TODAY we kick off our super new Fantasy Cricket competition.

The Bolton News has teamed up with the Bolton Cricket League to create this fantastic fun game.

And, thanks to sponsor Anthony Axford timber merchants of Farnworth, there is a £400 prize on offer to the winner.

The great new feature will run throughout the Bolton League season.

There are a total of 104 entrants who have each picked a team of 11 players from the 20 teams in the Bolton League's two divisions.

Points are awarded to the players depending on how well they perform in the 18 league games, and the winning entrant will be the one who amasses the most points throughout the season.

The competition is based on the MVP (Most Valuable Player) statistics from the electronic scoring system CricHQ.

Entrants have selected five players from the Premier Division and five from the Association Division plus one professional from either division.

Each week beginning today an updated table will appear on The Bolton News website and in the paper so entrants can keep up with how they stand.

From the evidence of the first week, the competition could be a contest for the bowlers.

The team of the week, which includes a professional and wicketkeeper, would be a captain's nightmare with most of the team expecting to bowl at some stage.

In points order, rather than batting order, to avoid further controversy the team would be: Chris Barrow (Farnworth SC), Adnan Raees (Daisy Hill), Liam Bones (Horwich), Stephen Hodgkinson (Daisy Hill), Phil Ingram (Horwich), Jon Fowler (Walkden), David Cryer (Astley Bridge), Phil Dickinson (Bradshaw), Oliver Newby (Westhoughton), Suleman Muhammad (Little Hulton) and Ciaran Vesey (Golborne) wicketkeeper.

Barrow is the clear leader with 26.4 points, followed by Raees and Bones with more than 19.

Several clubs did not play last weekend, so their players were unable to score any points, and other performances were curtailed in matches of reduced overs.

The points scoring sees a bowler's unassisted wicket worth 2.5 points. A wicket taken with the assistance of a fielder or wicketkeeper is worth 1.25 points for the bowler and 1.25 points for the fielder or wicketkeeper.

A bowler is awarded a 10-per-cent bonus for each subsequent wicket, and is rewarded if their economy rate is lower than the team's average and penalised if it is higher.

A fielder earns 2.5 points for each run out, and a 10-per-cent bonus for each subsequent catch or run out.

Batsmen earn 2.5 points for every 25 runs scored, and are rewarded if their strike rate is higher than the team's average and penalised if it is lower.

Batsmen lower down the order can earn bonuses not available to the batsmen higher in the order.

Only the main Bolton League competition will count towards the points, and players need to be participating to add to their points.

The prize money will be shared if there is more than one winner.

