There have been several postings over the winter dealing with the ramifications of the closure of the Huddersfield Central League and the dispersal of the clubs from those two leagues. Most affected by this have been the Huddersfield and Halifax leagues and there are now clear statements on the websites of both organisations as to how the new clubs will be assimilated.
Last week the Drakes Huddersfield Cricket League published its fixtures calendar for 2017 and having said in my most recent posting that April 22nd was the most popular day for the start of league cricket, I now see that DHCL will stick to their traditional third Saturday in April start and thus begin on the 15th. Six new clubs to integrate here and they find themselves in Championship Two which is the fifth tier of the league. Some will start the new campaign facing familiar foes for Cartworth Moor will be at home to Flockton and Holmbridge to Nortonthorpe, all four former Central league clubs, while Almondburians will host Rastrick and Edgerton and Dalton will travel to Shepley. The full fixture list is clearly set out on the league website.
A bold heading on the Halifax website '2017 Saturday League Structure Announcement' prefaces a detailed posting outlining the difficulties faced by the league in incorporating new clubs, especially those with only one team. The league has decided on a 12-8-12 split across the three divisions for both first and second elevens, something which has been made possible by the co-operation of Bradley and Colnebridge who have agreed that their sole team should play in the equivalent second XI competition. The full structure is available at halifaxcricketleague.co.uk but as yet without fixtures. The composition of the Sunday League will be announced shortly.
Nearer to home, while mine at least, the Nidderdale League has also announced their fixtures and they will begin on April 22nd with 97 teams across eight divisions. The league has used the fixture launch to commemorate the work of the late Barry Gill with a slide show of some of his photographs set to music. A memorial service for Barry will be held at Dacre Banks Church on Friday January 20th at 11:30am.
Champions Ouseburn will begin their defence of the title with the short trip over the Aldwark Toll Bridge to visit Alne. Masham and Goldsborough are the newcomers to Division 1, two grounds that would grace any cricket league, and while Goldsborough entertain Helperby,Masham have a tough start at Burton Leonard. Interviews with officials of both clubs enliven the posting. There is also a piece on Wath and Melmerby who have been the shooting stars of this league and now find themselves in Division Two. The article does not close without reference to the league's only newcomers, Upper Wharfedale, who have moved across from the Aire-Wharfe and will begin their new life in Division 8, hosting Dacre Banks III. I have posted links to the article on both twitter and facebook.
Galphay and Winksley CC near Ripon who play in Division 7 of the Nidderdale League and will begin the 2017 season at home to Bedale II, 1:30 start.
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