And just like that, we have two weeks of the 2026 cricket season to go. All three senior sides have something to play for, with six matches remaining this season across all three teams.
The August weather was a bit more mixed, but all of the games we played in were completed, save for the last match of the month, when the Sunday side couldn’t win the battle against the thunder & lightning.
The first team are on track for their best ever Premier Division finish (when they’ve not gone on to win the title) and are in a battle to finish in second place with Oxenhope.
The 2nd and Sunday first XI need to do some work to preserve their status in their respective divisions, but are in the box seat, with a reasonable points cushion between themselves and the clubs in the drop zone.
The Under 11’s were unlucky to come up against a very strong Jer Lane side and bowed out at the semi-final stage, at the beginning of the month, but what an achievement to get so far. Well done to everyone involved.
With the season coming to an end, there will be a working party up at the club from 10:00 a.m on Sunday 13th September as we’ll look to put the ground to bed for the Winter. Sightscreens and nets to come down, covers to come off the roll-on roll-off covers and the square will need its usual post-season TLC. The more the merrier- all hands welcome.
Senior Cricket
1st Team
A narrow 30 run defeat away at Upper Hopton on Yorkshire day as the Summer Holidays started to take their toll on player availability. Our hosts for the day elected to bat, with little to no rain around for weeks, and a fast outfield on a small playing area, there was only one choice that Hopton could make. Skipper Scholefield and Lewis had a wicket a piece as we reduced Hopton to 26 for 2. Both Alex and Lewis would go on to take 2 wickets each, with Alex only going for 34 runs from his 10 over spell. Despite missing the accuracy of first change bowler Tom Wood, Will more than stepped into Tom’s shoes and as first change bowler really took the game to our opponents, finishing with 5 for 68 from his 14 over spell. We did have them 104 for 5 and then 116 for 6, but numbers 8 and 9 scored 87 runs between them to take them over the 200 run mark before Will and Lewis finished the tail off. Bibin also took a wicket on his first team debut.
At 60 for 5, we were always up against it with 5 out of our top 6 failing to make it to double figures. Thankfully Liam and Will came to our rescue with a 59 run, 7th wicket partnership to get us to within 100 runs of our target and despite 13 from Gnanam and 10 from Lewis, Bibin’s was the final wicket to fall with us on 183 and 31 runs shy of our target.
A superb 77 from 64 balls from Gnanam was the outstanding performance the following week at home to relegation threatened Luddendenfoot as the first team ground out a win, despite missing at least three players. Alex second top scored with 39, having opened the batting with Dan. At 54-4 and then 75 for 5, we were in a bit of bother, but Gnanam’s superb knock of 77 (56 of those in boundaries) helped swing the momentum in our favour. Will was in the runs again with 35 and Chris Parker, making his season debut for the 1’s had 15. Will’s was the last wicket to fall as we chased more runs after we’d reached 200, and maximum batting points and Foot’ would need 217 to win.
Our guests for the day were certainly in with a shout at 111 for 4 and 132 for 5. Two wickets at the top of the order for Chris, whilst the skipper weighed in with 3 for 55 from 12.5 overs. Bibin had two wickets as well, but Will with 3 for 30, and having taken the wicket of the Luddendenfoot skipper who was set, having made 54, was the star of the show. Alex came back to remove the last two opposition batters, and we’d won another close one, this time by 26 runs.
The following week, we continued our push to finish in the top three of the Halifax Premier Cricket league with a narrow three wicket win over Copley. Despite absences continuing to take their toll, we held our nerve, despite being 113 for 6 in pursuit of 180 as Will and Lewis combined for an unbroken 7th wicket partnership of 70 to see us over the line. Copley won the toss and elected to bat first. At 6 for 2, they might have been regretting that decision as our opening ball partnership Alex and Lewis combined to get rid of both of the Copley opening batsmen. There were only three Copley batters to get to double figures with Olly Thorpe with an unbeaten 110, scoring over 60% of the opposition runs. Lewis was the pick of the bowlers with 2 for 29, with Alex (2 for 34) and Will (2 for 37) also picking up a couple of wickets a piece in their respective spells. Tom took the only other wicket to fall as Copley finished on 179 for 7.
