They reflected that the ground is a tip-topper as regards being well drained; indeed, one of the enthusiasts in the days of old - 40 years ago or more - said to me; "I have been on all the grounds in the Bolton district, and there is not a better one than this. It is our third season here, for we have been evicted from two other grounds in the vicinity. However, Mr. Thos. Hardcastle and his son Captain Hardcastle of the Imperial Yeomanry have helped us a great deal, and the enclosure is splendidly drained". In fact when you begin to look around you perceive a running brook forms one of the boundaries, and it seems to me no herculean feat for a disciple of Jessop to whip the ball into the river. Thought I: What a nice cool job somebody has here in summer, diving in after the little leathern pilule! Or possibly someone has trained a retriever to fish the leather out of the bubbling and surging waters. Neither is the case, however. The difficulty is overcome this way: The umpire is provided with a spare ball, and when some mighty swiper lands the ball into the river it is pulled out with the aid of a fishing net - i.e. when the water is clear enough for it to be discernible. Meanwhile, play proceeds with the spare ball which the umpire has had in his pockets.

But about the game - Just to show that the wealth of Farnworth talent did not over-awe the men of the old village, even though they once belonged to such humble sphere as the last division (E) of the Junior League, from which they have gradually worked their way up into the senior competition, the Bradshaw skipper kept some of his bowlers back. He can call on eight of 'em at a pinch, but five were sufficient for Farnworth, who were anxious to record their first brace of points for the current season. There was some pretty strokes on the part of the visitors, and Sergt. Price struck everybody as a stubborn sort, not brilliant perhaps, but a sticker. He certainly helped to stay the rot at a quiet period, for when the fifth to the eighth wickets all went with little variation to the total, he thought it time to be very careful. and he certainly improved things a bit. Scholes, the man who got 37, has only played once before during 1901, and he got a dozen that time, so that Farnworth think well of him. Derbyshire did the bulk of the bowling, and is an invaluable man to the Bradshaw club.

This organisation, let it be remarked, was established eight years ago under its present colours, but there was a Bradshaw C.C. some decades back, as already noted.

As at Eagley last week, I dropped on men at Bradshaw today who would have been delighted to have seen our editor "Olympian" because they remember when he used to bowl and bat with any of them.

The Bradshaw players of today are as keen as their forbears, and in the little tent at 5 o'clock they whispered sweet confidences to one another. They are keen to do their utmost, because they know what a strong array of other good men will be elected for duty if they are at all remiss. I suppose that the Bradshaw C.C. boast 120 members, all of whome are at liberty to practice; and so good are 18 or 20 of them that the Selection Committee are at their wits' end every week, for they don't like to leave anybody out, yet they must only choose eleven. This is a healthy sign for Bradshaw interest. Farnworth did not score very slowly. Certainly the 10's kept being added more rapidly than one would have thought after yesterdays rain. And to think, that three years ago that very field was a positive swamp! Willing and generous patrons have overcome that, as will be gathered from a preceding note about drainage."

Bradshaw passed Farnworth's total of 95 with seven or eight wickets down, before being finally dismissed for 108.

The Club was now to experience the worst season of it's 100 years existence. In 1902 playing in what was to be the smallest First Division in the Association's history, Bradshaw failed to record a single win.

An insight into that long departed era can be gained in the Bolton Evening News' "Cricket & Football Field" series on "Prominent Cricketers, Captains of the Bolton League". The subject was Andrew Kay, nearly 50 years away from becoming Bradshaw Cricket Club's first life member.

ANDREW KAY (BRADSHAW)
Nestling peacefully in the hollow at the busy village of Bradshaw stands the ground upon which the fortunes of the Bradshaw Cricket Club have for the last five years been won and lost. Many glorious triumphs have been recorded, and many bitter defeats shared in by the staunch band of "flannelled fools" who have fought the battles of the village organisation on this ground, which hidden away from vulgar gaze, has been the theme of many tributes of admiration. The tranquility of the charming scene when clothed in summer garb is undisturbed save for the rippling of the placid stream which skirts the enclosure, and, like Tennyson's brook, flows on forever. It was to this pleasant spot that the writer recently turned his attention and gleaned a brief history of the man who has acted as skipper of the little craft this season, which has, unfortunately, been the most disastrous the club has spent since being promoted to the senior ranks of the Bolton and District League. And yet before the first match was played the supporters of the club thought the team good enough for one of the best positions - on paper, and their disappointment has been great, for unless the club has gathered in the much needed complement of points from their Eagley rivals today they will be still

Without Their First League Victory