2007 was an iconic year for the club.
It has been called the year of the “double double” or the “quadruple” or in lesser known quarters the “awesome four-some”.
But whatever the name afforded to it, the achievement signalled much more than that.
The first team was already a force to be reckoned with – having won the Lancashire County League title in 2004 for the first time in 97 years – and were then a hair’s breadth from retaining it in 2005. Trophy success had been tasted too, with Walkden Cup wins in 2000 and 2002. The 2nd team had also become a tour de force, with four consecutive Hulme Trophy successes to their name from 2002 to 2005.
How the Prestwich & Whitefield Guide reported our remarkable achievement.
But to perform a clean sweep of all four major trophies, namely the Lancashire County League 1st and 2nd divisions and both cups (Walkden and Hulme) in the same season was unprecedented.
Add to that, the no small matter of the Under 13s, 15s and 17s winning their leagues, it cemented the base on which the club continues to prosper.
The result on the final day of September 15, 2007, was not a foregone conclusion. The 2nd team, captained by Andy Bradley, already had their silverware in the bag, having clinched the second division championship 3 weeks earlier and finished with a record points tally.
The first team, under the first-time captaincy of 22-year-old Steven Lorenzini, needed to beat Thornham at home and hope Denton St Lawrence could not gain a maximum-point victory against Glossop by bowling them out.
The first part of the equation was completed with some comfort, as the 1sts defeated Thornham by 115 runs. Craig Duxbury, in his last game for the club as professional, smashed an unbeaten 136 in a total of 248 for 3 (Ian Walker 48, Mike Hudson 23, Steve Orrell 22no) and then Chris Humphreys grabbed 6 for 48, including a hat-trick, to dismiss the visitors for 133.
But there was an anxious 50-minute wait for the DSL result to reach the Prestwich airwaves. No CricHQ in those days!
Scorer Bob Hinchliffe took the infamous phone call that Glossop had only lost six wickets and Prestwich were champions by one ‘glorious’ point.
The moment the Division 1 Championship, and subsequent club quadruple, was confirmed!
Read through the programme from that final game of the season.
