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June saw the first interruptions in cricket for the weather but progress for both our first and second XIs into the semi-finals of the Parish Cup and Crossley Shield respectively. Both semi-finals to be played on Sunday 20th July with the 1XI playing Oxenhope at home and the 2XI making the short trip to Booth. All support would be more than welcome.
The junior season continues to run at full pelt with our four teams having fixtures on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays with training being on a Friday.
All-Stars continues to be a success and will run until the school holidays by our first team wicketkeeper Simon Wood (Happy 40th for last Wednesday Simon).
Simon H and Dave are also pulling together details for the club annual dinner to which all are welcome. Very early days, but we are looking at Saturday 8th November as the date and (as per last year) Southwood being the venue. Please clear your diaries for the above date and we’ll reach out with more information as and when we get it. If you’d like to attend, then notice will be published in all of our Whatsapp groups with the details.
Senior Cricket
1st Team
June started on a damp note in the league with Oxenhope’s request for an early call-off being accepted, meaning just three points apiece. The following week we hosted unbeaten Booth and were asked to bowl first on a day with plenty of heavy showers around. Tom Wood’s 5/73 was the bowling performance of the day and included removing their top three batters to leave them 38/3. Lewis Firth (3/43) then joined Tom in the wickets, leaving Booth teetering on 42/5 and with us well on top. The one negative to this point was that we had lost skipper Alex Scholefield to injury in just his fourth over.
A sixth wicket partnership of 97 very much evened up proceedings, before Dylan Evans (1/52) made the important breakthrough. A century from their number seven put Booth in the ascendancy as they finished on 226/9 off their 43 overs, which had been reduced slightly due to a rain interruption.
Despite the disappointment of not having converted our strong position into bowling out our opponents cheaply, we set about the chase in positive fashion, with a partnership of 58 for the first wicket. Rhys Newman (31) was first to fall and then opening partner Tom (34) followed with the score at 91. Due to Alex’s injury, Simon Wood had moved up to number three and he was joined in the middle by Chris Dalby. The two advanced the score to a strong looking 158/2 before Chris was run out, but we were on track for victory nevertheless. Other partners came and went but Simon’s superb 82 not out was the bedrock of a memorable win, as the limping skipper Alex (17*) came out at number eight to hit the winning boundaries, including two sixes. An 11-point triumph, with four wickets and 11 balls to spare.
The following weekend started in disappointing fashion with a 36-run defeat at Triangle. We won the toss and elected to field, and at 17/3 we were delighted. However, a virtually chanceless 197 from their number four meant that very quickly the run rate started to climb significantly. We did fight back well, turning 282/4 into 327 all out, but some poor fielding had meant our target was more than it should have been. Wickets were spread around, with notable performances from Dylan (2/41) and Chris (3/15).
In reply, things started poorly as Rhys was dismissed with no score on the board. Tom and Simon came together and put on a partnership of 128 – in good time as well – before Tom was bowled for an impressive 75 off just 57 balls. As wickets fell at semi-regular intervals, Simon was sixth out for a brilliant 93, trying to up the ante. Most of our middle and lower order made it into double figures, with Gnanam’s 30 off 21 balls initially keeping the rate achievable, but no one else went on to a 50 or 60-plus score which would have probably seen us home, as we ended on 291/9 from our 45 overs.
The following day we travelled to Booth in the Parish Cup, for our quarter-final clash. Alex won the toss and asked our hosts to bat first, and the first ten overs were somewhat unremarkable. However, from there, we took a stranglehold of the game. Lewis (3/27) took three wickets in the space of nine deliveries to reduce Booth from 36/0 to 42/3, and Dylan (1/35) followed up his good work of the previous day with a key middle order wicket as the scoreboard read 47/4.
A small recovery was halted by the returning Arun CK (2/29), and Tom (3/17) got in on the act with some important economical wickets, as Booth stuttered from 83/4 to 98/9. Our fielding was much improved from the day before and included fantastic catches from Jamie Summerscales and Dylan. A good last wicket partnership added 37 runs, but when the last wicket fell to Rhys with the score at 135, we were confident of chasing down our target.
