WITH Bolton's two cricket leagues going head-to-head yesterday in the Anthony Axford Trophy, Ray Taylor took the opportunity to have a look at how the Bolton League and Bolton Association have fared in recent inter-league encounters.

The League held a 20 to 10 advantage in the Trinity Cup – the competition's previous title – going into the 2003 contest, which began with the Association batting first and scoring 227, including 66 from Bazid Khan and a late unbeaten half century from Ian Critchley.

Dale Jones had been the pick of the bowlers with 3-28 from his 10 overs.

The League slumped to 116-6, but a century partnership between Matt Parkinson and Jon Fearick took them to victory.

The following year the Association were dismissed for 84, with Tim Barrow becoming the ninth bowler to take five wickets in a match, before Adil Nisar struck a half century to give the League an eight-wicket win, during a run of 12 consecutive inter-league successes which also saw them capture the inter-league KO trophy twice in consecutive seasons.

During this period the club teams from the Bolton League had been enjoying success in the Lancs KO, with the result that the inter league side was never at full strength.

This changed in 2005 as only Greenmount, who went on to reach the final, survived the first round and the team facing the Association at Little Lever was possibly the strongest in the history of the competition.

Almost inevitably the Association won with ease.

Davendra Bundela hit 66 out of 201 for the visitors, with Barrow continuing his good form with the ball, but the League batsmen couldn’t handle the pace of Faisal Alfredi and were dismissed for their lowest ever score of 109.

Trinity Paper Mill’s 35 year sponsorship ended with this match, fittingly at their local ground where the first match had been played, and Anthony Axford took over the sponsorship.

If the 2005 League team was one of the strongest, a breakdown in communications the following season led to four members of the team not being informed, with their replacements being rounded up as the teams were getting changed.

The League were down to just two professionals, who were dismissed for 20 runs between them, and an early finish was on the cards. However, Phil Dickinson hit a career best half-century and Chris Barrow weighed in with a destructive 68, including five sixes.

The late recruits played their part and the innings closed on 248-8.

Alfredi struck four sixes in one over for the Association, but they finished 90 runs adrift.

The trophy was retained in 2007 in a game dominated by the professionals.

Ashar Zaidi, with 87, and Sanjith Fernando helped the League to 249-8, but after the Association reached 122-2 in their reply, and with Bazid Khan on 71, the game was in the balance.

However, Khan's departure was followed by a collapse, with Amila Weththasinghe taking 4-44.

Twelve months later Dickinson and Barrow, whose batting had won the match for the League two years earlier, shared eight wickets as the Association were dismissed for 147, and a half century from Luke Perry secured victory in a rain affected match.

The last match of the 90s was again won by the League, with Rick Northrop hitting 90 and Dave Parkinson 50.

Mo Fazil kept the score down with 3-30, but after a bright start the Association batsmen capitulated to the bowling of Steve Foster and Chris Barrow, and were bowled out in under 18 overs.

A little more application would have saved the match as heavy rain began to fall as the teams left the pitch.

In the first match of the present decade, Danny Partington scored 32 out of a total of 116 for the League.

The Association fell to 60-6 in their replay before Dave Parkinson and Liam Watkinson led the recovery to the brink of victory, although two more wickets fell before it was secured.

The 2011 game was won by the League, courtesy of a fifth-wicket century partnership between Phil Ingram and Charlie Dorsey, and a useful all-round contribution from Adil Nisar.

The match in 2012 fell to only the third ever washout, but it was followed at Flixton in 2013 by what was probably the best match in the competition’s history.

Nisar and Athulathmudali both recorded half centuries early in the League’s innings and Ingram hit 76 to hold the middle order together.

Chasing 245, opening batsman Simon Belston hit 65 for the Association, then Jamar Griffiths set about the League bowling attack.

The only thing preventing a comfortable victory was the fact his batting partners kept losing their wickets while trying to outscore him.

When Griffith was trapped lbw the game appeared to be over for the Association.

The last pair needed almost 30 runs at a rate in excess of six an over, however, batting sensibly they took the score to within one run before Danny Lomax was caught.

Last season’s game was dominated by one player. Saeed Anwar Jnr, who put on a half century opening partnership with Bradshaw team-mate Bradley Yates and went on to record an unbeaten century out of 176 as the other League batsmen had no answer to the Association’s slow bowlers, particularly Majid Majeed, who took 4 for 31.

Anwar then took 2-13 as the Association were dismissed for 110, with a late flurry from Dave Bowden taking them into three figures.