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Senior Cricket
Into the business end of the season with the end of August signalling that the 2025 season is almost done and dusted with just nine senior fixtures to go before we say goodbye to another cricket season.
All three teams have work to do to avoid being dragged into relegation battles in each of their divisions with the first and Sunday XI’s probably just needing bonus points to ensure they remain in their respective divisions for 2026. The second XI are one of four teams that could take the drop from the premier division, but with two games against sides in a similar predicament, their fate is very much in their own hands.
August was all about the Parish Cup final (please see below for a report of the game from Lewis). A more than healthy SBCI contingent made the short trip down Tuel Lane to Walton Street to see our boys take on Illingworth. Whilst it didn’t go as we had desired, a fantastic achievement from skipper Alex Scholefield and his team to reach the final for the first time in thirteen years.
Fingers crossed for some fine weather and a positive end to the season.
1st Team
August started with a trip to Upper Hopton, though it would be fair to say thoughts were already turning to the following day’s Parish Cup Final. We lost the toss, and our hosts chose to bat first, though it looked like a decision which might backfire when two early wickets for Dylan Evans, and one for Lewis Firth, left Hopton 16/3.
However, some dropped catches let our opponents off the hook and their fourth wicket partnership was an impressive 129, as their number four scored 79, and number five scored a century. Rob Larkin broke the partnership, bowling their number four batter, but a significant amount of damage was already done. From the point the fifth wicket fell at 192, we did at least take wickets at regular intervals to take eight in total and therefore secure two bowling bonus points. A final score of 269/8 left us with a lot of work to do with the bat. Wickets were spread around, though mostly expensive.
Rhys Newman scored a watchful 51 to lead our response, but it was a response that otherwise fell flat, no one else reaching 20 runs. Five other batters made it into double figures before falling, but a failure to convert starts meant we were bowled out for 141 and only took three points total from the game. We needed to pick ourselves up in quick time for the following day.
The Parish Cup Final – our first since 2012 – seemed to come around very quickly given that we only secured our place in it a week prior. Skipper Alex Scholefield won the toss and chose to field first and led by example to take the first wicket of the day with the score on 21. Lewis joined him in the wickets not long after, with both batters having edged to Simon Wood behind the stumps. From 30/2, our opponents Illingworth staged a recovery and took the score on to 67. Arun CK was introduced to the attack and struck in his third over, Lewis securing the catch at slip. Tom Wood had their number four batter LBW with the score on 81, and we were starting to exert a stranglehold on the game. Arun took his second wicket, with the help of a brilliant catch in the deep from Chris Dalby, with the score now 115/5, and we were hopeful we might be able to bring their innings to a close well below the 200 mark. Tom and Lewis both struck again as the innings went on, and Tyson Illingworth also took a wicket, with Gnanam Arjuna taking two catches. Momentum was with our opponents as they made it to 236/8 off their 45 overs. 78 runs from the final six overs was a big blow to our hopes, but we were still in with a chance.
By far the competition’s leading run scorer, Rhys set a good tempo at the top, as he and Tom opened the innings. They reached 66 for no loss before Tom was out caught and bowled to Illingworth’s off-spinner for 23. Simon was out not long after with the score at 75 and Alex, batting at four in the absence of semi-final top-scorer Jamie Summerscales, was LBW for 10 as Illingworth’s trio of spinners took control. Rhys brought up his half century in style but fell the very next ball to a catch right on the long-off boundary, for a well-made 52 from 57 balls. When Chris was bowled to one which kept low, we knew it would take something special to bring the trophy home, that said, 107/5 was not too dissimilar a position to which our opponents had recovered from.
Lewis and Gnanam had just moved the score along to 124 – the very early sprouts of recovery – when an inexplicable appeal was met with the umpire’s finger to the shock of all at Sowerby Bridge’s Walton Street ground. Gnanam had to trudge off – for what went down in the digital scorebook as LBW – and to make matters worse he had sustained what would later be discovered to be a season-ending injury the ball before.