Rhys and Tom did a fantastic job of quelling any nerves which might have been among players – or supporters – with a fast start of 48/0 in less than eight overs. Tom was caught for 34 off 25 balls, and Simon joined Rhys as they positively but sensibly took us towards the victory target. Simon (24) was bowled with the score on 95, and a couple of further quick wickets left us 111/4. Rhys was unflustered though and saw us over the line in comfortable fashion, finishing 58 not out in a five-wicket victory. The draw for the semi-final sees us host Oxenhope on Sunday 20 July.
The final game of June saw us take on Warley & Elland at home, and our visitors chose to bat upon winning the toss. Alex (2/64) returned to bowling, dismissing Warley’s numbers two and three to leave them 49/2. Dylan (1/39) got in on the act before Chris came on first-change, to obliterate the middle order. 93/3 became 121/8 as he took 5/23 from nine overs, the only small disappointment being that we were not able to bowl our opponents out to secure maximum bowling points. Nevertheless, we would have been happy with 162/8 at the start and set about chasing down the score. Rhys fell with the score reading just 20, before Simon’s departure made it 66/2. Fortunately, Tom was in no mood to give Warley a sniff as he carved his way to a fantastic 106 not out off 90 balls, hitting 20 fours and a six. He was well supported by Chris (27*), in an unbroken partnership of 97, as we cruised to an eight-wicket win.
June ends with SBCI in an improved seventh place in the league table – four wins and five defeats from our nine completed matches – and with a semi-final on the horizon.
2nd Team
The first weekend in June brought about the first match of the season impacted by the inclement weather, but we managed to dodge the rain showers, get a 41 over a side match in against Mount, and most importantly of all, make it back-to-back wins for the first time in 2025.
Stand in skipper Matty Keast won the toss and elected to bowl, as Sameer Sharma made his debut for the club. At 18 for 3 (two wickets for Aqeel and one for Simon) it looked to be a very good toss to win. A few good partnerships from our guests for the day and a half-century from the opposition number 8 from 28 balls, had us on the back foot. A couple of missed chances in the field aided the Mount total and I must mention the “drop” from Tony Kirby, which had he hung on, would have been one of the best catches we’d ever seen up at the ‘Stute. All arms and legs and a body twist mid-air to catch the ball, which just popped out as TK hit the turf. Naman and Ikhlaq bowled well towards the end of the Mount innings without just reward as they looked to increase the run rate as their overs started to run out. So, we’d end up chasing 185 to win (reduced accordingly because of at least two rain breaks).
We made a good start in pursuit of our total and on track of the run rate despite the early loss of Jonathan and Tony. At 47-2 Dave came to the crease to join Mark, and they’d go onto put on a partnership of exactly 100. Mark the main aggressor in the partnership and despite having missed two weeks’ worth of cricket, looking like he’d never been away. As we tried to keep up with the required run rate, Mark (93) and then Dave (35) fell in the space of three overs, leaving Ikhlaq and Matty to try and see us home. And that they did. 22 runs coming off overs 39 and 40 to see us home by a “comfortable” six wicket margin and with seven balls left. A great game of cricket.
A local derby followed the week after away at Sowerby Bridge, and with both teams at the wrong end of the table, this game took on even more meaning. Once again, we dodged the showers and somehow found a way to win, when it had looked that our 244 might not have been enough. Not a bad toss to lose in retrospect with Mark (15) Jonathan and Dan getting us off to an absolute flyer. We were rocking along at 6 an over despite the early losses of Mark and Tony. Jonathan and Mark put on 139 for the third wicket with the former anchoring the innings, scoring 54 and being the seventh wicket to fall. Dan had his highest score since returning to the club and was agonisingly short of a century, when he was caught out at mid-wicket following a brief break for the rain. Rob and Dave, the only other players to make double figures as were all out with two balls of our innings left. No comments about some of the “interesting” umpiring decisions.
In the Sowerby Bridge reply, we were in a bit of bother as our hosts reached 114 for 2. A bit of luck for the first wicket with the ball rebounding off the batters pad to dislodge one of the bails, and then Tyson, who had taken the gloves for the first few overs of the match, returned to his more familiar surroundings to remove the other Sowerby Bridge opener. Wickets continued to fall, but the runs also flowed. The turning point was a smart bit of thinking from Hampy, who ran out the non-striking batsman who had just left his crease for a split second. Veitchy brought some much-needed control, and a reduction in the run rate just at the right time and took 2 for 44 from 10 overs. Our ground fielding was spot on this week and contributed to our win, with Aqeel highlighted as the ball tended to find him seemingly at least twice an over. And so, onto the end of the match, Tyson took the eighth wicket to fall, with only fifteen still required, and with Sowerby Bridge still having their dangerman in. Hampy stepped up, bowled a wicket maiden (as you do) and job done and we were home by 9 runs. Great game of cricket.
