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History made in July with both our 1 and 2XI reaching the semi-finals of the Parish Cup and Crossley shield- we think for the first time in living memory. The First XI overcame Oxenhope, in the end, quite comfortably by five wickets thanks to an unbeaten half-century from Jamie Summerscales. A much depleted Second XI put in a spirited display away at Booth but ended up on the wrong end of a nine-wicket defeat, but pride intact.
A few more league wins for all of our senior sides between now and the end of the season should ensure our positions in our respective divisions for 2026, but still some work to be done to ensure we don’t get dragged into various relegation battles.
Our junior season is coming to an end for all but one of our sides with the Under 9’s the last team standing with matches to play in their Collinson cup campaign.
We’ve had two hat-tricks taken by our players in July. Congratulations to both Hariprasath Sampathkumar and Adidev Arun who took three wickets in as many balls for our Sunday and Under 13 sides respectively.
All eyes now turn to Walton Street in Sowerby Bridge this coming Sunday (3rd August) as we’ll look to win the Parish Cup for the first time in 13 years with the final being played against Illingworth with a 1:00 start. All support is, of course, more than welcome.
Senior Cricket
1st Team
July only brought two wins for our 1st XI but nevertheless will go down as a success. The first of those two victories was a thriller at Clayton where we won the toss and elected to bowl first. Despite a couple of early wickets, to leave our hosts 12/2, we did not exert pressure well from that point and they put on an impressive 132 for the third wicket. A flurry of wickets from that point should have checked their momentum but they finished strongly to post 259/7 from their 45 overs. Arun CK was the pick of the bowlers with 3/53 from 11 overs.
Our response got off to a poor start as we found ourselves 43/4 inside 12 overs, but opener Tom Wood was undeterred and built a steady partnership of 80 with skipper Alex Scholefield (38). 123/4 became 139/6, and, with a hefty run rate still required, things looked somewhat bleak. Tom carried on his scoring at a brisk rate, and was joined by Yuvraj as the pair put on 83 in quick time. They looked to be carrying us to victory before a further twist saw Tom dismissed for a brilliant 98 (111 balls, 9x fours, 3x sixes), and Yuvraj for a rapid 58 (34 balls, 2x fours, 6x sixes), in quick succession. When Arun was dismissed, we still required 10 runs for victory with the last pair at the crease, but Lewis Firth (16*, 2x sixes) and Dylan Evans saw us home for a one-wicket victory in the final over.
The following week we hosted reigning champions Thornton at The Astleys and we unsurprisingly chose to bat first on a baking-hot day. Alex made a brisk 23 but was first out with the score on 35, and Simon soon followed to leave us 52/3. Tom (49) and Chris (10) moved us along to 99/2 but then a number of wickets fell in quick succession to leave us 111/6. Dylan (11) and Lewis (27) took us to 142 before Dylan fell and only Arun (22*) was able to do any more damage as we were bowled out for 172 in the 43rd over.
Unfortunately, our bowling efforts were not up to the required standard to defend that score, as Thornton’s opening pair put on 104. We did manage to trigger a mini collapse to 123/4 and at least secure a bowling point, thanks to the efforts of Arun (3/41) and Chris Dalby (1/37), but we were ultimately defeated by six wickets with more than seven overs to spare.
A week later we were the only game to start in the 1st XI Premier Division, however we only got five overs of bowling in before the heavens opened once again at Bradshaw. Our Parish Cup semi-final, scheduled for the following day, also fell victim to the weather and was pushed back by a week.
