Farnworth Social Circle are the raining champs after weekend washout

Social Circle are the NWCL’s third winners, claiming the title won by Little Lever in 2023 and then Blackrod in 2024.

Captain Christian Walsh lifted the trophy on Saturday afternoon after all 10 final-round games - across both divisions - were washed out without a ball bowled following heavy rain across the region. Social Circle were away at local rivals Farnworth.

In the Championship, Astley Bridge were crowned champions ahead of Barnoldswick, who will join them in the top-flight in 2026. Both sides had already been promoted last Sunday.

Bridge were due to be away at Cherry Tree but left with five points. Barnoldswick failed to get on the field at Whalley.

Those two sides will replace Eagley and Atherton, who have been relegated from the Premiership. Those two sides were due to play each other on Saturday.

Hosts Eagley had already been relegated, while Atherton needed to win to have any chance of survival. Going into the last round of the season, they were nine points behind third-bottom Lostock, so needed to win and hope their rivals lost away at Little Lever.

Little Lever finished third in the table and won the Hamer Cup, and they will play in next year’s Lancashire Knockout alongside Farnworth Social Circle, Read, Kearsley and Salesbury.

Second-placed Read were frustrated at home to a Tonge side, who could have jumped into the top five places for LKO qualification with a win and favours from elsewhere.

Instead they finished seventh. Had Farnworth beaten Social Circle, they too could have qualified, As it was, Kearsley and Salesbury held onto fourth and fifth place respectively.

Kearsley were due to host Padiham and Salesbury were away at defending champions Blackrod.

Both Padiham and Blackrod finished closer to the bottom than the top in what will be viewed as frustrating campaigns.

In the end, champions Social Circle - 184 points - won 15 of their 22 matches, losing six. They were eight points better off than Read, who won 14 and lost six times.

Social Circle triumphed having last tasted league success in the Bolton League, which they won twice in three years in 2014 and then 2016.

Read won the NWCL’s other trophy, the T20 Birtwistle Cup and can reflect on an excellent campaign having been promoted only last season.

Saturday represented the only round of the summer in which not a ball was bowled.

In the Championship, champions Astley Bridge and second-placed Barnoldswick both finished with 15 wins and five defeats from their 22 matches.

They were level on 188 points, but Bridge edged it thanks to a better tiebreaker - runs scored and wickets lost throughout the summer.

The other matches washed out in the second tier were bottom-side Brinscall at home to Walkden and Earby at home to Oswaldtwistle Immanuel.

Third-placed Ribblesdale Wanderers and Baxenden had already finished their campaigns last weekend.

Farnworth Social Circle’s Bajan professional Jameel Stuart finished as the leading run-scorer in the Premiership, posting 1,669 runs in 21 innings with 10 fifties and six hundreds, including a best of 236 not out.

Read’s Sri Lankan pro Sehan Weerasinghe spun his way to a division-high 55 wickets with a best haul of 6-23.

Astley Bridge’s Sri Lankan pro Dhanushka Dhamasiri was the leading Championship run-scorer with 841 runs from 19 innings with six fifties and one hundred. The latter was a 116.

Whalley’s English pro Levi Wolfenden was the second-tier’s leading wicket-taker with 59 wickets, including a best return of 7-32.