Despite losing Alex early on and then Chris and Simon for single figure scores, we were on track to record a victory with Tom (45) and Gnanam (21) having steadied the ship. When Gnanam departed with the score on 74, and then Chris, with the score on 76, we were four wickets down with more than a hundred runs still required. Simon and Will got us to three figures, but a couple more wickets fell soon after, and we were six down with 67 runs still needed. Step forward Will and Lewis who combined superbly (and with the overs running out) to get us over the line without losing any further wickets and with 12 balls of the match left. Both Will and Lewis unbeaten on 45 and 42 respectively, as we recorded our second home win in as many weeks.
The penultimate fixture of the month saw us defend 214 as near neighbours Booth were dismissed for 88 to seal a 126-run win. And all that with our opening bowler and number four batter at a wedding and on holiday. Skipper Scholefield led the way with the bat with 76 as we scored 214 for 9 from our 45 overs. We recovered from 30 for 3, with Tom, Jamie & Gnanam all back in the pavilion, with Alex and Dan (47) sharing a fourth wicket partnership of 105. Woody made 10, which then brought Will to the crease who then scored 42 from 47 balls to get us to maximum batting points. Despite losing Veitchy & Haris, Matthew held firm at the other end to ensure Booth wouldn’t take maximum bowling points. Despite this, 214 was a below par score up at Booth.
We needn’t have worried as Alex with 6 for 36 from his 14 overs tore Booth apart and with help from Bibin (1 for 24) and Will (3 for 27) saw us canter to victory by a margin of 126 runs. Bibin got the ball rolling and then Alex came to the fore as wickets continued to fall as our hosts were reduced to 6 for 2, 44 for 4 and then 67 for 7, before Will took the final wicket of the match with the first ball of his sixth over, courtesy of a catch from, you guessed it Alex. A superb day all round and well done to Haris and Matthew for filling in on a ground that can be unforgiving at best.
The final fixture of the month saw us host table-toppers Thornton on what was a wet day across the region. After we lost the toss, it was no surprise that our visitors asked us to bat first, and we unfortunately lost Tom in just the second over, before the first rain delay after six overs. After another brief session of just two overs, we took an early tea and finally settled on a 29-over-a-side contest which we managed to complete without further interruption. Jamie led the way with 73 off 68 balls and there were contributions from Alex (21), Chris (16), and Dan (17). A rapid 41 from 26 balls from Gnanam, which included four sixes, gave us late momentum and meant we closed on a competitive 176/8 from our 29 overs.
Thornton’s response started at a good pace, and despite Lewis taking the opening wicket with the score on 34, when Thornton reached 79/1 with still more than half of their overs to go, they were surely favourites. However, Will and Tom came into the attack to stifle the scoring and took regular wickets as the remaining overs dwindled. Two catches each from Gnanam, Lewis, and Simon behind the sticks supported the bowling efforts and both slow bowlers closed out the innings in composed fashion, ensuring we picked up a 16-run, 10-point victory. Four consecutive wins to close the month mean we sit in third position, with 13 wins from 20 games. Our final two matches of the season will see us visit Bradshaw and then finally host Illingworth as we look to finish the season strongly.
2nd Team
A great 2XI team performance where everyone contributed saw us recover from being 8 for 2 to post 153 and then roll our Mount for 119 as we won a tense, low scoring game of cricket to take maximum points and take us out of the relegation zone. Mount won the toss and decided to bowl on a green looking track and with Mark and Jonathan back in the pavilion with our score not yet in double figures, it looked to be the correct decision. Jack and Robin batted really sensibly and not without great skill against some decent bowling to take our score to 72 before Jack was dismissed for a well made 39. Robin anchored our innings and top scored with 40. Dave tried to keep the scoreboard ticking over as the innings reached its conclusion (without much success) and it was left to Rob L who hit a six and a four in the four balls he faced to get us over the 150 mark and to another batting point.
