Next up was the inaugural game for the new Lancashire Thunder Regional Development side at Middleton.

Bad weather was forecast but somehow we missed the rain that hit much of the area and got both T20 games in.

It was just over 10 years since I last scored there and it was much the same as back then.

Like most ex-Central Lancashire League grounds it has a large playing area and boasts excellent facilities in the clubhouse.

The elevated score box is one of the largest on the circuit and has that rare bonus of an unobscured view of the whole ground.

Two good games both won by Thunder showcased a lot of talent on the way up in both teams.

Weekend came around and the final three games of this intense 10-day period started with Lostock's home T20 game against Blackrod.

It was watched by an encouragingly large crowd despite it being a cloudy evening. The treasurer had a beaming smile so presumably it was a good night behind the bar.

A good win set us up for what turned out to be a thrilling game the following day when we edged out Bradshaw by seven runs in a great advert for the Bolton League, albeit with a smaller crowd than the night before.

Newton-le-Willows was the last port of call for the weekend. It was another new ground to add to the list as Lancashire Women entertained Warwickshire.

On arrival I was met by my fellow scorer moaning about the lack of space in the score box, the seats were too low and her sight line was not great.

All this before I’d even put my bag down.

Newton is a decent-sized ground and part of sporting complex that also caters for rugby, football and tennis, with a very pleasant clubhouse which serves real ale (the first one to do so on this season's travels).

A few days off and it was another triple header the following week.

By now, much as I love scoring, the volume of games is catching up on me, not so much over the weekend but certainly for a couple of days afterwards, particularly when you throw in the travelling.

This particular weekend started with Friday night T20 versus Adlington, which means dashing there straight from work to be sure of arriving on time.

Another encouragingly decent crowd saw us race to a welcome win.

Saturday was a relatively short trip to Piggott Street where, as usual, we did not perform with the bat having not made best use of bowling first.

Sunday then saw a return trip to Welbeck for the start of the defence of the ladies' T20 title.

We got off to a great start with eight-wicket victories over both Kent and Notts.

The following week’s triple header started with a home T20 game for Lostock against Horwich on the Friday night.

While we don’t get the numbers watching that they do, the support is encouragingly growing.

From a standing start we are slowly building up the crowd base to decent levels.

The following day was a rain-affected game against Walkden on a day notable for all the different interpretations of Duckworth-Lewis-Stern [DLS] that appear to have been used throughout the league.

Back to Lancashire Women duties on Sunday and we headed down to Kidderminster with a squad decimated by call-ups to England and England Academy, not to mention exams.

Kidderminster is a wide expanse of a ground with two squares and is often used by Worcester for men’s games, especially when New Road is flooded.

Surprisingly short on buildings and permanent seating, the beautiful Victorian pavilion is well maintained and a really attractive feature. Our four young debutants all rose to the occasion, coming agonisingly close to beating an experienced Middlesex side then holding their nerve to beat Worcester and keep us in with a shout.

The penultimate triple header – for now – started with the short trip for Lostock to Blackrod where a decent crowd saw us all-but clinch our place in the quarter-finals of the BCL's T20 competition with a good win.

Saturday was another short trip to Westhoughton where, for a change, we weren’t “Qaiser’ed”.

This time we were “Smit’ten” – as sub pro Daryn Smit beat us virtually single-handedly, taking five wickets and then making 82 not out.