Cricket: Top Marks for league's star men

FORMER England and Somerset star Vic Marks presented Longton captain Peter Wilshaw with the Waterworld Premier Division trophy during last night's North Staffs & South Cheshire League's annual dinner.

Marks, a summariser on Test Match Special and columnist for The Observer newspaper, also presented Wilshaw with the Premier Division fielding trophy at the King's Hall last night.

He shared the accolade with Burslem's Chris Lowndes after both claimed 15 catches last season.

Knypersley's Paul Goodwin received both the Premier batting and wicket-keeping trophies, while club colleague Andy Marshall won the bowling award after his first season in the league.

The most improved team award was shared by Little Stoke and Porthill Park, while Burslem's Lowndes and Matt Hagan, of Wood Lane, were joint recipients of the Anthony Davies Memorial Trophy for Premier Captain of the Year.

Barlaston skipper Neil Davies steered his side to the Dukes Division One title, with Whitmore, led by Lee Johnson, named as most improved side in the division.

Cheadle's Hamza Siddique topped the Division One batting averages with Greg Willott receiving the bowling award.

Blythe's Dan Hammond took the wicket-keeping trophy, while the fielding award went to Elworth's Chris Regan.

The Arthur Fisher Cup was presented to Division Two champions Oulton, who were captained by Harish Patel.

The division's individual awards were received by Alsager pair Paul Pickford (batting) and Paul Tibbetts (bowling), with Checkley skipper Andy Carr picking up the wicket-keeping award.

Hassan ul Qasim, of Weston, took the fielding trophy.

Moddershall A captain Michael Dyer collected the Lester Meredith Trophy after skippering his side to the Division Three title. Lee Slater, of Endon, won the batting honours with Bagnall's Michael Barcroft receiving the bowling award.

Bagnall's Phil White was the top wicket-keeper in the division, while the fielding award went to Moddershall's David Housley.

The most sporting club awards for the season, as voted for by the league's umpire panel, were won by Woore for first XI teams and Eccleshall for the second XIs.

The Spyderbats Young Player of the Year award went to Moddershall's Chris Beech with Woore's Marc Boyes receiving the Andrew Knighton Trophy.

The second XI awards went to Wood Lane in the Premier League B, with Knypersley collecting the most improved team award.

The batting trophy was won by Audley's Richard Beckett, with club colleague Gary Latham picking up the bowling award.

Richard Mellor, of Burslem, was the division's top wicket-keeper and Little Stoke's Dan Richardson top fielder.

Barlaston seconds repeated their first team's success to take the Division One B title. Norton were named the most improved side.

Individual divisional award-winners were Chris Rhodes (Whitmore), Gareth Abbotts (Norton), Kris Heathcote (Blythe) and Mathew Barlow (Blythe).

The Division Two B championship was won by Ashcombe Park with the individual awards going to Dave Beswick (Ashcombe Park), Liam Rogers (Oulton), David Keane (Weston) and Anthony Green (Silverdale).

Wedgwood Stanfields were Division Three B title-winners with individual honours going to Ben Aston (Porthill Park A) and Ian Worthington (Oakamoor).

Woore's Carl Palmer and Oakamoor's Aaron Sergeant were joint winners of the wicket-keeping honours, with Daniel Grocott (Bagnall) and Steve Snow (Endon) sharing the fielding trophy.