In the absence of Tyson, skipper Keast took the new ball and carried on from where he left off the previous Saturday against Greetland. Combining well with the ever-reliable Simon bowling from the other end, we had Mount at 37 for 5 with our opening bowling pair dismissing the Mount top 5 between them (Matty 3, Simon 2) with none of the opposition batters making a score of 10 or above. Mount bat all the way down, so even when we were halfway through their line-up, the game was still in the balance. Cue Noah and Rob, who came on first change and took the last four Mount wickets for 37 runs to seal us the win by 34 runs. Noah bowled really well and got rid of the Mount dangerman for 23 when he was looking to hit his team to victory. The additional two wickets were also key as Mount edged closer and closer with Rob taking the final wicket of the match with a little under 9 overs of the match left to give us the much needed 12-point win.
Away at Upper Hopton a week later, we slumped to a disappointing 6 wicket defeat as our hosts cruised to victory with more than 12 overs left. Only having three recognised second team bowlers didn’t help us, combined with a few missed chances and dropped catches. Matty won the toss and elected to bat first. A welcome return to form for Mark who top scored for us with 58, ably supported by son Jack (28), following an opening partnership of 56 with Jonathan, which had given us an excellent platform. 15 from Rohit (12 in boundaries) helped move the score along but when Simon was the 8th wicket to fall- to a horrible swipe across the line (his words not mine) then we were looking at a below par total on a reasonably small outfield with a very quick outfield. Up stepped Matty and Rob with a 56-run 9th wicket partnership to get us to a very respectable 205, with 39 runs coming from the last 30 deliveries of our innings. A great team performance and something to bowl at.
We were in the game at 83 for 3 with Simon taking all three wickets, a superb one-handed leaping grab from Rob at mid-on and a sharp bit of glove work from John behind the sticks accounting for two of the wickets to fall. Sadly, two chances that their opening batter offered up when he was on 30/40 runs (who would go on to make an unbeaten century) were not taken and these proved to be the pivotal moments in the game. Jack took a wicket as the game was coming to its conclusion, Akhil with a superb catch on the mid-wicket boundary, but that was far too little, too late and Hopton sealed the win 7 balls later. Definitely a case of what might have been.
A battling performance the following week with the bat, when we had been 3 for 2 against fellow relegation battlers Bradshaw, to recover to gain maximum batting points and four points from the match overall, which could prove to make the difference come the end of the season.
Bradshaw opted to bat first and were carried by two major innings, as the second wicket home team partnership put on 154. Our hosts looked like they were on their way to a score of at least 300, but our bowling and fielding in the last 20 overs improved immeasurably. Matty was the main reason for keeping us in the contest. His 4‑57 was a superb effort and delivered at the moments when Bradshaw threatened to run away with the game. Greeny with two stumpings behind the timbers to help Matty along the way- one a sharp piece of work with the gloves, the other a little more fortunate as the ball rebounded off his pads to break the bails with the new batter out of his ground. Our breakthroughs in the second half of the first innings repeatedly halted Bradshaw’s momentum, supported by the tireless efforts of Simon who bowled 14 overs for just 58 runs which included the wicket of the Bradshaw opener. A mention to Michael Featherstone making his SBCI debut having never played cricket before. Fantastic in the field and a lovely throw over the stumps to help John effect a run out. Overall, not too bad a performance on a small ground (when hitting straight) and 260 definitely gettable.
The chase began in tough fashion, with two early wickets leaving us in all sorts of bother. Jonathan and John then put on exactly 100 for the third wicket to get us back in the game. Jonathan would go on to top score with a well made 52 before getting out as we looked to up the tempo in the latter stages of the game. John carried on his good form with 39, before being given out leg before. At that stage of the game, we would have perhaps been content with getting to 150, but Matty and Simon had other ideas. Matty’s 46 from 34 balls with 38 of those in boundaries really put the momentum back into our innings. A sixth wicket partnership of 40 with Dave and then 39 for the seventh wicket with Simon, saw us gain the final batting point and without losing a further wicket, ensured that Bradshaw wouldn’t pick up another bowling point. We did end up 52 runs shy of our target but would have taken the final result with glee after having lost those early two wickets.
A hard fought, ground out team performance against Copley in our penultimate home match of the season saw us pick up 11 points in a must win game and with our nearest relegation rivals only picking up 5 points between them, then it turned out to be a pretty good day all round.
