Just nine-months after devastating floods left Edenside 16-feet under water, Carlisle celebrated a championship winning season with a routine, seven-wicket win at Ulverston to finish top of North Lancs Division One.

It means the city side are now back in the Premier league, with a young, vibrant side led by skipper Marc Brown who returned to his home town club this year determined to put the team back where he said all along it should be.

“We set out at the beginning of this year to rebuild the club and from the start we set our sights on promotion for the First eleven,” said Brown.

“We’ve had our ups and downs, but I always believed that man for man, we had the best side in this division, and we’ve proved it.

“Our overseas player, Alex Calmy has been brilliant, but we have had contributions from all our players. A ten wicket performance from Alex Raybould, centuries from young players James Dawson and Ben Davidson, and we’ve introduced other promising young players like Ru Barker to the first team environment.

“I’m absolutely delighted we are back in the Premier league.  The planning starts now.”

Brown had no hesitation in asking Ulverston to bat after wining the toss, and watched as the home side struggled to get going on a pitch left damp by heavy overnight rain. Ulverston struggled to just 87 from their 50 overs, with wickets shared by a balanced Carlisle attack.

In response, some lusty blows from James Lythgoe established early momentum for Carlisle, and while Brown himself perished attempting to find the midwicket boundary, Tom Carlyle steered the winning runs past mid-off to spark jubilant scenes on the boundary edge.

Carlisle have spent much of the summer on the road to south Cumbria, but can now look forward to renewing rivalries with Wigton, Cockermouth, Keswick and others.

“A brilliant season,” added Brown. “The next now can’t come quickly enough.  But we’ll enjoy our success first.”