ON THIS DAY by Paul Hargreaves
30th August 1981
Bacup vs Lowerhouse
Autumn was already in the air at Lanehead as we were reaching the fag end of the season. Bit of trivia, Haslingden is the highest town in Lancashire above sea level but Bacup feels like it should have that honour. Lowerhouse batted first and made a solid fist of things. 80 was raised for the first wicket by Brian Higgin(25) and pro’ Jimmy Amarnath(57) The latter was a consistent, popular and model professional. Some fairly clueless fans thought him too slow but he rightly concluded that it was paramount that he anchored the innings. Was it Talleyrand or Metternich who said ‘apres moi le deluge’? If only many other subsequent pro’s valued their wicket as highly! This was to be Amarnath’s fourth and last season as Club pro’. The latter part of the ‘House innings was held together by Graham Bushell(45 not out) He was in the first of two seasons he spent at Liverpool Rd. after transferring from Turf Moor. He had the daunting role in the side of filling the all rounder slot vacated by Jon Hartley. Hartley had achieved a prestigious ‘amateur’ double in 1980 and this naturally led to a professional engagement. Bushell couldn’t quite fill those boots but had a good season nonetheless, and a better one yet in the special 1982 season. Lowerhouse were 172-7 when the 34 eight ball overs were completed. The star bowler for Bacup was a young emerging talent by the name of Keith Roscoe with 5-44. He would later move to Rawtenstall in 1985 and still plays in 2026 at the grand age of 64. He’s taken over 1,900 Lancashire League wickets. In reply, Bacup started well and reached a match winning position of 120-3. The main contributors were skipper Phil Lord(36) and Roger Law(34) The latter was a star player at Bacup and completed his career with eight seasons at Burnley. He scored over 11,000 League runs with his stylish and often punishing batting. Unfortunately for Bacup they were having the type of season where the collapse that ensued was something you could almost set your watch to. They lost their last seven wickets for just fourteen runs and were 134 all out. Despite only bowling four overs, Alan Holden was the most successful bowler. He took 4-13. In a career which saw him put so much effort and toil into the ‘House cause he took 513 wickets. In history only Tommy Shutt and Jez Hope have taken more. Holden was also a noted close to the wicket fielder with reliable hands. His ten catches in the two matches against Colne in 1987 is a remarkable statistic. He took a total of 166 in his career. With only one game scheduled in September this was the penultimate game of a season where Lowerhouse got a fifth place League finish. Sadly for Bacup and their wonderful supporters, they were at rock bottom.