Will Wrathall has urged no let-up from his Read side for the rest of the summer after they confirmed their status as Championship winners on Saturday, beating Atherton to secure a season’s double in the Anthony Axford North West Cricket League.

Captain Wrathall hit a superb opening 107 off 135 balls to underpin Read’s 273-5, to which visitors Atherton responded with 175 all out.

South African overseas amateur Zadian Muller took the new ball and claimed 5-53 from 11.4 overs of seam, including the prize wicket of ex-West Indies Test opener Shayne Moseley, bowled for a golden duck.

Read have now won 16 of 17 league matches, added to last month’s Hamer Cup final triumph at Little Lever.

But, insists Wrathall, they still have something to achieve over the final three matches, starting at Feniscowles away this weekend.

“Our main aim this summer was promotion, and we’ve achieved it,” he beamed.

“We also wanted a good run in the Hamer Cup or the T20, and we ended up winning one of them. So it’s definitely the best season I’ve ever had at Read, where I started as a 10-year-old.

“We’ve only lost two games all season across all competitions.

“We only lost once in the T20 and got done by the rain twice in that.

“So to maintain that would be quite something, and we want to finish on a high and take anything we can do into next season.”

This really has been a dream season for Read and for Wrathall himself. He scored an unbeaten 57 in the Hamer Cup final triumph last month and followed it up with a century on Saturday in the title-clinching win.

“Just a big game player,” he said, very much tongue in cheek.

Despite Read’s runaway train-like form in the NWCL’s second-tier, they were fully aware Saturday was not going to be easy against an Atherton side chasing promotion alongside Walkden, who currently have the edge in second place.

“I don’t mean this to be disrespectful to Walkden, nothing against them whatsoever, but I think Atherton are a better side,” said Wrathall. “It’s just a personal opinion, and they could well prove me wrong.

“Shayne Moseley, Atherton’s pro, is one of the best in the league. To get him for a golden duck on Saturday, and for us to win by 98 runs, it could very easily have been a different game.

“We had two big players missing on Saturday in Joe Halstead and Chris Holt. They were both on holiday.

“Our squad depth this year has been second to none.

“Two lads came in who I reckon would regularly get in every other first team in this league, Mickey Whalley and Elliot Lowes. That’s been a massive thing for us.”

Wrathall and Read can now start planning to attack the Premiership in 2025.

“It’s all about keeping the squad together as much as possible,” he said.

“Unfortunately, Matt Heap, our left-arm spinner, he plays his last game on Saturday because he’s moving to Australia. He went over there to play cricket last winter and met a girl out there.

“I’m not particularly happy about that. Seriously, it’s what he wants to do, and we wish him all the best with it. He’s gutted to be leaving us because he’s loved it at Read.

“We won’t be getting Blayde (Capell, South African professional) back because his partner is due to give birth in March.

“Zadian’s confirmed coming back next year. He’s got a girlfriend from Read, so that’s ideal.”

Hang on a minute, Wrathall’s just bemoaned one new girlfriend yet hailed another?

“Ha, yes, you can’t win ‘em all,” he said, before explaining his plans to replace Heap, who has claimed 52 wickets in all cricket this season.

“Chris Holt is a left-arm spinner who can definitely step into that role, but his availability isn’t amazing. I’m going to have a word with him and see if he can commit that little bit more.

“I do think we need a spinning pro, and we’ll have a chat about that in the next week or so. Otherwise, I don’t think we need to strengthen that much. We want to keep the same squad together as much as possible because these lads have got us to where we are.”

Read’s place in this season’s Championship was clearly an unwanted one after they failed to finish in the top 12 places in last year’s inaugural NWCL campaign when all teams were placed in one division.

But Wrathall is definitely in favour of the two-tiered structure.

“We never wanted to be in that bottom division,” he said. “To do it the hard way, we took it on the chin. But we’ll be ready for next year.

“I’ve always been a fan of the two divisions - I like the structure - because there’s always more teams playing for something deeper into the season.”

Read didn’t lift the Championship trophy on Saturday, and Wrathall isn’t exactly sure when it will happen.

He added: “I have to miss the last game of the season because I’m at a wedding in Italy.

“Bill Slinger, the chairman of the league, umpired our game on Saturday, and I was dropping hints saying, ‘Is there any chance we can have it before the last game?’.

“I’ve known Bill for a long time and get on with him really well. But he gave nothing away. Whenever it will be, it will be. Fingers crossed, though.”

Tomorrow’s fixtures:- Premiership - Astley Bridge v Salesbury, Farnworth v Ribblesdale Wanderers, Farnworth Social Circle v Blackrod, Kearsley v Eagley, Little Lever v Padiham, Tonge v Lostock; Championship - Brinscall v Walkden, Cherry Tree v Baxenden, Earby v Barnoldswick, Feniscowles v Read, Whalley v Atherton.