That meant our next match was a home game versus Copley, in which we won the toss and chose to field. Copley made a good start and put on 57 for the first wicket before Alex (1/42) and Lewis (2/53) struck in quick succession. Unfortunately, that was about as good as it got for us in the field as Copley put on 142 for the third wicket. A wicket from Chris did at least secure a bowling bonus point but 248/4 looked a good score which would take some chasing. Jamie Summerscales (33) was positive early on and pushed the scoring along but when he joined fellow opener Alex back in the pavilion, we were 42/2 and in need of a big partnership. Simon Wood (23) and Chris Dalby (20) had moved the score along before Simon was adjudged to have been stumped, and Chris followed LBW soon afterwards. 85/4 became 104/5 and Lewis (33) joined Yuvraj (32) at the crease, the two putting on a swift partnership of 56. We were already well behind the required run-rate though and needed much more than ‘swift’ scoring. 160/5 fell away somewhat to 186/9 at the end of our 45 overs, a 62 run defeat. Several starts not converted, with five of the top seven reaching 20 or more, but none going past 33, left us found wanting in the end.
Our rearranged semi-final at home to Oxenhope brought about a welcome end to July as we produced a solid all-around team performance to earn a Parish Cup Final spot, our first since the victorious year of 2012.
Having won the toss, we invited our visitors to bat first and after a steady start Lewis struck the first blow, bowling their opener with the score on 32. Alex then brought himself into the attack and had their number three caught behind by Simon to leave them 48/2. Arun was introduced into the attack and had a wicket in his first over, again caught by Simon, Oxenhope now 49/3.
Some counter-attacking stroke play moved the score along for a brief period, but Tom’s introduction put an end to that, with Gnanam Arjuna taking the first of his three catches. Arun (2/39) removed the other opener, not long before Chris (3/28) took the first of his three wickets to leave them 106/6. A small recovery was halted by Chris’s second wicket and his third almost immediately afterwards left them 138/8 with us well on top. A second wicket for Tom (2/10) brought the final pair together before Lewis (2/31) came back into the attack to close out the innings in the penultimate over, with Oxenhope 159 all out.
Though we would have taken that score before the game began, we knew the task was not complete yet. After we lost Rhys early for the first time in this year’s cup, the Woods advanced the score steadily together. Simon (19) fell to a caught and bowled by the Oxenhope leg-spinner with the score at 51 and then Tom (32) was bowled to leave us 67/3 – a reasonable position but far from home-and-dry.
Jamie entered the fray and alongside the watchful eye of Chris (6) they took us to the brink of three figures before the latter was out, leaving us 99/4. Any nerves which may have still lingered were quickly allayed by a partnership of 42, meaning only 19 were needed when Alex (28) was out caught. Despite the loss of the skipper, Jamie (58*, 54b, 7x fours, 3x sixes) wasted no time from here, dispatching three sixes to take us safely to our 160 target and into the final for the first time in more than a decade. It was a great team performance with contributions across the board, and a thoroughly deserved victory.
2nd Team
The first fixture of July saw us face Warley & Elland, a team also towards the wrong end of the table, so, we knew that a decent point haul was required to ease us away from the lower reaches of the league table. And it was never in doubt. Despite losing the toss and being asked to bat, we reached the “magic” 200 off the last ball of our 45 overs and then proceeded to bowl Warley & Elland out in less than 20 overs. Despite losing Jonathan early doors to a superb one-handed catch in the slips, a run of partnerships of 40, 63 and 36 saw us regain control of the match as we looked to put a competitive score on the board. Star of the show with the bat was Dan Keighley who made 54 before holing out to mid-off as we looked for late innings runs. Ably supported by Mark (45) and Tyson and Dave who both scored 23, it was left to the vice-captain to cut the final ball of our innings off middle stump down to the third man boundary for four to ensure maximum batting points.
Tyson and Simon did the job with the ball as all 10 Warley players failed to register a double-figure score between them. A run out along the way didn’t help proceedings, but respective figures of 6 for 23 and 3 for 13 shows how well our opening pair bowled. Dan Keighey aptly took the last catch of the Warley & Elland innings, and we were back in the pavilion 19.1 overs after we’d started with our second consecutive 12-point haul.