Lewis fell two balls later, caught at slip, and 125/7 became 137/8 when Arun was bowled. Dylan was next out, caught trying in vain to move us closer to an unlikely victory, and only Tyson’s 22 off 14 balls, including 3 sixes, offered any further resistance. When Dan Brock was caught, we were 160 all out off 35.3 overs, a 76-run defeat. Eight of our ten wickets to fall were to spin as our opponents took advantage of a track which offered little bounce and was therefore somewhat difficult to score on against the slow bowlers.
It had been a superb effort to reach the final, but on the day was not meant to be despite some good cricket at times. In the first half of both innings, we had probably been the better side but were unable to follow up in the key latter stages. Congratulations to Illingworth on their victory and thanks to Sowerby Bridge CC for hosting, and to all of you who supported us on the day. The backing was certainly felt by the team – even if some of the ‘maroon wall’ had more interest in the bar than the cricket!
The following week our opponents were once again Illingworth – this time in the league – and a closer game ensued. When Alex won the toss and elected to bat, he probably didn’t have 18/2 with both openers back in the pavilion in mind. Simon (20) was next out with the score on 34 and the returning Sam Hinchliffe fell not long after to leave us reeling at 41/4.
Dylan (19) batted patiently to stop the rot and along with Chris, moved the score to 89 before he was run out. Chris (43) fell short of what would have been a deserved half-century, and Gnanam, playing injured, scored a brisk 21 before he too was out. At 125/7 Lewis joined Arun and the two built a partnership of 92 runs, Arun bringing up his fifty before being caught in the last over for 56 from 47 balls, including 5 sixes. Lewis finished 32 not out from 22 balls as we closed on 218/9. An improvement on the previous week, but would it be enough?
Unfortunately, the answer was no, despite 4/51 from Alex, who removed their top four batters. Much like the cup final the week prior, we took a couple of early wickets but didn’t capitalise. 44/2 became 140/2 before we took a couple of quick wickets, but it always felt like too little, too late. We managed to stifle the scoring somewhat to make it close, but ultimately Illingworth got over the line for the loss of five wickets, in the penultimate over, leaving us with four points from the game.
An even closer game followed a week later, as we made the trip to Shelf Northowram Hedge Top, but again we came out on the wrong side. We lost the toss and were invited to bat first, on a pitch which was lively to say the least. Rhys led the way up top with 46 off 48 balls, but from 74/1 we found ourselves 95/5 and in more than a spot of bother. Lewis joined Dan Keighley, and the pair put on 72 before Lewis was caught for 39, with the score now reading a slightly healthier 167. Dan continued on with the lower order, with Mark Pottinger (4 off 29 balls) batting a significant half an hour to support him. The last three wickets fell in quick succession but 201 all out felt like a competitive score. Special shout out to Matthew Grundy whose 2 not out secured an extra batting bonus point on 1st XI debut – called in at the eleventh hour no less – and outscoring his dad in the final pair.
Lewis (3/75) took an early wicket and from that point our hosts’ innings very much mirrored our own. The second wicket fell to Arun CK (1/53) with the score 76 and then a mini collapse left Northowram 108/5, Rhys Newman (2/10) stepping up to take two cheap wickets. The next pair put on 48, before Tom Wood (1/59) struck, and then a sensational one-handed catch by Mark on the boundary ensured there would be a close finish. Lewis took his final wicket with the score at 183 but we couldn’t find a way to force the number eleven out to the middle and create a real nerve-jangler. A two-wicket defeat with 7 balls to spare meant five points were added to our league tally.
The less said about the final match of the month the better – so let’s get that one out of the way so that we can finish on a winning note. Booth posted 335/0 off their 45 overs, before the match was washed out. Huge credit to their openers who both recorded big centuries – and less credit to our bowlers a couple of whom just about managed to avoid centuries against their analysis.
And so on to our only win of the month - we hosted Oxenhope in a repeat of our Parish Cup semi-final victory. We did lose a couple of early wickets after choosing to bat first, but Tom (43) and Chris (42) steadied the ship. Unfortunately, they were both out in quick succession, so a bit of a rebuild from 99/4 was again required. Jamie (28) and Lewis (38) put on 64 before they too were out in quick succession. Alex (17) and Dylan (19*) added the last few runs – Dylan’s final ball scoop for four a particular highlight – as we closed on 208/8.
