed poorly throughout the season with Accrington passing 200 on just three occasions out of 84 registered double century scores. New professional Will Driver did all that could be expected with 834 runs at 36.3. He made his maiden league century against his former club Lowerhouse and hit five other half centuries. His off spin bowling claimed 33 wickets at 21.9 with a best of 6-66 against Lowerhouse. In a season that saw no fewer than 37 players pass the 500 run mark, only Graham Lloyd of the other batsmen achieved this figure. Lloyd made 612 runs at 27.8 with just one half century. He was out in the forties and thirties six times each. Simon Hanson came within a whisker of the 500 run barrier after a splendid start to the season that saw him putting in a strong challenge for the first Under 23 Player of the month award. Hanson began with an unbeaten 65 at Todmorden and by the end of May he had 296 runs. In the 20/20 competition he averaged an incredible 145 from three innings with two unbeaten half centuries made at the top of the order, but he only played two innings of any note after May, finishing with 476 runs at 19.0. All the amateur batsmen struggled with Matt Wilson finishing with 297 runs at 14.1 after a promising start. Stuart Crabtree and Graeme Sneddon both struggled for runs after blossoming in 2009. Crabtree made 200 runs at 9.4, only finding some form after being dropped to the seconds, a fate that also befell Sneddon after making 163 runs at 9.6. Andy Greenwood finally won a place in the side and played some promising innings to average 15.3. Matt Schofield also showed some promise. Skipper David Ormerod again passed 50 wickets, finishing with 55 at 21.0. Paul Carroll took 30 at 19.8, Jimmy Hayhurst 23 at 36.7 and Damian Clarke 16 at 21.9. The 20/20 competition at last provided some highlights with wins over Enfield, East Lancs and Rishton, but Church proved too strong. Defeat in the Worsley Cup at the hands of eventual winners Colne in the second round was one of three against the league's next to bottom side. League wins against East Lancs and Todmorden were the highlights but the record 292 run defeat at Haslingden and the embarrassing 193 run hammering at Enfield are best forgotten in a disappointing campaign. With a new captain in Jimmy Hayhurst, a new professional in Ashar Zaidi and the return to form of Graham Lloyd, Accrington won the Holland Cup for the first time since 1989 after finishing as runners up to Lowerhouse in 2011. The team won 18 matches with 2 No Results and six defeats to finish with 218 points, 30 adrift of Lowerhouse who clinched the title in their penultimate game. New professional Ashar Zaidi was a revelation with his zest for runs and wickets. Zaidi began with a match winning bowling performance of 7-42 whilst bowling medium pace in the opening match against Rishton in the absence of David Ormerod, but most of his 68 wickets at 15.2 were taken whilst bowling slow left arm spin. His contrasting batting styles were also evident early on with his 174 at Rawtenstall made in free flowing style whilst his unbeaten 72 against Todmorden the previous day was made with the utmost responsibility. In all he scored 1015 runs at 59.7 with two centuries and eight half centuries and he also snapped up 17 catches, mostly off his own bowling. Accrington made a league record 386-6 at Rawtenstall on May 1st with Zaidi putting on a league record 5th wicket stand of 247 with Lloyd, who made 112. Zaidi's 174 was the highest innings of the season and his other century was the first by an Accrington player at Ramsbottom. The return to form of Lloyd once again helped to steady an often sinking ship. The former Lancashire man played nine match winning innings in scoring 635 runs at 42.3. Seven different players opened the batting with eight different combinations used with only two half century stands being recorded all season at the top of the order, the best of which was 66 on the opening day by Simon Hanson and Andrew Greenwood. The wheel turned full circle with this pair re-instated at the top by the end of the season. Hanson made 396 runs at 18.8 and Stuart Crabtree 296 at 14.1 with an unbeaten 65 at Todmorden the highlight. Graeme Sneddon (215 at 12.6), Matt Wilson (165), Mitch Taylor (154) and Marley Ali (137 at 13.7) also chipped in but the early order was brittle with too often four or five wickets down in the 50s and 60s. David Ormerod once again passed 50 wickets for the 14th time (five for Accrington, nine for Bacup), finishing with 59 victims at 20.9 and skipper Hayhurst took a personal best 34 at 20.3. Bryn Hargreaves bowled a lively spell in the last match at Lowerhouse with Taylor and Ali also used during the season sparingly. Four of the first five league games were won with a No Result at Bacup setting the side back when every other match was played. A narrow defeat at Ramsbottom was followed by another Worsley Cup exit at the first hurdle at the hands of Todmorden and defeat at East Lancs in the 20/20 which again proved decisive. A run of five wins in league and 20/20 was halted by back to back defeats by Enfield which cost Accrington the league leadership and a semi final spot in the shorter format. The team got back on track with another run of five wins which was halted by bogey team Nelson at the end of July. Fine wins at Nelson and Todmorden gave Accrington renewed hope but defeats to Ramsbottom and Church on the same weekend effectively ended the club's title winning chances.
Early
Days (1846 - 1890)
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