Accrington v Lowerhouse in the Worsley Cup
Accrington have only lost once to Lowerhouse in the Worsley Cup. The two clubs have met four times in the competition. Apart from the most recent meeting, historically the meetings have all been low scoring affairs with the first meeting in 1924 being the only time that the team scores have reached three figures.
The clubs first met in the semi finals in 1924. Accrington professional Charlie Llewellyn took 6-56 from a marathon 30.4 over stint to bowl Lowerhouse out for 106 in 60.4 overs. Accrington lost 7 wickets in reaching the final where they lost to Colne.
Thirty-four years later the clubs were drawn together again. Accrington reached the semi final with a hard fought 5 wicket win in a match that spanned three days. The loss of professional SK Girdhari with a finger injury that not only prevented him batting and bowling in the match but also kept him out of the semi final, made life much more difficult for Accrington. Bill Haworth and Derek Rushton both took 5-21 to dismiss Lowerhouse for 94. Accrington collapsed from 68-1 to 82-5 but skipper Lindon Dewhurst hit an unbeaten 18 to steer his side to victory.
Twenty years went by before Accrington again played Lowerhouse in 1978 this time at Liverpool Road. This match was the lowest scoring to date with Accrington professional Alan Worsick taking 5-17 to bowl Lowerhouse out for just 62. A 4th wicket stand of 38 between John Swanney (23) and Malcolm Taylor 23 not out helped Accrington limp to a 4 wicket win.
Twenty six years later Lowerhouse finally beat Accrington by just 7 runs after scoring 209 all out at Accrington in 2014.
Semi Final Wednesday 6th August 1924
Accrington 113-7, Lowerhouse 106
Accrington reached the final for the first time by beating Lowerhouse by 3 wickets. A marathon 30.4 over spell by Charlie Llewellyn
yielded a 6-56 return as Lowerhouse were bowled out for 106 in 60.4 overs of static batting. Stan Smith picked up 2-27 from 19 overs with Alec Jackson conceding 10 from 7 overs and Dick Eddleston taking 1-7 from 4 overs. Opener Arthur Spencer hit 32 and JW Halstead an unbeaten 20 for the visitors. Jackson (29), Johnson Moore (22) and Charlie Finney (21 not out) scored at a much more appealing rate to notch victory in 37 overs.
Round 2 Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 5th, 6th, 7th August 1958
Accrington 96-5, Lowerhouse 94
Accrington reached the semi final by beating Lowerhouse by 5 wickets in a much delayed game that spread over three weekday evenings. Accrington overcame the loss of Indian professional SK Girdhari with a finger damaged whilst fielding, which not only prevented him from batting and bowling, but also from playing in the semi final. Bill Haworth and Derek Rushton both took 5-21 to dismiss Lowerhouse for 94. The visitors were 55-2 at one stage, ending the first evening on 70-5. At the end of the second evening Accrington were well set for victory on 49-1 with Tommy Cunliffe on 28 and Russ Cuddihy on 15. Cunliffe was dismissed by Peter Lawson (3-36) to trigger a collapse from 68-1 to 82-5 but skipper Lindon Dewhurst hit an unbeaten 18 to steer his side to victory.
Round 1 Sunday 21st May 1978
Lowerhouse 62, Accrington 65-6
Accrington crawled to a 1st Round victory against Lowerhouse at Liverpool Road. Dave Parsons removed opener Steve Gee (18) and professional Mohinder Amarnath (9) after Alan Worsick had made the breakthrough by bowling Keith Fairclough for 8, to put the home side on the back foot. No other batsman made double figures as the last 8 wickets tumbled for 28 runs to leave Lowerhouse 62 all out. Worsick took 5-17 off 11 overs, Parsons 2-21 off 9 and Tony Gallagher 2-6. After openers Graham Beech (6) and Geoff Hayhurst (10) had put on 17, three wickets fell without addition to the total with Jon Hartley bowling Beech and Amarnath removing Hayhurst and Alan Richardson in successive balls. John Swanney and Malcolm Taylor repaired the damage with a 4th wicket stand of 38 when Amarnath struck again to clean bowl Swanney for 23. Worsick followed in identical fashion for 1 and then skipper Peter West was run out without scoring as Accrington suddenly got the jitters with less than 10 required but Taylor stood firm to strike the winning runs and finish on 23 not out to seal a drawn out 4 wicket win in the 29th over.
Round 1 Sunday May 18th 2014 Accrington 202-7, Lowerhouse 209
Lowerhouse beat Accrington for the first time in Worsley Cup meetings, edging home by 7 runs at Thorneyholme Road. Lowerhouse made 209 all out with professional Cobus Pienaar making his first century for the club. The South African hit six fours and a six in making 104 from 125 balls after being dropped on 14. Joe Martin (30) and Jonny Whitehead (14) also chipped in with Jimmy Hayhurst (2-29), professional Ockert Erasmus (2-27), Ramiz Hussain (2-26) and Simon Hanson (2-51) all taking a couple of wickets each. Matt Walker sent back both openers but a 3rd wicket stand of 123 between Erasmus and Hussain put Accrington back in the match. Hussain hit six fours in an 88 ball knock of 58 and Erasmus made 86 from 114 balls with nine fours and a six. The return of Pienaar turned the game Lowerhouse's way with the dismissal of Erasmus at 176. Skipper Stuart Crabtree made 15 but Accrington fell short on 202-7. Scorecard