Copley won the toss and elected to bowl first. A first wicket partnership of 75 might have had our guests thinking they’d made the right decision with John and Richard setting us the perfect platform. When John was out for 24, Tony came to the crease and shared in a second wicket partnership of 76, taking the score to 151 with Tony making 36. Richard was the star performer of our innings and having opened the batting and having made a lovely 82 with 62 of those coming in boundaries, his was the second wicket to fall with us looking in a good position.
Against a sharp opening bowler and a young leg spinner who went onto take 5 wickets, we had a change in batting line up in the final stages of our innings as we looked to score quickly to put the game beyond our opponents. Tyson and Matty with 12 and 17 respectively, helped us get to maximum batting points with the skipper being unlucky to chop one onto his stumps. Another red inker from Matty took us to 205 from our 45 overs.
A strange batting response from Copley who stumbled their way to 153 for 7 in their allotted overs without them every really threating our total. A sharp bit of work from Browny at backward point with a run out before Copley had registered a run, already had them on the back foot, and they Tyson had removed their skipper to reduce them to 23 for 2, then the game was ours to lose. Hampy was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 30 from his allotted overs, and Noah took a wicket from his four overs. Greeny with two catches behind the wickets. We got the all-important 7th wicket to get us the extra bowling point as the game reached its conclusion with the Copley opening bowler reaching his maiden 2nd team half-century as the game rather petered out and we’d won by 52 runs. As a side note, it was great to see Dylan Evans back in the 2nd team for the first time this season.
Our penultimate away game of the season away at 2nd placed Booth was a rare, rain affected affair and we came within two wickets of pulling off a superb victory, which would have all but secured our Premier Division status for another year. The Booth skipper had other ideas, and his unbeaten 23 saw his side over the line in the gathering gloom up at Broadfold Park. On a day where we thought the weather was going to be the winner, we managed to get a 36 over a side match in. Booth won the toss and asked us to bat first. We were going really well at 47 for one after Jonathan and Richard got us off to a great start, before the turning point of the match. Richard was on the end of a questionable umpiring decision (supposedly caught behind) when on 25 and looking really good to go on and make a big score. We then came off for rain for an hour and a bit and following an early tea, Jack and Robin had to, in effect start again and build our innings all over once more. Only Greeny in our middle order registered a score greater than 10 and it was Dave and Simon (31 and 19 not out respectively) to get our total above three figures and we’d eventually finish on 133.
We kept chipping away at the Booth batting line up with skipper Keast’s bowling changes doing the trick more often than not. We held onto our catches really well with Noah taking a difficult high chance at square leg and his dad taking three catches in the slips. Matty dismissed the top three Booth batters, Simon had another three victims, along with his usual economy rate and Rob Larkin took the other two wickets to fall. Another twenty or so runs and the game probably would have been ours, but that’s cricket I guess, and our hosts scored the winning runs with 8 overs and one ball left in the match.
Sunday Side
A poor start to a key month in the season for our Sunday side as Oakworth (at the time of the match being just one place above us in the league table) were comprehensively better than us in all three facets of the game to secure a 94-run win. Oakworth won the toss and elected to bat on yet another glorious summers’ day up at the Astleys. We had a couple of early breakthroughs when the Oakworth score was on 35 and then 39, with Matt and Lucas taking a wicket each. There then followed a series of heavy scoring partnerships which really sapped our energy and enthusiasm and ultimately, took the game away from us. A rapid outfield combined with some poor ground fielding contributed to the above par score, but we did keep chipping away. Naman, Matthew and Noah all took a wicket each- Noah’s a superb one-handed grab off his own bowling to dismiss the Oakworth number 4. The opposition middle order really fired and despite two late wickets from Dave, the run rate didn’t slow down, and we’d need nearly 250 to record an improbable victory.
Only two players made it to double figures in our reply, but we thankfully made it to 150 to give us a second batting point, which could prove to be key come the end of the season. John was the shining light in our innings- opening the batting and making a half-century since gradually returning to cricket since last June. Just to cap it all off, he also passed 9,000 senior runs for the club too. Matthew made a good looking 20 and extras aided our cause with 24, but John was the last man out with 8 balls of the match remaining to end what was a pretty poor all round display from the Sunday first XI. Just the 6 points picked up on the day.