The less said about our performance the better against Booth on 21st June. One fellow Lancastrian pointed out that he reckoned that “that’s the worst all round performance I’ve been involved in at my time at the club” And who is going to argue with him. 90 all out having won the toss, and one wicket taken in Booth’s canter to victory. Only four batters made double figure scores, three ducks and one player who shall remain anonymous went to the wrong ground. Enough said and we moved on pretty quickly from that 0 points gained defeat.
And move on we did as 24 hours later, we somehow (via the batting of Ikhlaq and Mike in the main) turned around being 132-5 chasing 229 to win to get home by three wickets and with six balls to spare in a game that (because of various weather interruptions) finished at 8:45 in the gathering gloom and the pouring rain- but better than having to return the following week to finish the game off.
Bowling first, we got off to a good start and whilst not making the inroads we would have wanted, restricted Copley to just over 2 and a half runs an over for the first 20 overs. Our opening bowling partnership of Simon and Aqeel a combined 18 overs for 32 runs. Of course, the runs (as they needed to) came a bit quicker in the second half of the Copley innings, but we continued to make timely inroads. Tyson with five wickets and Mike with two did the damage and a mention to Mark and Ikhlaq for taking three great catches between them- both of Mark’s catches with the gloves were one handed efforts, but (as he later admitted) because he couldn’t move quickly enough to get both hands to them. Ikhlaq finished the Copley innings off in the final over and he’d go on to play a more than significant role with the bat.
A good start was made in our pursuit of our hosts’ total with Mark and Jonathan putting on 59 for the first wicket. Tyson came in at the fall of the first wicket and his 33 from 26 balls put us in the driving seat, but 97 for 2 quickly turned into 132 for 5 as the skipper, Dan and Tony were back in the pavilion, and we were now right against it. Cue a much needed 77 run partnership between Ikhlaq and Mike to give us a chance. Ikhlaq’s 56 not out from 57 balls was superbly timed with one lofted cover drive for six in the gathering gloom that had to be seen to be believed with Mike finding 39 from 38 balls rotating the strike at (seemingly) every given opportunity as well as finding the boundary when needed. Mike and Matty departed on 209 and 214 respectively, and it was left to Ikhlaq and Dave to scramble the 16 runs required for victory. And that they did off the final ball of the penultimate over for a three wicket win and our fourth Crossley Shield appearance in five years.
If our penultimate league match of June had been ridiculous, our final league match of the month was sublime as we put in the complete team performance to completely outclass a Triangle side and give them a sound thrashing on their own patch, which is always nice to do. Our hosts went from 106-4 to 154 all out as all of our bowlers took wickets with nobody going at more than 5 an over on a small ground with one boundary being a mere 25 yards away. Aqeel and Hampy made the early breakthroughs with both getting the prize wickets of Fletcher and Sykes respectively. Browny led the charge in the field to keep the pressure on the Triangle batters and the 6 wickets for 48 runs was testament to a superb all-round bowling and fielding performance. Mike and Rob the pick of the bowlers with five wickets between them and Rob getting Gary Rodger out to all but end any hopes of a large Triangle score. Tyson swapped the wicketkeeping gloves for the ball and took 2 for 5, taking two of the last three wickets to fall and we’d be chasing a more than gettable 155. And we did it with only a couple of hiccups. Mark and Jonathan laid the platform with a 71 first wicket partnership with Tyson accelerating the score before departing 40 runs later. It was left to Jonathan and Dan to calmly get us to our target without any further losses in the wicket column, and Jonathan sent the last ball of the match to the boundary to end up on 50 not out. A great day and a fabulous team performance.
Sunday Side
The Sunday side started June as they left off May and banished the memory of a poor result from three weeks previously against the same opposition as we snuck home with 5 balls to spare in the first match of the season to be impacted by the inclement weather. Our ‘home’ game was played at Sowerby Bridge CC with the Astleys being used for 20/20. Greetland won the toss and surprisingly elected to bat. Eight bowlers used in total with our youngsters Fin Charnock and Noah Gould taking five of the Greetland wickets to fall in a match reduced to 31 overs a side. Rohit also chipped in with a couple of stumpings as Sameer, Phil and Ajay also had a wicket a piece.