Lewis struck in the first over of the reply – the Oxenhope opener shouldering arms to one which nipped back – and Dylan had their numbers three and four caught in the inner-ring to
put us in the ascendancy at 17/3. They put on 48 for the fourth wicket to reach 65/3, and
were still in the game. Their number five went for one big hit too many to be well caught in the deep by Jamie, and Lewis bowled their number six with the very next ball. The next batter fell in the same way as Lewis recorded a hat-trick, with Oxenhope now 65/6 and our score of 208 looking a long way off. Dylan (3/46) also struck with the very next ball to remove their opener who had to that point built steadily, and then Lewis’s fifth wicket came thanks to a fantastic diving catch in the gully by Chris. The score now read 65/8 – a collapse of five wickets for no runs. The skipper came on to take the ninth, and there was some brief resistance, before Lewis (6/42) bowled their number eleven to wrap up proceedings.
Here's to a better September than we had August!
2nd Team
A bad day at the office against Upper Hopton in our first outing for August as holidays, injuries and absence continued to take their toll. Lucas Veitch made his 2nd team debut and took a wicket in his three over spell- most definitely one of the few highlights of the day. Fielding first, our guests for the day made 217 for 7. A couple of missed chances in there, but in the main, we bowled and fielded really well. Matty and Mike the pick of the bowlers with 5 wickets between them.
A poor batting display saw us reduced to 92 all out and we never really threatened to get going and therefore anywhere near the 218 we needed for victory. The two Hampshires and Dave the only players to make double figures.
Away to run away leaders of the Premier Division league table and Crossley Shield finalists, Illingworth, who were unbeaten all season, well you know what’s coming don’t you. A thoroughly deserved 6 wicket win to give us a much needed 12-point boost as we get to the business end of the season. Skipper Keast elected to field on a bright and breezy day. Our hosts for the day made a decent start reaching 40 before the first wicket fell, but Simon and Aqeel, miserly with the ball and along with some excellent ground fielding kept the run rate down to around 3 an over. Both aforementioned bowlers ended up with the same excellent bowling figures of 2 for 45 from their 14 over spells, to put us in the box seat post-drinks. Two run outs helped our cause with Tony and Rohit involved in one to get rid of the “set” Illingworth opener, who decided to rearrange his stumps on his way off and a Naman and Matty combo got rid of their number 10. Robin took two smart catches in the gully, the second one to end the innings was really motoring and a good job he got his hands in the way as it would have taken his head clean off!! Rob L and Matty then combined as first change bowlers to take four wickets between them for 32 runs off 10 overs. Despite at least four dropped catches, this was easily our best bowling and fielding display of the season.
Despite some nervous moments with the bat and having both of our openers back in the pavilion with the score on 27, the soon to be wed Tony Kirby anchored the innings with a magnificent 69 not out to see us calmly over the line by 6 wickets and with nine and a half overs left in the match. Decent contributions from Ikhlaq (20) and 14 not out from Skipper Keast gave us a most welcome maximum point haul and a much needed confidence boost as we head into the final six fixtures of the season.
We made it two 12 point wins on the spin the following week against Great Horton Park Chapel, and with the results that followed, it was a very much needed 12 points as both Triangle and Warley & Elland both picked up maximum point wins, leaving the bottom end of the table as you were with only 60 points to play for, one relegation spot to be settled and only 13 points separating 4 out of the bottom 5 clubs. Great Horton won the toss and elected to bat first. They slipped from a promising 131-5 to 146 all out as our bowling and fielding unit did a great job. Noah Gould takes pride of place on his 2nd team debut taking 2 for 39 in his seven-over spell. Vice-Captain Keast took 3 for 12 including two smashing caught and bowled efforts, Ikhlaq and Rohit combined for a run-out, Tyson and Hampy, opening the bowling took a wicket a piece with Rob Larkin also weighing in with 2 wickets for 5 runs from a three over spell as the last five wickets went down for the addition of only 15 runs. And we successfully reached our target with 8 wickets in hand and plenty of over left. Jonathan anchored us home with 48 not out having opened the batting and despite losing Mark early on, Tyson hit 12 boundaries in his 68 from 53 balls, only losing his wicket when seven runs were required for victory. No further wickets fell and Jonathan hit the winning runs, sending the ball to the boundary for a very satisfying win.
