I MUST admit I had no idea the great England fast bowler Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson was from Bolton until I read it following his death this week.

As head of sport at The Bolton News you would have thought I would know, but in my defence there was little to draw my attention to it as he played his early cricket at Middleton and then went on to find fame in far flung corners of the world.

What surprised me a little less was hearing he was from Farnworth.

We've been hearing plenty of up-and-coming Farnworth talent here on the sports desk in recent months on the amateur front – boxer Jack Flatley and cricketer Josh Bohannon to name but two – and there has been no shortage of national sporting talent to come out of the small town either.

Olympic cycling treble gold medallist Jason Kenny is arguably its greatest sporting son, though some might argue Ashes hero Tyson or World Cup winner Alan Ball deserve that accolade.

Ball is one of a number of England footballers to come out of Farnworth including Wanderers legend Tommy Banks, Tommy Lawton and Paul Mariner.

It's a little odd that a town which has few amateur football teams and facilities compared to other parts of Bolton should produce such great talent.

Which got me thinking which are the sporting hotbeds in Bolton?

There's been something in the water at Turton in the last year with Old Boltonians FC, who play at Chapeltown, Turton FC and Edgworth Cricket Club all on fire.

And when it comes to facilities there are certain hot spots.

Halliwell is a boxing stronghold with Amir Khan's Gloves Gym, Tyson Fury's gym and Halliwell ABC all within spitting distance.

And when it comes to football there's no question Chew Moor dominates all other areas for great grounds.

Ladybridge, Tempest United and Chew Moor Brook all have fantastic facilities all within a few hundred yards of each other.

The area will also soon be enhanced by an impressive new sports complex being built by Lostock Cricket Club to provide facilities for a number of sports as well as cricket.

Lostock is one of the more affluent areas of Bolton, and it is interesting to compare how much better the sporting facilities are there than in less well-off areas like Farnworth, Breightmet and Halliwell.

Farnworth has a couple of cricket clubs but little else to take the eye, Breightmet has a couple of football clubs and Halliwell has none I can bring to mind.

I'm not saying the better-off areas are given preferential treatment when it comes to building the best facilities.

Maybe it is because there is more space to build or because there are more people in those areas more skilled in securing investment.

Or maybe it's just the way of the world that more affluent areas have better facilities.

Whatever the reason you can make it at the top level of sport wherever you come from. All the legends to have come out of Farnworth proves that.