# Bolton Cricket League

The Bolton Cricket League is a cricket league comprising fifteen teams in and around Bolton, Greater Manchester in North West England. The league runs competitions at First Team, Second Team, Under 18, Under 15, Under 13 and Under 11 levels. It expanded after the 2015 season, with nine clubs joining from in and around the area. However, the league lost two established clubs in the process, due to the formation of the Greater Manchester Cricket League in 2016.
In October 2022, the Bolton Cricket League and the Ribblesdale Cricket League merged to create the North West Cricket League. Bolton League Club, Little Lever CC, were 'Senior Premiership' champions in the inaugural season, 2023.

## History

The league was established in 1930 after breaking away from the Bolton Cricket Association. The League Heahquarters is based at Barley Brook Meadow, Bolton, Lancashire. The League also hold the Hamer Cup competition; a knockout cup competition for first teams in the Bolton Cricket League. The most successful team(s) to date is both Walkden and Farnworth who became league champions for the fourteenth time in 2019 and 2017 respectively.

## Champions

League Champions, 1930–1949 :
| Year | Club |
League Champions, 1950–1969 :
| Year | Club |
League Champions, 1970–1989 :
| Year | Club |
League Champions, 1990–2009 :
| Year | Club |
League Champions, 2010–2019 :
| Year | Club |

## League performance by season from 2011

Key :
| Gold | Champions |
| Blue | Left League |
| Red | Relegated |
Performance by season, from 2011 :
| Club | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 |
| Adlington | | | | | | 14 | | | 10 | |
| Astley Bridge | 6 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 19 | | | | |
| Atherton | | | | | | 13 | | 9 | | |
| Blackrod | | | | | | 11 | | | | |
| Bradshaw | 8 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 9 | |
| Daisy Hill | | | | | | 15 | | 10 | | |
| Darcy Lever | | | | | | 16 | | | | |
| Eagley | 13 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 9 | | | |
| Egerton | 11 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 1 | | | | | |
| Farnworth | 5 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| Farnworth Social Circle | 4 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
| Golborne | | | | | | 17 | | | | |
| Greenmount | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | | | | | |
| Heaton | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 10 | | | |
| Horwich RMI | 2 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Kearsley | 10 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 4 | |
| Little Hulton | | | | | | 18 | | | | |
| Little Lever | 12 | 6 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 12 | | | 7 | 4 |
| Lostock | | | | | | 6 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 6 |
| Standish | | | | | | 20 | | | | |
| Tonge | 14 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 21 | | | | 7 |
| Walkden | 3 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Westhoughton | 7 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 2 |
| References | | | | | | | | | | |
* ↑ Egerton left the league after the 2015 season.
* ↑ Coronavirus pandemic forced a reduction in league activity.

## Notable players

A number of quality cricketers have played in the Bolton Cricket League including:
* Michael Atherton
* Ian Cowap
* John Crawley
* Kapil Dev
* Charlie Griffith
* Matthew Hayden
* Ronnie Irani
* Dheeraj Jadhav
* Collis King
* Javed Miandad
* Sir Garfield Sobers
* Mark Taylor
* Mark Waugh
* Farokh Engineer
* Aiden Markram
* Devon Conway
* Atiq Uz-Zaman
* Agha Salman
* Josh Bohannon
* Callum Parkinson
* Matt Parkinson
* Haseeb Hameed
* Footballing brothers Gary Neville and Phil Neville also played in the Bolton Cricket League.