PLAYER MVP POINTS TOTALS WEEK ONE

CODE Player Club Type Pts

1128 Chris Barrow Farnworth SC NON 26.40

1020 Adnan Raees Daisy Hill PRO 19.95

1118 Liam Bones Horwich NON 19.27

1222 Stephen Hodgkinson Daisy Hill NON 14.33

1122 Phil Ingram Horwich NON 10.41

1102 Jonathan Fowler Walkden NON 9.87

1055 Syd De Silva Astley Bridge PRO 9.46

1257 David Cryer Astley Bridge NON 9.10

1135 Phil Dickinson Bradshaw NON 8.98

1188 Oliver Newby Westhoughton NON 8.58

1048 Adil Nisar Little Lever PRO 8.49

1049 Fida Hussein Little Hulton PRO 8.31

1251 Suleman Muhammad Little Hulton NON 8.21

1259 Yasir Rashid Astley Bridge NON 8.02

1130 Richard Dempster Farnworth SC NON 7.91

1238 Lewis Clarke Golborne NON 6.70

1129 Ryan Ayres Farnworth SC NON 6.42

1133 Tom Liversedge Bradshaw NON 6.15

1105 Syed Shah Walkden NON 6.00

1119 Tom Billington Horwich NON 5.53

1006 Tilaksha Malshan Tonge PRO 5.47

1241 Ciaran Vesey Golborne WKT 5.44

1244 Curtis Anderton Little Lever NON 4.99

1189 Kieran Paisley Westhoughton WKT 4.76

1161 Dave Flanagan Lostock NON 3.98

1239 Shahid Mahboob Golborne NON 3.48

1187 Kieran Edwards Westhoughton NON 3.43

1134 Stuart Hornby Bradshaw NON 3.42

1104 Tahir Maqsood Walkden NON 3.41

1204 Craig Naylor Tonge NON 3.20

1103 Taylor Heyes Walkden NON 3.06

1245 Adam Carter Little Lever WKT 3.03

1111 Mark Burns Kearsley WKT 2.75

1237 Jake Waterworth Golborne NON 2.69

1115 Imran Mirza Farnworth NON 1.98

1127 David Tonge Farnworth SC NON 1.82

1031 Sachithra Serasinghe Bradshaw PRO 1.68

1246 Ayaz Hanif Little Lever NON 1.60

1113 Simon Booth Farnworth WKT 1.58

1252 Waqar Khan Little Hulton NON 1.51

1256 Matthew Hargraves Astley Bridge WKT 1.49

1163 Rob Holgate Lostock NON 1.48

1108 David Mather Kearsley NON 1.46

1012 Devendra Bundela Kearsley PRO 1.35

1132 Chris Evans Bradshaw WKT 1.28

1090 Qaiser Abbas Westhoughton PRO 1.23

1136 Scott Howarth Bradshaw NON 1.14

1164 Nick Jeffs Lostock NON 1.14

1258 Irfan Puda Astley Bridge NON 0.74

1107 Grant Cordin Kearsley NON 0.66

1026 Jake Scicluna Farnworth SC PRO 0.63

1117 Danny Higham Farnworth NON 0.34

1120 Dean Morris Horwich NON 0.34

1243 Josh Gent Little Lever NON 0.33

1116 Ross Sutton Farnworth NON 0.18

1125 Jake O'Byrne Farnworth SC WKT 0.11

1106 Toby Morgan Walkden WKT 0.11

1015 Brett Pelser Horwich PRO 0.09

1201 George Leather Tonge WKT 0.00

1202 Connor Lord Tonge NON 0.00

1203 Alex Radzoch Tonge NON 0.00

1205 Iqbal Gulzar Tonge NON 0.00

1109 Cameron Murray Kearsley NON 0.00

1219 Mark Wood Daisy Hill WKT 0.00

1224 Sean Dunning Daisy Hill NON 0.00

1040 Faraz Akram Golborne PRO 0.00

1242 Jack Kidman Golborne NON 0.00

1247 Josh Hill Little Lever NON 0.00

1250 Ellis Pearson Little Hulton WKT 0.00

1253 Sajawal Khan Little Hulton NON 0.00

1254 Billy Schofield Little Hulton NON 0.00

1260 Rakeb Mahmood Astley Bridge NON 0.00

1162 Steve Hood Lostock WKT 0.00

1067 Tushendra De Zoyza Blackrod PRO 0.00

1268 Graeme Walsh Blackrod NON 0.00

1269 Zak Burton Blackrod WKT 0.00

1270 Mark Glover Blackrod NON 0.00

1271 Joey Pryle Blackrod NON 0.00

1272 Joseph Speak Blackrod NON 0.00

1273 Calum Barlow Atherton WKT 0.00

1274 Matt Gallagher Atherton NON 0.00

1275 Scott Ryan Atherton NON 0.00

1276 Josh Gilluley Atherton NON 0.00

1277 Paul Walsh Atherton NON 0.00

1078 Adeel Baig Atherton PRO 0.00

1179 Matt Fray Heaton NON 0.00

1180 Oliver Sutcliffe Heaton NON 0.00

1181 Joe Ducker Heaton NON 0.00

1182 Adam Halton Heaton NON 0.00

1183 Joe Gatenby Brown Heaton WKT 0.00

1084 Raheel Majeed Heaton PRO 0.00

1185 Rob Houghton Westhoughton NON 0.00

1186 Danny Naylor Westhoughton NON 0.00

1291 Simon Trim Adlington NON 0.00

1292 Jack Shovelton Adlington NON 0.00

1293 Ben King Adlington NON 0.00

1294 Iain Critchley Adlington NON 0.00

1095 Majid Majeed Adlington PRO 0.00

1296 AJ Van Rensburg Adlington WKT 0.00

1097 Jack Wainman Eagley WKT 0.00

1098 Asif Bhojani Eagley NON 0.00

1099 Jo Baldwin Eagley NON 0.00

1100 Zaid Patel Eagley NON 0.00

1101 Will Shuttleworth Eagley NON 0.00

1207 Scott Burns Darcy Lever NON 0.00

1208 Chris Fenn Darcy Lever NON 0.00

1209 Jake Cooper Darcy Lever NON 0.00

1210 Dominic Gavin Darcy Lever NON 0.00

1011 Tendai Nyamayaro Darcy Lever PRO 0.00

1212 Nick Fawcett Darcy Lever WKT 0.00

1013 Agha Salman Eagley PRO 0.00

1014 Luke Schlemmer Walkden PRO 0.00

1121 Adam Coates Horwich WKT 0.00

1018 Kamran Younas Farnworth PRO -0.01

1165 Tom Sheen Lostock NON -0.06

1114 Nakash Qamar Farnworth NON -0.09

1110 Rick Hamblett Kearsley NON -0.23

1223 Michael Chilton Daisy Hill NON -0.34

1221 Sam Pendlebury Daisy Hill NON -0.58

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Chris Barrow (Farnworth SC) 26.40pts

