A sporting Sunday

by Brian Sanderson

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On a cooler day than Saturday, I decided yesterday to pay a visit to Townville Cricket Club in Castleford. They came to the Bradford League in 2015 after great success in the Yorkshire Central League.

Castleford is about twenty five minutes via the M62 motorway from my home in Headingley. On the radio was the Second Test Match from Trent Bridge, where England were playing the West Indies. Joe Root and Harry Brook were at the crease, and as a loyal Yorkshireman, I could not leave the car until Brook got to his first century in a Test Match in England. Well done, Harry. I’m sure he will score many more.

When I emerged from my vehicle, it was to see Townville take on Woodlands in the semi-final of the Priestley Cup—the major knock-out competition of the Bradford League, dating back to 1904. Over the last few days I have been updating the ACS archives with matches from the 1943 season, when it attracted huge crowds and players like Len Hutton and Eddie Paynter. Today there were about fifty people at the start.

The ground is not the most attractive, with views of two power stations in the distance. Townville, with their powerful top four, decided to bat first on another breezy day. They lost their first wicket within five overs, however, and none of the other three could score more than 39. 28 overs into this fifty-over affair, they found themselves four down for 121. The major wicket-takers were the two spinners Brad Schmulian and Ken Ahmed, who took seven between them as Townville’s innings closed on 179 in the 42^nd over.

Schmulian is thirty-three-year-old South African who plays District cricket in New Zealand. He bowls leg spin and bats right-handed, together with being the captain. I think he is the best all-round cricketer in the Bradford League.

During the tea break I caught up on proceedings down the road, where Castleford were beating the French side Catalans at rugby league. At Troon, the Open Golf was on, and the American Xander Schauffele on his way to a memorable triumph. In Nottingham, meanwhile, England were setting the West Indies a target 384 to draw the series. My friend Tommy, a West Indian cricket follower, predicted that England would win easily.

Woodlands, looking to get off to a quick start, opened with two pinch-hitters. Liam Collins was caught first ball, but Muhammad Bilal smacked 47, including four sixes, to make the game all but certain. Woodlands got home in the fortieth over, Schmulian contributing an unbeaten 41, thus winning by seven wickets. They will play Bradford and Bingley in the final.

Over dinner that evening I watched Shoaib Bashir take bowl out West Indies for 143.  There was talk of Shane Warne, who also took hatfuls of wickets at Trent Bridge (and, indeed, all over the world).

There’s no cricket tomorrow, but I’m hoping to see a match on Tuesday for my next entry in this series.

Brian Sanderson is an ACS member. He serves on the Yorkshire Cricket Archives Committee. If you would like to contribute to this newsletter, please either respond to the email in which you received it, or leave a comment below.