Heysham Cricket Club’s men’s first team are top of Palace Shield Division One A after a fine start to their inaugural season in the league.
They joined the Palace Shield setup for the first ever time after winning Division One of the Westmorland Cricket League, and doing so unbeaten, in the 2023 season.
Captain Lewis Plackett, who has been at the club since 2021, previewed the season on Beyond Radio’s Saturday Sport Show back in April and said the side hadn’t played a lot of the other Division One A teams previously so they were prepared for a challenge.
But they have taken to the division like a duck to water, with the Carr Lane side winning seven and losing two of their ten games, with one no result – that coming against local rivals Morecambe last weekend (June 29).
Plackett spoke to Beyond Radio again last week to discuss their start to the season.
“We’ve really enjoyed it, we’ve made a positive start, we didn’t know much about the league or the teams going into it so we’re really happy with how we’ve done,” he said.
“There are a few games we think we could’ve done better in and we’ve not played our best cricket yet but we’re happy with the points we’ve accumulated so far.
“Playing new teams, new players and playing at new grounds has been good and exciting, the likes of Leyland (second team), those big Northern League grounds.
“Those new teams have definitely been a new learning experience for us, many of the teams have two really good spin bowlers, something we’d never really experienced in the Westmorland League before.”
The firsts have already had quite a few highlights this season and Plackett spoke about his favourite moments since the start of the campaign.
“I think our first game against Kirkham, who came down from the Premier Division last season, was a big one,” he said.
“We got bowled out for 90 and turned it around to get a big win.
“We went to Standish, got a win there, the win over Westgate was good and the win against Garstang was massive for us.
“I think our game against Longridge (June 22, won by 31 runs) was really important for us.
“It was a great game of cricket to be involved in and hopefully that kickstarts even more momentum.”
The club take on Westgate once again this Friday (July 5), playing them in a T20 game – the last of their Palace Shield Twenty20 Division Two North group stage games.
Heysham are second while Westgate are first, but that could all change this weekend.
Their runs to wicket score in the T20 has been very impressive – 32.56.
Plackett said: “Our T20 campaign has been a bit frustrating. We played Fulwood and Broughton and got a good win over them.
“We were supposed to play Preston but didn’t because of bad weather, and then we were meant to play Lancaster but they gave us the game.
“We have only played one game and it will go down to that last game on Friday.
“The top two of every group (of five) progress so hopefully, with our high net run rate and runs to wicket score, we can go through.
“It’s at home so we’re hoping for a good turnout.”
The team were knocked out of the Lancashire Cricket Foundation knockout tournament by Kendal in May, but they are a team who play their cricket two leagues higher, in the Northern Premier League, and Plackett said the game was a “big learning experience” for the players.
“We had a mixed team out for the game, there were a few lads from our usual Saturday squad who couldn’t make the game, but it was good to play against other quality players and professionals, they have some really good and experienced bowlers who have played years of Northern League cricket.
“As we hopefully go through the leagues, we’re going to come up against tough opposition so those games are really important for the next challenges.”
Although all players have contributed hugely towards their success so far, Plackett mentioned a few standout cricketers.
“We signed Ryan Pearson from Garstang around the third or fourth game of the season, he’s played a lot of cricket and won the Northern League a couple of times before, with both Morecambe and Garstang,” he said.
“Sam Calverley has had some fantastic innings, Jamie Cassidy at the weekend (of the game versus Longridge) played a really important innings for us and was great with the bat and the ball.
“To be fair, it’s all been shared around – everyone in the team has chipped in and the performances have been consistent throughout the team.
“We’re playing with confidence and that’s what you want to see.”
It’s not just the first team who are progressing well.
The second team are currently fourth in the Westmorland Cricket League second division and are also through to the quarter finals of their divisional cup, the British Rose Trophy.
A number of young players have represented the team so far this season.
One of the players for the second team is Charlotte Whittaker, the only female player in the three senior teams.
“They’re doing really well, some new faces are in there and some older players too who turn out,” said Plackett.
“James Hesketh is the new captain of the team, he’s done well and got a good balance in the team.
“Harry Wallbank is starting to play in the first team now after being in the seconds, he’s unfortunate not to have played more often in the firsts considering his quality.
“Ollie Toulmin has also done brilliantly.
“They’re looking to kick on and really want to get into that top three, maybe top two this season.”
The third team are fifth in Division Four South of the Westmorland League and Plackett says captain Dave Whittaker and the team do a “great job”.
“They’ve brought in new signings and some younger lads.
“Now that we’re at the end of the exam season and the summer holidays are coming up, we’ll be starting to see a lot more of the younger players.
“There are so many exciting players coming through.”
The All-Stars and Dynamos scheme, which Heysham and several other clubs in Lancashire run in conjunction with Lancashire Cricket Foundation, is becoming even more popular.
The scheme is set up to encourage young, budding cricketers to play and learn more about the sport at their local grounds.
“People say it’s more like herding cats because of how much interest there is!” said Plackett.
“It’s great on a Friday night, though, seeing so many people show up and we’re lucky that a lot of our T20 fixtures are after those sessions so we get that extra support as well.”
Heysham hosted their first ever women’s softball sessions on June 17 and July 1, in conjunction with the Lancashire Cricket Foundation.
The session was well attended and Plackett is excited about how Heysham can promote women’s cricket.
“It was great to see so many people turn up, I’m a secondary school teacher and we do a lot of work promoting women’s cricket and you can see how much the national teams have positively impacted women and girls in this country, similar in football too.
“We’ve seen other clubs start women’s teams locally so it can be massively important for clubs.
“Whether we get a women’s team at Heysham, we’re not sure yet, but we can definitely start upping the interest to try and get a team together.”