Our final away match of the month saw us travel to Mount where we put up a decent display with a weakened side but still ended up on the wrong side of a five-wicket defeat to leave us looking over our shoulders with four fixtures of the season remaining. Dave and Mark opened the batting on an “interesting” pitch with some balls keeping low and others popping off a length with the wicketkeeper taking the ball at head height. As a result, nobody ever felt “in” and a final total of 123 was a fine effort. Mark 28 and Bash on his first 2nd team game for quite a few years with 14 (great to have you back Bash) were the only players to make double figures, aside from Mike who batted superbly to top score with 43. Picking the right ball to send to the fence, defending the good ones and swaying out of the way of the vicious deliveries, he played his innings to perfection and deserved a 50. We had our hosts for the day 2 for 1, 20 for 2 and then 21 for 3 as Simon, Rob and Mike made early inroads to the Mount top order. Hampy then got rid of the opposition captain thanks to a smart bit of glovework from Rohit, but a couple of decent partnerships and some hefty hitting saw Mount to their target before drinks and despite another wicket for Noah.
The penultimate day of August saw us hosting our near neighbours Sowerby Bridge and with our guests for the day already relegated and SBCI in a four-way battle to avoid the second relegation spot, it was a must win match. Unfortunately, the rain (which had been forecast) intervened and it was a similar tale of woe across the rest of the Halifax Cricket League with our match being abandoned 12 balls into the second innings with a combination of Simon, Tyson and a superb one-handed catch from Rohit having reduced Sowerby Bridge to 0 for 3 off 12 balls. Had the rain not intervened, then surely, we were on track for the much needed 12 points. We lost the toss and were asked to bat first.
At 94-6 we were in more than a bit of bother. Despite double figure scores from the returning trio of Jonathan, Tony and Tyson, wickets kept falling at regular intervals and we were in a spot of bother. Step forward Rohit in his last 2XI fixture for the club this season. 66 off 60 balls really altered the course of our innings and the match and with good support from the vice-captain and the tail we were able to get to 193 and therefore, two batting points, only missing out on the final bonus point by 7 runs, with Rohit being the final man out with the penultimate ball of our innings as he looked to find the boundary to get us to the magic 200 run target. 5 points taken from the game and as we head into the final three fixtures of the season its very much as you were with a mere five points separating the four relegation threatened teams.
Sunday Side
August is always a quieter month for our Sunday side as matches aren’t played on the same day as the Parish cup and Crossley Shield final days, so just the three fixtures to get our teeth into this month.
Oakworth away was our first fixture of the month and a new venue to visit for all of the eleven selected. Once again, we fielded a side that contained no players who’d played the previous day. Bowling first, we used eight bowlers and restricted our hosts for the day to 215 for 7 from their 40 overs. 39 extras didn’t aid our cause, but Matt Rose the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 21 from his nine over spell. Noah Gould not too far behind with 1 for 37 from his nine overs of off-spin. Sameer, Matthew and Raihan also taking a wicket a piece.
With a bowler heavy XI, a required run rate of over 5 was always going to be a tall order, but our top order fired with 5 out of our top 6 making double figure scores. Dave (17), Noah (27), Rohit (26) and Chris (24 not out) making great contributions, with Satyam on his final appearance for the club before moving down to London on a permanent basis top scoring with 32 from 42 balls. Unfortunately, there was the standard Sunday team shuffle, and our final 5 wickets fell for the addition of 29 runs, leaving Chris stranded on 24 not out. 6 points taken from the game.
