A Point, a Win, and lots and lots of Runs!

Well that was an eventful weekend!

It started off on the Friday night with an emergency meeting discussing the very fabric of the club, and ended on Sunday with a spectacular cup win for the seconds. In between was a Saturday which saw defeat for the firsts again, an abandonment for a handily placed seconds, but most importantly = twenty two players for the first time this season!

Let's start with a brief overview of the meeting, called to address the lack of players in the first team. It has been a problem all season, but came to a head this week with only one confirmed player by Friday afternoon. Thanks to Goher and a surprisingly impassioned speech from Gully, a plan has been formulated that should alleviate the immediate problems and allow the team to strengthen soon. The players were briefed on Saturday and it's now up to them to step up and make it work. I for one feel far more confident and comfortable now than I did last week - I hope the players will also strive to make things better. Because what happened after that shows Riddlesden's got talent (I am so very sorry for that...)

Game 1 - firsts at Denholme. With the help of several second team players again, we were able to field a full team in the fixture. Batting first, Mick Cryer built on his growing reputation of being Riddlesden's own Dravid (The Wall) top scoring with 31 from an incredible 120 balls over 38 overs! Aftab Khan again hit hard and fast, but perished before getting a big score. Unfortunately as has been the case all season, 95 all out was not good enough to challenge the opposition who romped home before the rain arrived to save us.

Game 2 - seconds at home against Thornton in Craven. This was a completely different kettle of fish. In damp conditions, both teams (and we had a full eleven here too!) were keen to play despite a little rain in the air. Batting first we had a solid start despite losing Mohammad Qadeer early. Then the rain became a downpour and considerable time was lost waiting for conditions to improve.

Once they did, Akeel Rashid played an amazing knock, launching the ball out of the ground numerous times with both power and timing. Rarely looking inconvenienced, Akeel hit 8 sixes and 11 fours on his way to his first century, finishing on 107 not out.

He was ably assisted by Matthew Patton (34) who grew into his role, and Dale Pinkerton (42 not out). Due to the rain, time was running short so a tactical declaration took place with 6 overs remaining leaving us on 194-2.

With only two hours to bowl, the Riddlesden bowlers got stuck in with Danny Kernan and Mohammad Qadeer racing through their overs. A couple of wickets to Danny, and one for Qadeer were scant reward when the heavens opened again and the game was washed out as a draw. Still, at least we got our first point of the season!

Game 3 - seconds at Cononley. T20 cup game time and we took a strong team to play a team from division 4. Put into bat, Cononley lost their first wicket to a stunning one handed wicket keeper's catch by Jamie Fullwood of Qadeer. When the same pair dismissed a second batsman moments later, things looked bad for the hosts at 2-2! But then we fell away. Some poor bowling, fielding and catching allowed a third wicket stand of 105, with at least four dropped catches... Eventually the stand was broken and Danny Kernan ripped through the heart of the batting finishing on 4-15 from his 4 overs.

Set a target of 137, Steve Kernan started brightly before being bowled for 8, Steve McGarry was adjudged caught on the boundary when the fielder's foot was clearly on the line, and Ibrar Ali showed his class before being caught chasing a wide one. Then it was time for this week's star man, Akeel Rashid to blow the opposition away with some thunderous shots. He was joined in the fun by Mohammad Qadeer, batting sweetly as always for his 41 not out. But Akeel notched up another half century on the way to a comfortable victory, and pushed his tally to 158 not out for the weekend!

So, a worrying start to the weekend ended in jubilation. There's a lot of positivity flowing through the club right now thanks to the second team's performances. But let's not forget the first team - they've struggled whilst understrength, but with players returning there's going to come a time when they turn the corner.

A huge well done to Mick for being so solid and dependable (and downright irritating to the opposition) but the performance(s) of the week have to go to Akeel.

He's set a standard - can he or anyone else beat it?