A required run rate of 5.17 would be no mean feat on a green and wet wicket with a big outfield to contend with, but we timed our chase to perfection. Bill and Phil got us off to a steady start before departing with Robin and Ajay then putting on 46 for the third wicket. Ajay was then joined by Rohit and they then put on 51 for the 4th wicket before Ajay was caught just one shy of what would have been his second consecutive half-century. Despite this loss, a run a ball 14 from Matt Rose along with Rohit striking at over 100 ensured that we won by six wickets off the first ball of the last over of the match.
It's three wins on the spin as Stones were beaten by a (in the end) comfortable 38 run margin in a game reduced to 30 overs a side as the weather another say in a senior fixture. Robin Hanson the star of the show with his maiden senior century, getting there on the penultimate ball of our innings and ably backed up by Chris Parker 53, with Ajay the only other player to reach double figures as we recorded a more than imposing 183 for 4 from our 30 overs.
Matt Rose to the fore with the ball with 3 for 21 in an impressive 9 over spell, which meant that our guests for the day were always going to be behind the required run rate. A wicket a piece for Ajay and Jack, and despite some middle order big hitting from Stones where it briefly looked like our score could be in threat, Ashwin bowled the penultimate over of the match which only went for one run, to seal the victory.
We were undone a week later by a young man playing at a standard below where he should be playing. 69 not out from 46 balls and then a spell of quick bowling on a par with first team XI standards (taking four wickets in the process) ensured that we were second best by 53 runs. That’s not to say we didn’t have our moments. Ajay and Noah with a wicket each and Phil “the twirl Earle” the pick of our attack with 3 for 37 as we took five wickets in a Crossflatts total of 232 from 40 overs.
And we had them worried for a while, hence the reason their quick bowler took the wicketkeeping pads off and took the ball which in turn, ultimately changed the game in their favour. At 81 for 2 and 154 for 4 (thanks to 62 from Ajay and 42 from Rohit) we were very much still in with a shout of winning. A Sunday side shuffle against some very non-Sunday afternoon bowling saw us reduced from 154 for 4 to 179 all out. Fair play to the young man concerned, evidently a fine cricketer in the making, and whilst certainly not against the rules, very much against the spirit of Sunday section cricket. We move on.
And move on we did. Struggling to remember when any of our sides posted a score of 300 or more on a weekend, and especially the Sunday side- but that we did in our game against Lightcliffe before the rain ensured that the game was abandoned 14 overs into their reply with a good denouement in store with our guests being 88 for no wicket when the rain put a finish to the match.
Runs a plenty when we were batting. 44 each for Robin and Phil. Phil got to bat with this son Albie for the first time, with Albie back from university for the summer. Chris Parker was the mainstay of the innings with 82 from 49 balls – 66 of those runs coming in boundaries. I wasn’t there to see him get out but can imagine that he was trying to whack the ball down to Sowerby Bridge, before having his stumps rearranged. Well batted Chris!! Ajay scored his second consecutive half- century from 42 balls and there were also some late innings runs from Jack Fellows who hit a run a ball 32 not out.
Sadly, the rain intervened, and we didn’t get any joy out of our 14 overs bowled, with the match being abandoned soon after. No game on 29th June due to the Sunday Team cup final being played, but the nine points we picked up leaves us in 6th place in the league table and very much looking up rather than looking down. With 20 points for a win, a run of victories in July and beyond will see us right in contention for a promotion spot.
Junior Cricket
Weekday evenings continue to be full on for our four junior sides and team managers with the games still coming thick and fast with training still really well attended on a Friday.
Fair to say that it has been a mixed bag of results so far in the season for our 11’s, 13’s and 15’s, with the Under 9’s being the shining light and sitting third (with a game in hand on the league leaders) in their division.
July will see most league campaigns come to an end and knockout cup cricket be the order of the day.
Social Events
5th July: Race Night - The social event of the year. Hoping as many of you can join us as possible to make this event as successful as always for the club.
19th July: Play your Cards Right
Dave and Lewis