Pudsey Congs revisited

 Posted by Tony Hutton

We visited Pudsey Congs cricket club only briefly earlier in the season for a Leeds Beckett University match, but returned on Sunday last for an over 50s county quarter final between Yorkshire and Middlesex. For so long the top side of the Bradford League the host club have fallen on hard times on the field, but are coming back strongly this season, with Saturday's overwhelming victory over Wrenthorpe their fifth in a row. They are now in second place in the First Division table, just behind promotion rivals Jer Lane. It appears that the last match of the season, scheduled for September 12th between these two sides, could well decide whether Congs return to what many would consider their rightful place in the Premier Division.

The Pudsey Congs pavilion.

The game on Sunday was a much lower key affair with the  Bradford League's Priestley Cup Final going on just down the road at New Farnley, between the home side and Methley, as well as something we need not mention at Headingley. Having seen the Yorkshire side narrowly beat Surrey at Elsecar in the previous round great things were expected on a very hot day at Pudsey. Indeed the home side got off to an excellent start with an opening partnership of 78 between Nick Gaywood and Iqbal Khan.

The view from the shade at Pudsey.

However a sudden clatter of wickets changed all that. Middlesex had a battery of excellent spin bowlers and Kamlesh Desai removed both openers, while Pawan Malik had former Pudsey star Barbar Butt lbw for nought second ball. Gaywood, who I remember scoring runs for Devon Minor Counties as well as Sheffield Collegiate for many years, had reached an excellent fifty before being given out to a questionable lbw decision, with his front foot well down the wicket.

Yorkshire looking for runs at Pudsey.

Skipper Stephen Foster, usually so reliable, also went cheaply and Yorkshire were suddenly 97-4. Bandula Ranjith (24) and wicketkeeper Paul Fenn (31) pulled things round somewhat, but when Fenn was run out to another rather debateable decision the score became 173-7. Jason Meadows and last man Luke Jarvis just managed to scrape the total beyond the two hundred mark, but Yorkshire's innings ended well below par on 208-9 in 45 overs.

The Yorkshire side not happy with the scoreboard.

Whether the Middlesex side adapted to the hot conditions better than their opponents seemed a possibility, as they proceeded to dominate the match with all their early batsmen making runs as they raced to victory by seven wickets with ten overs to spare. James Williams with 51 not out and Naseer Ahmed with 69 being the top scorers. Yorkshire have been champions at this age group several times in recent years, but sadly on this occasion they ran out of steam.

So the most northerly team left in the competition are Nottinghamshire, who will face Middlesex at Uxbridge in the semi-final on August 28th. The other semi-final sees Essex at home to Gloucestershire at Saffron Walden on the same date.