With no match on 16th August, we returned to action on 23rd August away at Stones and made it a three-win weekend for the club as we recovered from 17 for 3 batting first to record a nervous yet much needed 26 run win. A surprise when Stones opted to bowl first having won the toss, but when we lost three wickets for one run to leave us at 17 for 3, then it looked like a good decision. Dave and Rohit then set about re-building the innings and put on 62 for the 4th wicket, before Rohit departed for 35, courtesy of a great one-handed catch from the Stones opening bowler. Another key partnership between Dave and Akhil of 89 took us to a second batting point. When Akhil lost his wicket for 24, we were on 168 and looking to get to 200 in the final few overs of the innings. Matt Rose had other ideas and promptly blasted his first ever half-century with 53 scored from 21 balls – 50 of which came in boundaries. As it turned out, this fantastic cameo, turned out to be a match winning knock. Dave’s was the final wicket to fall with four balls of the innings left and he departed for 92, eight shy of a maiden century, but his best SBCI score by a good margin. Stones would need 250 to win from 40 overs.
They gave it one hell of a go and almost got there, but we held our nerve to cling on by 26 runs. Lucas and Matt struck early to get rid of two of the opposition big hitters with Lucas being the pick of the bowlers with 1 for 18 from his eight over spell. Noah also chipped in with a wicket, taking advantage of one that shot through to pin the Stones number 2 dead in front of his stumps. The opposition skipper, however, was into his groove and would go on to make 102 from 64 balls, meaning that our total was under threat with none of our bowlers being spared punishment. Thankfully, once the Stones captain had reached his three figures, he retired. This helped slow the run rate and it was left to Akhil and Dave to ensure that the winning target wasn’t reached. Akhil bowled really well (despite what the figures might say) as he was bowling with the short boundary on the leg side. Dave took two wickets to virtually seal the deal and with 35 needed off the final over of the match, Akil’s last six balls only went for 9 and we’d clung on to a very much needed win.
The rain, bad light, thunder and lightning came to the Sunday sides aid on the last Sunday of the month as the elements combined to ensure our crunch relegation battle at home to Outlane was abandoned during the second innings with our visitors very much on top, with them only needing 41 runs to win the match with seven wickets in hand and plenty of overs left, before the inclement weather had the final say.
Batting first, Dave and Dylan got us off to a solid start before three quick wickets reduced us to 41 for 3. Rohit, not for the first time in his SBCI career, rescued the Sunday team with the bat and would go onto score his fifth half century for the Sunday first team this season, ending up with 58 from 60 balls, and his would be the last wicket to fall as we made 155 for 8 from our 40 overs. Useful contributions from the bat came from the returning Phil Earle (22) and Akhil and Matt who both made ten runs each.
Despite a wicket from Matt and two from Akhil, our opponents were well on top and set to walk away with the win and the points, when the August Bank Holiday weather arrived just in time to ensure and early finish and see that we took away eight points from the game. With Outlane only taking one more point from this fixture, combined with Lightcliffe failing to raise a side and therefore having eight points deducted, then relegation safety is very much in our own hands.
Junior Cricket
On 10th August, our Under 11’s took on Jer Lane up at the Astleys in the semi-final of the Collinson Cup. Despite a couple of players missing due to holidays, our team put in a really good performance, but the older and stronger Jer Lane outfit, combined with their excellent and accurate bowling, were just too much for us, and they cantered home to a very comfortable 124 run win. Hugo and Bobby top scored for us when batting, but we were only able to take the one wicket when in the field and our visitors cantered their way to a win, but what a fantastic achievement from our young side to have made it through to a semi-final.
Social Events
The Last Supper- Simon to confirm details in the various Whatsapp Groups week commencing 7th September.
Junior end of season presentation details- Under 13’s & Under 15’s- Friday 25th September, Under 9’s & Under 11’s Friday 2nd October. Full details to be confirmed nearer to the time.
End of Season Dinner & Senior Prize Presentation Saturday 7th November – Southwood, Birdcage Lane, Halifax, HX3 0JB- If you’d like to attend, and haven’t already put your name down, please contact Dave, Simon or Yvonne ASAP.
Dave and Lewis