Adnan Raees (Daisy Hill, pro) 19.95

Liam Bones (Horwich) 19.27

Stephen Hodgkinson (Daisy Hill) 14.33

Phil Ingram (Horwich) 10.41

Jonathan Fowler (Walkden) 9.87

David Cryer (Astley Bridge) 9.10

Phil Dickinson (Bradshaw) 8.98

Oliver Newby (Westhoughton) 8.58

Suleman Muhammad (Little Hulton) 8.21

Ciaran Vesey (Golborne, wkt) 5.44

OVERALL TABLE AS IT STANDS

Pos Team MVP Total Pts

1 Leanne Taylor 85.14

2 Steve Hodgkinson 80.83

3 Jason Raynor 79.10

4 Caroline Riley 74.65

5 Craig Berry 73.90

6 Simon Booth 71.19

7 John Barrow 70.90

8 Danny Khan 70.83

9 Ian Pilkington 67.96

10 Tom Sheen 64.84

11 Chris Parsons 63.12

12 Curtis Anderton 61.03

13 Michael Rutherford 61.02

14 Robert Hardman 60.66

15 Grant Cordin 60.47

16 Gary Tonge 60.26

17 Chris Barrow 59.14

18 Cameron Murray 58.13

19 Neil Kell 57.90

20 Alex Lee 57.76

21 David Morris 57.49

22 Aiden Constantine 57.40

23 Chris Worrall 57.32

24 Lostock CC 56.03

25 Paul Schofield 54.87

26 Chris Hobson 54.84

27 Lewis Andrews 54.65

28 Graham Oxtoby 54.34

29 Daisy Hill CC 54.08

30 Tim Barrow 53.40

31 Steven Williams 52.69

32 Ray Taylor 51.50

33 David Tonge 51.36

34 Paul Hutchinson 50.43

35 Adlington CC 50.38

36 Michael Chilton 49.83

37 Tom Hardstaff 49.75

38 Little Hulton CC 48.54

39 Tracey Phillips 47.21

40 Stephen Berry 46.91

41 Paul Walsh 46.70

42 Seb Miller 46.49

43 Tom Senior 46.47

44 Iain McLellan 46.33

45 Garry Brown 46.33

46 Tayler Heyes 46.00

47 Sehran Khan 45.40

48 Craig Naylor 44.80

49 Barrie Cryer 43.60

50 Lee Bridge 43.28

51 Tom Schofield 43.09

52 Tonge CC 42.16

53 Raj Shah 42.08

54 Ron Dickenson 41.91

55 Demelza Kendall 41.77

56 Phil Andrews 41.65

57 Mike Leeming 41.46

58 Bradley Yates 39.95

59 Nick Ford 39.94

60 Anthony Foster 39.14

61 Jackie Yates 38.57

62 Connor Lord 38.38

63 Little Lever CC 37.67

64 Thomas James 36.18

65 Josh Gilluley 35.40

66 Stuart Leigh 35.33

67 Mark Crowder 34.42

68 Farnworth CC 34.42

69 Walkden CC 33.51

70 Harry Morgan 32.88

71 Mark Howarth 32.88

72 Westhoughton CC 32.60

73 Daniel Holmes 32.44

74 Sue Taylor 32.19

75 Steven Chilton 31.45

76 Andrew Lane 30.46

77 Matthew Hargraves 30.10

78 Dave Halliday 29.61

79 Bradley Barrow 29.42

80 Mike Buckley 28.96

81 Heaton CC 28.88

82 Eagley CC 28.86

83 Little Jen 27.98

84 Farnworth SC CC 27.15

85 Calum Barlow 26.99

86 Niall Burke 26.75

87 Zak Burton 26.58

88 Mark Atherton 25.99

89 Neil Redford 25.70

90 Mr W D Entwistle 24.11

91 Tiana Lowe 22.79

92 David Cryer 22.50

93 Horwich CC 22.48

94 Danny Delvard 21.24

95 Darcy Lever CC 21.11

96 Atherton CC 20.71

97 Astley Bridge CC 20.34

98 Kearsley CC 19.72

99 Nikki Taylor 18.49

100 Golborne CC 17.56

101 Mike Cregan 16.50

102 Bradshaw CC 14.04

103 Blackrod CC 12.53

104 Dominique Hankinson 5.43