Congs Kings

Another fine dry summer's day saw Riddlesden travel a few short miles to joint leaders Bingley Congs. Zain once again led the team as Bob knees just aren't what they used to be...

Having won the toss, we jumped at the chance to bat first once more. Alas, our strong opening partnership failed to materialise this time and Qadeer had a rare failure in only reaching 10 before being bowled. Enter Mohammad Shahnawaz, elevated to number 3 this week. With a combination of sensible batting and big hitting, he steadily amassed a good score. With good support at the other end from Mick Cryer (26), the returning Dale Pinkerton (13) and Zain Naeem (17), Shanny was able to push on. Watched by a world-wide audience (Riddlesden, Spain, Florida - thanks to Jamie's livestreaming) Shanny became the second Riddlesden player this season to score a century! His eventual 112 pushed our score to a very healthy 236 all out. Kudos to Congs' bowler Michael Baines on picking up 7 wickets for 49. Not so good were the 24 byes conceded by the team...

With such a large target to defend, Riddlesden were able to rest Shanny after his excellent batting performance and opened with Qaddy and Danny Kernan. Both produced the goods with 4-37 & 1-24 respectively. After being the pantomime villain for a dropped catch last week, Mick Cryer this week took two good catches, though Steve Kernan takes the award for best catch as awarded by Steve Kernan… Zain (2-39) and a rejuvenated Shanny (2-29 & a run out) further reduced Bingley's hopes, before Qaddy returned to finish the innings off. All out for 163 and an excellent win for Riddlesden against the top side.

With the other joint leaders, Skipton CI, also losing on Saturday we are now just two points off top spot again. However, it's all looking pretty congested in the table with 7 teams separated by just 3 points!

Also of note last week was the junior team's match against Oakworth. An impressive display on a pleasant Thursday evening saw them win their first match of the season. Well done all.

At home Eldwick & Gilstead last week suffered a third defeat on the trot and are sliding down division two. They could do with a win this weekend away at Chatburn, currently bottom of the table!

Thanks to all those who bought teams in the club's World Cup sweepstake. It was an interesting experience opening the envelopes in front of a very expectant (and quite drunk...) crowd. We'll see if there's anything else we can arrange for fun during the next month.

Last night we held our monthly committee meeting and are pleased to announce that Zain agreed to join the committee, meaning the average age has plunged... Welcome Zain.

Does anyone have any ideas on how we could raise some funds towards improving the facilities at the club? We have a number of projects that we'd like to embark on, but money is an issue. We're looking into lottery grants and the like, but maybe we could do some sort of fundraising ourselves? Perhaps a race night if we could guarantee enough interest? Or some sponsored event? Anyone know of any companies desperately wanting to sponsor a cricket club - we do have three separate senior teams and a junior team using the ground so you get bang for your buck! Anyway, if you have any ideas...

Next week we have a home tie against Thornton in Craven, whose opener Kevin Pollard continues to grind out those big scores (hitting his 17th century last week!) Win this and we'll be opening a gap to those following. Who from our team is next up to score a hundred? Akeel? Steve? Has Qaddy another one in him this year? Come down and see...