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NEW CHILD WELFARE OFFICER
The Club are delighted to announce that our new Child Welfare Officer, Hannah Fitton, has taken up her duties. Hannah brings a great deal of experience and professionalism to the role, having spent a number of years working with young people at Rebel School of Theatre Arts.
Hannah will be attending junior fixtures over the coming weeks to introduce herself, but can be contacted at any time. She will be supported in her work by Club Captain Danny Glover.
Hannah's details can be found on the Child Welfare Officer page of this website by following the Junior Cricket or Club tabs above, or by clicking here.
HEAVY WOOLLEN CUP DRAW
Shepley have been given a home tie against neighbours Skelmanthorpe in the second round of the Heavy Woollen Cup, in a repeat of last year's Sykes Cup final. The visitors easily defeated Jer Lane in the first round. The management committee has decided that the second round games must be played on or before Sunday 10 June. If Shepley win their Sykes Cup second round game at Hall Bower, their third round game is scheduled for the same day, so a spare date may have to be found.
In the Crowther Cup, Shepley 2nd XI travel to Slaithwaite. Click here for the full Heavy Woollen & Crowther Cup draws.
TWO MORE CUP WINS
With their season finally under way as the rains relented, holders Shepley welcomed last year’s runners-up Gomersal to Marsh Lane in a repeat of their epic final. But it was a much-changed Gomersal side that turned up. Having been relegated from the top tier of Bradford League cricket at the end of last season, Gomersal lost many of their better players, including the stars of the final, Gorrod, Greenwood and Whitehurst.
Shepley captain Danny Glover won the toss and elected to bat. Openers Tom Denton (38) and SP Singh (63) put on a quick-fire 81 for the first wicket until Denton was bowled. Singh followed, run out, with the score on 116. Then followed an excellent partnership of 142 between Greg Wood and Liam Wiles that started slowly, but ended in a flurry of boundaries. Wood (73) was out to a reverse sweep for the second consecutive innings, whilst Wiles stayed until the end with an excellent 102*. Huw Ellis helped Wiles maintain the momentum over the final overs and Shepley reached an impressive 336-5, bizarrely, exactly the same score as in last year’s final.
At 26-3 and 73-5, Gomersal’s reply never looked likely to trouble the home side, but a prolific partnership of 133 between Greg Pickles (106) and Robert Ellis (73) got them much closer than the spectators expected. Danny Glover, however, always had too much for the visitor’s batsmen and ended with an excellent 6-23 as his team won by 76 runs. Scorecard
Shepley's 2nd XI had an excellent eight wicket away win against the same opposition.
MAXIMUM AS WE FINALLY PLAY A LEAGUE GAME
After the frustrations of just one over being possible in the first two league games, Shepley finally got a game in and took maximum points over neighbours Shelley. Danny Glover won the toss (again!) and elected to bowl. The visitors were soon in trouble as Craig Glover (3-21) and Danny (1-19) reduced them to 27-4 after 14 overs. A couple of stands provided some resistance, but Arman Hussain's first bowl at Marsh Lane was decisive as he took 5-14 in seven rapid overs, leaving Shelley all out on 94.
Shelley had their own rapid bowler as Mohammad Azarullah dismissed Tom Denton & Liam Wiles, while Sam Scott got SP Singh, to three lbw decisions in the first three overs, leaving Shepley on a precarious 5-3. But Greg Wood (53) marked his home debut with a quality innings, before falling to a reverse sweep that would have won the match. It did not matter as his stand of 87 with Huw Ellis (who assures me that he took the greatest catch of all time as I watched the football) saw their team to a comfortable victory. Scorecard
AWAY TIES IN CUPS
Holders Shepley will visit Hall Bower in the second round of this season's Sykes Cup following Saturday's win at Barkisland. The Castle Hill club, who were promoted to the Premiership last year, beat Central League side Azaad by seven wickets in the first round.
Shepley 2nd XI's reward for their excellent Paddock Shield first round defeat of Kirkburton is a visit to Swallow Lane to meet Golcar.
Both ties are scheduled for Sunday 27 May at 1.00pm.
CUP DOUBLE AS THE SEASON FINALLY STARTS
Shepley's season finally got going after two washouts with a seven wicket win at Championship side Barkisland, as the side's defence of the Sykes Cup began. Danny Glover won the toss and bowled on a pitch with uneven bounce. Brother Craig (3-18) made the breakthrough with both openers out LBW, as Danny (3-34) opened his account to leave the home side on 14-3 after 5 overs, with only three of the runs coming off the bat. Wickets fell steadily as the bowlers were rotated, with Arman Hussain, Liam Wiles and SP Singh taking their first wickets of the year. Only a seventh wicket stand of 46 got Barkisland to a reasonable total, as they were bowled out for 122 in the 39th over.
