Under-strength, but not under-committed
Round Two of the 2017 season saw both teams understrength again, but both stuck at the task and dismissed their full strength opponents with a good never-say-die attitude. Neither team won, but there was grittiness on show this weekend that bodes well for the rest of the season.
The first team travelled to Haworth Road Methodists with just nine players, but thanks to 3 wickets apiece from Mohammed Arshad and Goher Ayoub, a couple from Mohammad Shahnawaz, and a pair of runouts from Zahir Abbas, the opposition was restricted to 197 all out. Arshad's bowling looks to be the pick of the crop for the second week running, and Jamie Fullwood took three catches behind the stumps. Sadly the total was beyond the 9 batsmen, but Aftab Khan (28) continued to accumulate runs again this week so a fifty shouldn't be too far away for him I suspect. The second team was deprived of a couple of regular bowling choices this week, but this provided an opportunity for Zain Naeem which he took with relish. It's always nice to hear the opposition batsman warning his teammates to be 'careful of that one - he's pretty good'. With Darren Shields being as dependable as ever, the two of them restricted Cononley early on. Eventually a fourth wicket partnership of 98 was our undoing, but all the bowlers kept plugging away and dismissed Cononley in the last over for 225. Darren finished with 5 wickets, and Zain with 3. In response Steve McGarry kept things ticking over whilst wickets tumbled, but the only real highlight was a magnificent 67 from Akeel Rashid, who despite having pulled a hamstring whilst bowling launched a salvo of big hits to get the final score over 100. So despite the results not going our way - given the players that were unavailable it was to be expected - there are several positives to be taken this week. In the firsts, Aftab is looking good with the bat, Shanny (26) got a few runs under his belt, and Arshad is looking good in the bowling. Nice to see Goher back too.
In the seconds, Akeel is a delight to watch when he has his batting head on properly. Darren Shields stuck at it for a well deserved five-for and Zain impressed with the ball - also those three wickets were his first for the club in the league so congratulations. Other firsts this week included Rahim Hussain scoring his first run at this level, and a debut for Ibrar Ali - welcome to the club. Finally, well done to Joe McCool for turning out for the second team at the age of - oh, who knows - ninety three?