Our first game of the second half of the season in the blazing heat up at Blackley saw a decent effort with the bat which wasn’t matched with the ball and in the field as we fell to a seven-wicket defeat. After having won the toss and electing to bat, we recovered from 17 for 2 to make 230 all out. Mark, as he has been all season our main run scorer in the innings with 75. There were also useful contributions from Rob (39), Simon (26) and Dave (21), but no other player managed to get a score in the twenties and whilst we were pleased that our lower middle order and tail had wagged, we knew we’d have to be at our best to get a positive result from the match.
Despite two wickets from Simon (one courtesy of a great catch from Mike) and one from Rob, we never really got into the Blackley batting line up to cause them any real alarm in chasing down our total. They batted well, but there we put down three or four chances and despite the skipper changing his bowlers around frequently in the heat and him bowling off-spin in his second spell, there was no magic formula to be found and our hosts reached their target with exactly eight overs left and 7 wickets in hand.
Our first abandonment of the season followed at home to Greetland the following week, with our visitors reaching 91 for 3 before a downpour at 3:45 put an early ending to proceedings, following a late start and a rain interruption of around 60 mins once we had got going. Rob Larkin with two of the wickets to fall thanks to smart catches from Naman and Mark. Dave Brown swooped from backward point to hit the stumps with a direct throw for the other wicket and that was pretty much that.
After a postponement the following day of our Crossley Shield semi-final, we finished our July league campaign with a trip to Copley and were well beaten. With a few players missing because of holidays, we weren’t able to field our strongest team, but our bowling and fielding weren’t upto our usual standards (39 extras and at least four dropped catches tells its own story). We didn’t take our first wicket until Copley had reached 260, and then, the very next ball, Fin Charnock making his second team debut, cleaned up the Copley number three. Skipper Keast took a wicket in the final over of the innings as they ended up on 273 for 3.
Losing three of your top five batters for scores of less than 10, was never going to help our cause, and with only five players making double figure scores, we stumbled to 143 all out, just missing out on that second batting point by seven runs- with Naman the last man out thanks to a great catch from the opposition skipper. Highlight, by far of our batting innings was a welcome return to form with the bat from Tony Kirby who made 58 (10 of these he had scored before he realised that he wasn’t wearing a box). Three run outs didn’t help our cause, but we were well beaten on the day, so no real complaints.
The 2nd team bowed out of the Crossley Shield at the semi-final stage against a strong Booth side but not before we’d put in one hell of a shift and with us missing at least five second team regular players. We lost the toss and were asked to bat first. Dave and Tony got us off to a fantastic start against some more than decent bowling (as Tony’s left foot will testify) and whilst not rattling along, the bad ball was, in the main, put away. Dave was first man out with the score on 87, with Tony following some 14 runs later. We then went on to lose another 7 wickets for the addition of 62 as our middle order failed to fire. Phil Earle made a fine 26 batting at 3, Ajay some lusty blows with a run a ball 18 and skipper Hampshire 22 off 17 balls at the end of our innings including hitting the returning Booth quick back over his head for a monster 6. 186 gave us something to bowl at.
Unfortunately, we only took the one wicket with the excellent Aqeel reducing Booth to 11 for 1 courtesy of a catch from Naman. That was as good as it got, with few chances being offered to make further additions to the wickets column. Victory for our hosts was sealed by nine wickets and with 72 balls left. A disappointing way to exit the competition, but three semi-finals in as many seasons is a fine return for our second XI.
Sunday Side
We faced table-topping Upper Hopton in our first match of July and put on a much better display than when we travelled to Mirfield in May and were bowled out for 56 but still ended up on the end of a defeat against a strong side, backed up by at least three second team players. We lost the toss on a damp and overcast day and were asked to bat first. Rohit, fresh from a great performance the day before with the gloves for the 2’s, was the star performer with the bat with a run a ball 65. Robin and Albie were the only other players to make double figures as we reached 141 for 7 off our 40 overs.
