Twenty minutes' sunshine

by Brian Sanderson

I woke up on Saturday and looked at the weather app. The local one forecast cloudy weather; the BBC plumped for afternoon thunderstorms. So, taking a rare gamble, I decided to head to Bradford to watch East Bierley v. Hanging Heaton in the first division of the Bradford League.

East Bierley was formed in 1865 and joined the league in 1912. They bought their ground in 1932 and have since upgraded facilities to make it one of the best in the league. From the pavilion you have a great view of the Pennines:

Hanging Heaton club was founded in 1876 and entered the Heavy Woollen and Yorkshire Council in 1916. They joined the Bradford League in 1980. (Their ground, for the record, is situated between Batley and Dewsbury.)

I played at East Bierley a number of times in my own career, but I struggled on this occasion to find it. When at last I arrived, the home team was batting, and the skies were as cloudy as forecast. I immediately bumped into two old friends and caught up with the local news.

The home side were sixth in the league after a narrow defeat to Morley, while Hanging Heaton were bottom. One of the East Bierley openers was Ben Heritage, who played for Leeds and Bradford University about twenty years ago, and bowling against him was James Byrne, whose father I knew as an opponent in my own playing days. James actually retired last year, but was asked to bowl again today. His figures were 14-1-63-1—not bad for a veteran.

East Bierley started well, with a first-wicket partnership of sixty, before Heritage was out, and then came a heavy shower. The players were taken off by the umpires, one of whom, Jane Pratt, is the only female umpire in the league.

After the rain stopped, the home team reached 273 in their 50 overs, assisted by 32 extras. There were also nine sixes, most of which landed in the nearby gardens. I thought the home team would be happy with this total, but then I heard they were a bowler light.

First to take the ball was a young left-arm speedster from Australia named Rylea Jones. Like every other bowler today, his figures weren’t great: 9.3-0-76-1. But at the halfway stage Hanging Heaton were only 104 for three. It was left to the next four batters to win the match by five wickets. Between 16:40 to 17:00 we had our only twenty minutes of sunshine.

Back to the auction tomorrow. The next cricket will be on Tuesday—weather permitting, of course.

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.