A wet afternoon in Bradford and Pudsey

posted by John Winn

My plan yesterday was to see games in two leagues, The Bradford Mutual Sunday School and The Dales Council, two leagues which overlap territorially and into each of which I have previously only dipped my toe. The BMSS can trace its roots back to the 19th century and for 2015 has three divisions of 10 teams and one of 8. The Dales Council is a relative newcomer but can boast of more than 70 years cricket and has 20 clubs organised in three divisions.

A morning that started brightly increasingly clouded over and by the time I left the Lower Ure Valley there were spots of rain on the windscreen. First stop was a Dales Council Division C game at Thornbury CC's Daleside Road, a ground not that easy to find surrounded as it is by houses but sat nav did not let me down and I parked up just as the game was beginning. The rain had increased by now but there was no suggestion that play would be halted with opponents Pudsey SL III batting but struggling at 9 for 3 off six overs. The ground is neat and tidy although there is no access for cars and the vantage points on the road were all occupied by players' vehicles. A couple of circuits and a chat with the scorers occupied me while PSL mounted something of a recovery but the excellent website has the result this morning and shows an easy win for the homesters by 8 wickets.

A grey day at Thornbury

The postcode for the Thornbury ground is LS28 which means it is in Pudsey and such is also the case for my second visit, a ground adjacent to Bradford University sports field but this time in the Sunday School League and the home of West Bowling CC. The ground here has less charm than Thornbury and the very basic pavilion has suffered at the hands of graffiti artists and is clearly designed to keep vandals at bay. Parkside, the visitors were batting and after a slow start the openers began to play their shots to reach 37 for 0 off 8 overs on a very green wicket.  The rain was heavier and as the ground offers no seating where one could watch and keep dry I moved on. The website shows that Parkside built on their good start to reach 236 for 4 off their 40 overs to which West Bowling replied with 119 for 4, a winning draw for Parkside.

The roller at West Bowling

Back to the Dales Council and BD3, very much inner city Bradford and a few dead ends intervened before I found the way into the Karmand Community Centre and the very well appointed ground of Halifax Direct, the team that likes to give you extra and last year's A Division champions who were taking on Dewsbury rivals Savile Stars. I arrived just in time to see a few deliveries before the increasingly heavy rain forced the umpires to take the players from the field. Tea was taken early and during the interval I chatted with umpire Colin White who explained that once the teams had come off for rain play could not resume until it stopped. As this did not seem likely I decided to cut my losses and the website shows this was the right move for the game was abandoned as I left it with HD 61 for 4. Not a good start to the season for the title holders for with only one win from three they are nearer the bottom than the top. Surprisingly more games had conclusive finishes than were abandoned across the three divisions yesterday.

Covers on at Halifax Direct

Fourth ground meant a journey across Bradford city centre to the suburb of Little Horton and I parked by All Saints' church. Time for Sunday School again and a Division B game with hosts Girlington II v Hallfield I. Girlington were batting and making good progress at 84 for 2. The website shows that they built on this to reach 229 for 6 but Hallfield's reply was terminated at 12 without loss and like the majority of games in the league the match was abandoned. This is another ground where the aspect is ruined by the pavilion which is a windowless metal box, a sad reflection of what might happen if it was made of traditional wood and had windows.

The highest spire in Bradford

I had intended to visit a fifth ground but as I had chosen to wear shoes that were more Fred Astaire than Fred Trueman my feet were wet through and so I headed for home and the very comforting news that Darlington FC had beaten Bamber Bridge 2/0 in the play off final of Northern Premier (North) and next season will take on the might of clubs like Buxton, Workington and Barwell, wherever that is. And to think it was as recently as 2009 that we played and beat Bournemouth. Just a run of bad luck.

The morning has been the wettest for some time at home  and if such rain is widespread it does not bode well for this afternoon's games in the first round of the village cup, Tomorrow sounds better, let's hope so.