You Win Some, You Lose Some

Another glorious weekend - probably by royal appointment for the big wedding - and a packed two days of cricket.

On the Saturday Riddlesden travelled to Embsay looking to equal last season's tally of three wins within the first month of this year! After two convincing wins, everyone expected this to be a tougher match - but it turned out not to follow expectations.

Having won the toss and Bob elected to bat first and yet again Steve and Qaddy got off to a solid start. Steve Kernan (45) is in a rich vein of form so far this year which deserve plaudits, but he is constantly being outshone by his teammates doing even better. Again Mohammad Qadeer batted excellently to reach 85 before retiring hurt with a calf strain. Mick Cryer showed a different side to his game as he scored a rapid 39 off just 46 balls. Akeel, Shanny and Ibrar had little time left but used it well to take the score to 237 off the 45 overs.

Embsay in response were never really in the chase. Losing wickets regularly (Danny Kernan an excellent 3-21 and Akeel 2-18 were both highlighted as bowling very well) and kept in check by tight bowling from all our bowlers (Imran Kamal conceded just 3 from 3 overs for example) they managed to bat out the overs but were a distant 116 runs behind in the end.

So onto Sunday. Quick trip on to Crossflatts to try for win number four! Bob dropped himself for this game to field arguably a stronger line-up, so Zain Naeem stepped into the captaincy role. He too won the toss and elected to bat first as we have in all our wins. Unfortunately this time things didn't go our way. The opening partnership didn't flourish, and as wickets tumbled we became a little bogged down. Perhaps the heat and a second game in two days after a full 90 over match the previous day was too much - especially for those players fasting for Ramadan, which must take its toll in these conditions. Whatever the reason, we were dismissed for just 96. Mohammad Shahnawaz did his best, picking up 3 wickets for 34 but it wasn't enough to stave off our first defeat.

But still, a win and a loss from the hardest weekend of the season isn't too bad. We're still up in third place in the division, and several of our players are having a fantastic time with the bat. Qaddy tops the batting statistics for the whole league. Akeel and Shanny are up in the top 25 too. Break it down to division level and all three plus Steve Kernan are in the top 9! Bowling wise, we're sharing the wickets out so there's not the same impact, but Shanny is again showing well. And Jamie Fullwood is currently 2nd best wicket keeper

This Saturday we travel to Bradley. Zain will again be leading the team - time to break his captaincy duck and bring home a win.

At home, Eldwick & Gilstead will be facing Sandy Lane. As always the bar will be open, and (almost?)fully stocked - and the sun is on order again. Bunting might not be up this week though - nobody came last week when I put it out...

(For an Eldwick & Gilstead report, I recommend http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/eldwickandgilstead - very enjoyable reviews)