By Mike Latham
The highlight of many major cricket leagues' season is their
Twenty20 final, and I had the pleasure of attending two such occasions recently.
The Bradford League, which is sponsored by Gordon Rigg
Garden Centres, staged theirs under the permanent floodlights of the Bradford
& Bingley ground on a Thursday evening.
The multi-purpose sports ground will be familiar to many
readers of these pages and is a splendid facility, well maintained.
The intended 7pm start was not possible due to difficulties
posed by the setting sun and play finally got underway an hour later.
Bradford & Bingley CC under the floodlights
And on a normal Saturday match day
The final pitted Woodlands, fresh from a season defining
championship win over New Farnley, against Hanging Heaton and attracted a big
crowd of spectators, including representatives and players from many of the
league’s 48 participating clubs.
Woodlands batted first in fading natural light and the
floodlights only came into full effect during the second innings.
Even so, their total of 171 for 8 looked to be a good one in
the circumstances. Captain Brad Schmulian, as he so often has been, was top
scorer with 41. Born in Cape Town, he moved to New Zealand at the age of nine
and has represented Central Districts. He clearly is a class act.
Thomas Clee with 30 and Elliot Richardson (24) were the
other main contributors as Hanging Heaton’s concession of 37 extras, including
27 wides, proved crucial.
The large crowd enjoy the Bradford League’s Twenty20 showpiece
Though the standard of play was very good, as you’d expect
from two of the top clubs in the Bradford League, the inability of some of the
bowlers to consistently find the disciplined line needed in this form of
cricket was surprising.
Hanging Heaton lost Adam Patel and Ben Kohler-Cadmore early
in their reply and at 37/4 and 98/8 they never seriously looked like challenging,
finishing 135/9 thanks to the tailenders providing some defiance. Woodlands crucially
conceded only six wides and ran out winners by 36 runs.
Two days later, in the penultimate round of fixtures, they
cliched the Bradford League championship by virtue of a victory over Pudsey St
Lawrence, so congratulations to them. Schmulian’s 996 league runs at an average
of 55 has played a large part in their success, but they are clearly far more
than a one-man team.
Hanging Heaton, by the way, rediscovered their batting form
and amassed 423/9 in their resounding 245-run victory over Methley, Kohler-Cadmore
leading the way with 124.
Before leaving the Bradford League, I must pay tribute to
Reg Nelson, whose superb club histories, historical articles, weekly previews
and round-ups, coupled with Ray Spencer’s photos, and the contributions of many
other volunteers, make the league website such a great source of information.
Lancashire League finals are well supported, such as this one, at Lowerhouse
The Lancashire League get great support for their major
finals, and after a huge crowd at Ramsbottom for the Worsley Cup Final there
was another big gathering at Lowerhouse CC for their JW Lees sponsored Twenty20
Finals Day.
Carried over from Rochdale, where only the first semi final
was able to be played because of rain, Clitheroe awaited the winners of the
Crompton-Lowerhouse semi-final. Crompton’s five-wicket win disappointed the
home supporters, but the vast majority stayed on to enjoy the final on Bank
Holiday Monday.
Lowerhouse CC on Finals Day
Clitheroe posted an imposing 187-3 built upon opener Stuart
Lemon’s unbeaten 64 and left-handed sub-pro Azim Kazi’s explosive 60 off 34
balls, the pair adding 109 for the third wicket. Crompton were 85 all out in
reply, Cole Hayman taking 4-13.
Lowerhouse’s Brooks Foundation Ground, situated on Liverpool
Road in Burnley, is one of my favourite grounds. If ever someone tells you
cricket is dying, bring them along here and see the sheer enthusiasm for the game
from two-year-olds to 92-year-olds in a friendly and welcoming environment with
great facilities.
And about club websites, Lancashire League webmaster Nigel
Stockley has chalked up yet another season (lancashireleague.com). Nigel does a
simply outstanding job, and his website is unequalled in league cricket in my
opinion. The archive section has details of every league game and player, a
quite extraordinary labour of love and a rich historical resource.
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