JCT 600 Bradford League First Teams review August 2 2008

Posted: August 17, 2008

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Bowling Old Lane gave their hopes of avoiding the drop from the JCT 600 Bradford League Division One a massive boost with a surprise seven-wicket win over Cleckheaton.

The victory lifted them out of the bottom two at the expense of Saltaire who suffered a 119-run defeat at home to Pudsey St Lawrence to drop back into the relegation zone.

Mansha Khan took three for 40 as Cleckheaton were restricted to 144-8. Ian Wood top scored with an unbeaten 33.

Bowling Old Lane overcame the loss of an early wicket to win with 9.1 overs to spare. Veteran Khalid Rehman (52no) and overseas player Riaz Kail (49) steered Old Lane to their victory target

The result confirmed Brighouse's relegation, something which has appeared inevitable since the start of the campaign. Once again they were dismissed for the day's lowest score. They were shot out for 43 with Richard McCarthy taking six for 20 to crown his week of benefit celebrations. Bradford & Bingley had little trouble securing an eight-wicket win.

Yeadon eased their fears of a quick return to Division Two with a resounding 102-run victory at Esholt. Opener Andrew Robertson produced a fine all-round performance scoring 64 and taking four for four.

Overseas player Aamir Sajjad (53), Paul Park (38no) and skipper David Leather (36) were the other main contributors to a Yeadon score of 216-8. Left arm spinner Ben Platt (5-44) was the best of the Esholt bowlers.

Opener Mark Cummins (27) and brother Paul (24) shared an opening stand of 67 before Esholt collapsed to 114 as Robertson and off spinner Grant Soames (5-5) sent their opponents into a tail spin.

The win means that Yeadon have climbed above Esholt and are crucially 30 points clear of the relegation positions.

Saltaire skipper Ijaz Khan said that avoiding relegation with his young side would be his greatest cricketing achievement on the eve of their match with Pudsey St Lawrence. The scale of that task increased with their disappointing 119-run defeat by Pudsey St Lawrence.

Nottinghamshire all-rounder Gareth Clough (72no), skipper James Smith (45) and Chris Marsden (43) helped St Lawrence to a total of 194-6 before Saltaire were dismissed for just 75. Slow bowler Tim Grey took four for 11.

Champions Woodlands moved another step closer to a fourth successive league title with a four-wicket win at East Bierley.

Toby Drummond (36) was the only batsman to look comfortable as East Bierley were dismissed for 1being put in. Richard Spittlehouse (3-15), Safraz Ahmed (3-25) and Pieter Swanepoel (3-35) kept the home batsmen under pressure on a damp pitch.

Woodlands looked to be easing to a comfortable win when Sam Frankland (48) and Chris Brice (48) shared a third-wicket stand of 70 which took their side within 13 runs of their target.

Brice's departure sparked the usual bout of Woodlands jitters. Three more wickets fell before Adam Goldthorpe hit the winning runs to earn his side 16 points.

The win actually extended Woodlands' lead to 24 points over Pudsey Congs who wasted little time in wrapping up a seven-wicket win over Baildon.

Overseas player Mohammad Naveed took six for 16 and Tom Glover (4-27) as Baildon were bowled over for 48. Congs lost three wickets before reaching their target.

Worcester's Imran Arif was in the fine form as he helped Hanging Heaton to a nine-wicket win over Manningham Mills. Arif (4-26) and James Stansfield (6-49) skittled out Mills for just 81. Arif then opened the innings and hit an unbeaten 52 which contained two sixes and seven fours.

Richard Robinson had a memorable afternoon as he helped Keighley to a 145-run win over Lightcliffe which earned them 20 points to leap-frog Gomersal into second place.

The left-handed opener hit a stunning 161 - an innings which enabled him to go to the top of the Bradford League's all-time leading run scorers list - as Keighley made 285-7. As if that wasn't enough, he followed up by taking six for 21 as Lightcliffe - despite 52 from Michael Brooke - were dismissed for 140.

Keighley are two points ahead of Gomersal who defeated Great Horton by six-wickets. Left arm spinner Kashif Naveed, playing against his old club, took five for nought as Great Horton were dismissed for 60. Nasser Hussain, another former Great Horton player, took three for 23. Gomersal were boosted by 26 extras as they eased home despite losing four wickets.

Idle and Undercliffe kept alive their promotion hopes with victories. Idle defeated Spen Victoria by 25 runs while Undercliffe defeated Hartshead Moor by nine wickets.

Left-hander Greg Pickles (52) and Mark Nicklin (31no) helped Idle to a total of 149 despite the efforts of Imran Amin (4-43). Spen were dismissed for 124 in reply as Mahmood Rasool took four for 45 and Shane Marshall (3-18).

Opener Mark Gilliver finished unbeaten on 76 - a knock which contained three sixes and nine fours - as Undercliffe cruised past the Hartshead Moor score of 120. Matthew Evans (33) top scored for Hartshead Moor while Alex Romaniw (4-20) and Nawaz Sardar (3-33) for Undercliffe.

Leaders Farsley are looking increasingly likely to win the Division Two title after a seven-wicket win at Windhill. Big-hitting Dan Drake (57) and Iqbal Khan (39) were the top scorers for Windhill.

Farsley were steered to their win as Shabbir Rashid (53no) and Ashley Metcalfe (16no) shared an unbroken stand of 81.

Garreth Von Hoesslin (62) and Darren Blenkiron (53no) featured in a third-wicket stand of 121 as Bankfoot recovered from the loss of two early wickets to defeat Morley by seven wickets. Andrew Stothart (3-18), Greg Colehan (3-45) and Nigel Hanson (3-59) had earlier dismissed Morley for 161. Former Bankfoot batsman Danny Lloyd (48) and Michael Davies (37) were the top scorers.