Rain Dancers

Riddlesden can definitely be considered to embrace the ECB ethos of 'Get the Game On'! For at least the third time this season, the team has continued playing in horrendous weather that leave other clubs scurrying for shelter. Not Riddlesden. Made of sterner stuff here. So this week, whilst local rivals Airedale called their match off hours before it was due to even start, our team played through light drizzle, scattered showers, and an outright downpour - all so our opponents, Gargrave, could collect their three points for winning...

After being put into bat by our opponents, Mick Cryer once again built himself into an impenetrable wall, defying Gargrave's best bowlers for another thirty overs. Around him, the other batsmen were able to pile on the runs, notably Dale Pinkerton with an impressive 91, backed up by Akeel Rashid (30) and Zain Naeem (22). Finishing on 198, we looked to have set a challenging total. Alas, in very wet conditions, the ball proved difficult to control and Gargrave built strongly and steadily towards the total. Mohammad Qadeer bowled his usual impressive tidy spell, picking up one wicket and conceding just 34 from his 8 overs. Akeel Rashid also shone with 3-39, but it wasn't to be as Gargrave won just before the rains stopped and the sun began to blaze down.

So yet another defeat. We're rooted to the bottom of the table and still searching for a first win. A score of 198 would often have been enough for a victory, but we just seem to be lacking something in the field each week - we can either bowl well but drop catches, or score plenty but bowl poorly, or some other combination that leads to defeat. If we could just string together a few games where batting, bowling and fielding all gelled, we could easily reach mid table. Perhaps some finer, drier weather would help.

In other news, our junior team had two full training sessions this week. Both were very well attended and all the kids seemed to have a really good time. Next week (Monday) should see them take part in their first proper game - weather permitting - so I'm sure everyone wishes them all the best. Although perhaps some of the senior players will be a bit miffed if they win first time out given our results so far...

Hopefully the senior team can start winning this week as we travel to North Yorkshire to visit Bradley. They're currently sitting in 4th place so it will be a tough ask, but we have to start somewhere.