Halifax Cricket League: Afternoon rain impacted all matches at various stages, resulting in reduced overs being applied universally. This, combined with already saturated pitches, inevitably led to low scores on certain grounds.
The upper echelon of the Premier Division table saw no alterations, as the top three teams all secured victories. Thornton, the leaders, amassed 206-6 in a home game against Oxenhope. Josh Hutchinson’s unbeaten 84 leaves him just 15 runs short of achieving 1,000 runs for the second consecutive season. Grant Soames contributed 66 to the total. The visitors struggled to contend with the precise bowling, with the exception of Harry Rowlett (50). With Greg Soames claiming 4-9, Oxenhope was dismissed for 83 in the 26th over.
Illingworth St Mary’s remains 16 points adrift of Thornton after securing a 58-run victory over Blackley. Playing on their home turf, the hosts batted first and managed a score of 181-7, with Gary Fellows scoring 77 runs. Blackley’s batting, apart from Sam Mindham’s 43, failed to replicate their recent improvements, resulting in them being bowled out for 123. Jack Hargreaves shone with the ball, achieving a career-best 6-36. Nevertheless, Blackley’s 3 points allowed them to draw level with Oxenhope in the second-to-last position, and they shouldn’t be too displeased with their performance.
At Bradshaw, the third-placed team, Charlie Holt-Conway’s 61 was the highest individual score as they batted first against Mytholmroyd. Posting a total of 208-7, only Taufeeq Ahmed (40) offered any resistance to Adam Buckley’s outstanding performance, which yielded figures of 8-44. Mytholmroyd faltered and were all out for just 107 in a mere 17.5 overs.
Booth witnessed a similar scoring trend as the home team notched up 204-4 against Luddendenfoot. Rob Laycock (92 not out) and Patrick Thomas (64 not out) established an unbeaten 135-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Luddendenfoot faced a similar fate, collapsing to 110 all out, with Nigel Horsfall taking 5-20.
In the local derby between SBCI and Sowerby Bridge, James Summerscales (107 not out) was the standout performer, crafting a well-constructed century, aided by Alex Scholefield’s 41, resulting in a total of 168-6 for SBCI. Sowerby Bridge struggled throughout their reply, with only one batter crossing the 20-run mark. They were dismissed for 113 all out in under 25 overs, with Daniel Sykes claiming 4-13.
The most closely contested match in the division took place at Triangle, where the home team narrowly fell short by eight runs in chasing down Copley’s 220-8. Oliver Thorpe (79) and Alex Rowles (70) led the visitors’ batting efforts. In response, Tom Fryer (75) and Nathan Madden (51) put up a similar fight for Triangle. However, when Fryer was dismissed with the score at 156-6, the lower order couldn’t muster enough momentum. Triangle settled for a total of 213-8.