Our last home match of the month turned out to be an absolute belter of a match in a game that swung one way and then the other, before Barkisland prevailed with one ball of the match left. An early start up at the Stute on a glorious late summers day and we lost the toss and were asked to bat first. At 1 for 3 we were in a spot of bother with young Scholefield having taken a hat-trick. Robin and Ajay then batted sensibly together to put on 120 for the fourth wicket with Ajay being the aggressor in the partnership before getting out having scored 77 (his fifth half-century of the season). Robin batted sensibly and anchored the innings scoring 80 not out (his second half-century of 2025) having batted all the way through the 40 overs. Rohit came in when Ajay was out and hit five boundaries in his 32 from 50 balls, having put on 89 with Robin. 25 extras helped us along the way and a total of 219 from our 40 overs seemed about par on a lightning quick outfield.
And we got so, so close as the opposition number 11 hit the penultimate ball of the match for 6 to win the game by the barest of margins. Ajay and Noah the pick of the bowlers with four wickets between them for 54 runs. The odd dropped catch here and there didn’t aid our cause and fair play to Fin Charnock for putting his hand up to bowl the final six deliveries which actually included 2 wickets. Glorious failure, but 10 points from the match and only 5 fewer than our guests, so whilst not the 20 points we would have liked, not a total disaster and onto next week.
The Sunday side dodged the autumnal like showers to put in a team performance in an entertaining and close fought match away at Stones, and in the process pretty much guaranteed that they’ll remain in the same division for 2026. We lost the toss but were somewhat surprisingly asked to field. We used 8 bowlers with the wickets being shared around. Lucas and Naman the pick of the bowlers with two wickets each. Lucas picking up their opener who’d led a charmed life and Naman cleaning up the oppositions 4 and 5 after they’d got to 20. Ajay and Matt as out opening bowling pair had a wicket each and a big shout out to Noah who got rid of the Stones number 6, who had looked set to make a century, which would have left us chasing 20-30 runs more. Noah’s wicket was courtesy of a great catch on the deep mid-wicket boundary from Phil, who also played his part in running out the Stones’ number 3. We’d need 211 to win at just over 5 an over.
And we got there with 8 balls to spare thanks to a nerveless 18 not out from Naman from 15 balls with Noah in support. Phil “the twirl” Earle anchored the innings and after we’d been reduced to 20-1 and then 40 for 2 following the departures of Robin and Dave. He’d go on to make 71 before being the 7th wicket to fall with only 20 needed for victory. Ajay gave the innings the momentum with another half-century- this time from only 29 balls with five fours and three sixes. Rohit scored 10 on his final appearance of the season. Matt got a delivery that barely got above ankle height to set the nerves jangling in the SBCI changing room, but Naman and Noah had it covered. Two fours from the first three balls of the penultimate over eased our worries and when the fourth ball of the over was steered to deep backward point for a single, the game was won. Sitting pretty in 7th and 46 points clear of the bottom two with only 60 to play for. It’s looking like a very good and stress-free end to the season for the Sunday first XI.
Junior Cricket
The junior season has come to an end with the Under 9’s finishing off the season at the beginning of the month in the Collinson Cup quarter finals. Unfortunately, the summer holidays ensured that we were unable to field our strongest team and we lost out to a powerful Booth side by 85 runs. But a huge well done for getting so far and for finishing second in the league.
Additional nets have also come to a close, but getting the bowling machine out has allowed our Under 13’s to get in some additional batting practice.
Junior presentation evening will be held on Friday 12th September- with full details to be published in each of junior sides’ Whatsapp groups.
Social Events
Saturday 20th September – the last supper! Further details to follow nearer to the time.
End of Season Dinner
Pam, along with our Treasurer and Secretary have been working hard on getting the end of season dinner all sorted with this being held at Southwood on Birdcage Lane in Halifax on Saturday 8th November. Please do not hesitate to contact Dave (07837 295425) if you would like to attend. Official notice has already been served with requests for menu choice and payment to follow in the forthcoming weeks.
The end of Season Dinner is open to anyone linked to the club- players (including juniors who have played senior cricket in 2025), partners, junior Mum’s and Dad’s, husbands, wives and anyone who may have had a previous connection to SBCI.
Dave and Lewis