Unfortunately, and despite having Hopton 15 for 2 and then 38 for 4, only two more wickets fell as our guests for the day comfortably reached their required target with 15 overs left and four wickets in hand. Ajay the standout player with the ball taking 4 for 23 from seven overs and Noah taking 2 for 30- both of which were courtesy of a little help from Albie in the field, the second of his catches being a stunner.
Never a good toss to lose on a red-hot day up at the Stute against a strong Rastrick team, but we recovered from 31 for 4 when batting to put up a real fight ending only 40 ish runs shy of victory when we could easily have been bowled out for 60. We fielded first on an absolute beauty of a day at the club and with a very rapid outfield, our guests for the day made the most of the conditions and not overly accurate bowling as they raced to 37 before Fin took a really good catch at mid-on off the bowling of Albie to a ball that was travelling. Phil bowled 7 overs for 21 to bring the opposition run rate down somewhat taking two wickets in the process but with a rapid outfield, anything that beat the fielder ended up hitting the fence. Noah and Dave got in on the act with a wicket a piece, the former thanks to a great running catch from Chris. Our opening ball pair came back to bowl the final few overs to ensure no massive addition to the total, and we’d be chasing an unlikely 235 for victory.
With our top four batters back in the pavilion at 31 for 4, it was always going to be an uphill struggle, but we gave it a go and came close to taking home maximum batting points. Ajay led the way with 67 from 48 balls, Dave was left unbeaten on 45 at the end of the match, having anchored the innings to ensure a heavy defeat didn’t happen and Rohit had an entertaining 26 as he looked to up the scoring rate at the end of our innings. It was left to Fin in the final over to ensure no further wickets were lost denying Rastrick the opportunity to take home maximum points.
Our return game away at Rastrick was called off without a ball being bowled the following week, our first abandoned game of the season.
Our final match of July saw the impact of three matches on the same day in the summer holidays as we gave senior debuts to at least four players, and we came away with a credible six points against Thornton in a match that was played at Stones CC.
We gave eight bowlers a go after having won the toss and electing to field. Fin, Noah and Liam all taking a wicket each. Ayyan Sheraz also took a wicket on his debut, but star of the show was Hariprasath who took 6 for 27 from his nine overs including a hat-trick when the opposition score was on 190. We bowled Thornton out for 209 with 17 balls left of their innings, when they had been 150 for 4, so taking the last 6 wickets for 59 was a fine effort and a gettable target on a small Stones ground.
In the end, the total proved to be too big for us to chase down and not a surprise given the inexperience on our team. Boj with 12 and Robin with 40 got us off to a good start, with special mentions to both Noah Gould and Liam Parker who made 19 and 11 respectively. Wickets, however, fell at regular intervals with the last two wickets falling with the score on 115- but a performance to be proud of.
Junior Cricket
Pride of place goes to our youngest junior side- our Under 9’s who have made it into the Quarter Finals of the Collinson Cup. A win over Outlane on the last day of July ensured passage to a match this coming Sunday away at Booth- a well done to everyone involved.
Aside from this, all other junior matches have come to an end with the 11’s, 13’s and 15’s failing to make progression to the latter stages of their respective Collinson Cup competitions.
Some training sessions are continuing throughout the Summer, with plans in place for an end of season presentation evening on 12th September.
One highlight from our Under 13’s side worth mentioning saw Adidev Arun take a hat-trick in a defeat to Lightcliffe in what turned out to be our final match of the season. Well done, Adi.
Social Events
Saturday 30th August-post 2nd Team match v Sowerby Bridge- Quiz
Saturday 20th August- the last supper- last Saturday matches of the season.
Play Your Cards Right- TBC, but likely to be mid-August
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 likely to go out before the end of August along with menus.
The end of Season Dinner is open to anyone linked to the club- players, partners, junior Mum’s and Dad’s, husbands, wives and anyone who may have had a previous connection to SBCI.
Dave and Lewis