Shepley got off to a good start as Tom Denton and Singh put on a rapid 40 for the first wicket. Wiles, perhaps unluckily, and Greg Wood went cheaply before Tim Rees (21*) joined Singh (50*) and the pair put on an unbroken stand of 63 to see the holders comfortably home. With no pre-season games beating the weather and only one over possible in the first two league games, Shepley needed a game. They got the run-out they wanted and through to the next round. Scorecard
Shepley 2nd XI had a difficult looking Paddock Shield home tie against last season's champions Kirkburton, but pulled off an excellent win. Gary Bradley (60), Adam Carter (37) and skipper Sam Haigh (19*) were the major scorers as Shepley reached 166 all out in the final over. Kirkburton started off well and looked on course, despite some excellent bowling from youngster Bradley Glover (5-1-8-2). But two more youngsters, Stuart Greaves (5-28, including three in four balls) and Steve Glover (2-20) ran through the lower order as Shepley had a comfortable 37 run win with six overs to spare.
BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY ENTERTAINMENT
Top singer Jamie Sykes returns to Shepley Cricket Club on Bank Holiday Monday, 7 May, at about 4.00pm. The bar is open from 3.00pm. Admission is FREE and everyone is welcome.
CUP GAMES REARRANGED
Shepley's Heavy Woollen Cup and Crowther Cup ties gainst Gomersal, due to be played on Sunday 22 April, will now take place on Sunday 13 May. This date was originally set for the second round ties.
READY FOR THE OFF
The 2012 cricket season is finally upon us and, weather permitting, the action gets under way on the weekend of 21/22 April, remarkably with re-runs of both last season’s finals. Last year was the most successful in the Club’s long history and the team are determined to build on that success by bringing home more silverware.
The squad is largely unchanged. The batting line-up is as strong as any in local club cricket. SP Singh (1303 runs in 2011 at an average of 44.93), Tom Denton (936, 39.00), Tim Rees (972, 31.35) and Liam Wiles (985, 33.97) are joined in the top order by classy newcomer Greg Wood, who represented England U19s, as well as Yorkshire. They are supported by players such as Huw Ellis (411, 27.40), Ben Wells (313, 15.65) and Danny Glover (459, 35.31), who would all bat much higher up the order at many clubs.
The pace bowling is, once again, led by captain Danny Glover (81 wickets in 2011 at an average of 15.57) and Craig Glover (69, 17.67). Off-spinner SP Singh (39, 17.41) was handicapped by a shoulder injury for most of last season, which restricted his bowling, but a successful operation this winter means that he should be back to his very best this year. The pace attack is further strengthened by the acquisition of Arman Hussain from Central Yorkshire League side Batley, who impressed everyone during winter nets. The quality of the main bowlers meant that Liam Wiles and Ben Wells got few chances with the ball in 2011, but their medium pace and Greg Wood’s off spin are very useful weapons when called upon.
The old adage is that catches win matches and Shepley are a very good fielding side, led by the irrepressible Tom ‘Munch’ Sykes behind the wickets and Tim Rees who carried off the Huddersfield Cricket League fielding prize for the third consecutive year in 2011.
Shepley should also have a strong 2nd XI this year under the leadership of new captain Sam Haigh, providing other commitments do not interfere with player availability too much. With their strongest side out they should be a match for anyone.
Shepley will travel to neighbours Skelmanthorpe for the first game of the 2012 season on Saturday 21 April. Shepley did the double over Shat last year, taking maximum points each time, as well as beating them in the Sykes Cup Final. More of the same, please! Amongst the other opening fixtures are Kirkburton v Honley and Hoylandswaine v Scholes.
The following Saturday sees the visit of Kirkburton to Marsh Lane, followed a week later by the Sykes Cup trip to Barkisland. The full fixture list for Shepley's 1st XI can be found HERE.
ELKIE BROOKS LIVE AT SHEPLEY
The legendary singer Elkie Brooks performs at Shepley with her band as a special event for the 2012 Shepley Spring Festival. The concert takes place on the main Festival stage on the evening of Thursday 24 May.
Tickets - which are separate from the normal Festival tickets - can be obtained through Ticket South by clicking on the link below.
SO TRUE...
The Yorkshire Post's insight into club cricket: Why we cannot afford to ignore the three taboo subjects of club cricket
FOLLOW SHEPLEY ON TWITTER
You can now catch up on all the Shepley CC news by following @ShepleyCricket on Twitter.
