Great Horton v Farsley

Date: Saturday, July 19
Scores: Farsley 207 - 8: Great Horton 170 – 9: Farsley won by 37 Runs
Points: Farsley 18 – Great Horton 6
Weather: Mixed
Venue: Great Horton CC

Within five minutes of the Rams' 37 run victory at Great Horton the heavens opened and rain which would have sunk Noah's Ark, flooded parts of an already wet ground. To Farsley's and skippers David Syers' credit the Rams had rushed through their last few overs – Chris Henry bowling off a 5 yard run – which did dividends at the end of another entertaining Bradford League encounter saw Farsley edge another two points (to 14) away from second placed Idle who visit Red Lane this coming Saturday in another eagerly awaited encounter. Perhaps more importantly, the Rams are now 36 points ahead of third placed Gomersal with now only seven League games remaining, 4 of which are at Red Lane where they are unbeaten in League fixtures.

After experiencing the delights of rural Lightcliffe on their last away trip, the Rams faced up to a rather more urban Great Horton in another different setting but with no less determination to carry their excellent on field performances which began at rainy Bankfoot back in April.

The Rams' hoped for march back to the Holy Grail of Division 1 cricket at the first attempt, after last season's disappointing relegation, never looked like being halted by this Great Horton side, albeit a side who gave everything with both bat and ball against a high flying Rams who have now won 6 League games on the trot, excluding the abandoned match at Gomersal on June 21st.

The home side won the toss and not surprisingly asked Farsley to bat on a wicket which had – probably by necessity – too much grass on it and which was still damp from a week long heavy rain; the sort of pitch which batsmen don't queue up to bat on in a hurry. Harvey Anderson rather wished he'd stayed at home when he was soon out – Farsley 7 – 1, the only consolation to Harvey possibly being that this Club does not have a proper scoreboard at present so his failure, at least, was not apparent to any late comers.

The Rams opened with big Will Kitchen instead of Dan Clayton after Dan's torment the previous Saturday and Will looked the part as he and Enzo fashioned a recovery after Harvey's early show. The pair brought up Farsley's 50 in the sixteenth over, Enzo looking good for plenty of runs even in dodgy batting conditions and Will doing a sound job simply taking runs when available. Enzo chooses the ariel route for much of his scoring of course and a 6 and a 4 whistled past a startled dog which then disappeared into the nearby club house seeking both solace and shelter.

Will got out right on drinks at 89 – 2 for a soundly made 34 but Enzo – known to have been strawberry picking early in the week – chose to pick off the 'Horton bowlers instead this afternoon and Shabbs joined in the fun by depositing one big 6 on to a nearby house roof just as Enzo went to another Farsley 50 out of 99 – 2. It was a surprise to all and sundry when the West Indian was caught at Mid-off for an excellent innings of 63 at 120 – 3 but Shabbs – now joined by Ash – kept the Farsley pot boiling with another big 6, this time choosing a quiet separate house roof – one of the detached variety – on which to deposit his missile.

Ash miss hit to be caught near the boundary edge for a modest 5 – Farsley 144 – 4, but the home side managed to tighten things up a bit when Shabbs departed for another fine knock of 35 at 161 – 5 there were only 6 overs remaining for the Rams to make late hay whilst the insipid sun shone.

Dan Clayton came in and did well but seemed largely to blame in the running out of skipper David Syers after David had contributed a quickfire 21 at 169 – 6 after having replaced Ash, and Barry Frankland and then Dan took the visitors to 196 – 7 when Baz departed for a modest enough 7 but having helped Dan (22 not out) in a nice cameo partnership of 27 useful runs.

Chris Henry selfishly gave his wicket away in trying to add a second run when even one looked dodgy but the Rams went to tea on 207 – 8 well pleased to have made such a total on a wicket which had offered much more to the bowlers than Farsley's batsmen.

Horton's Moin Ashraf worked hard in a 12 over shift in taking 2 – 44 and was to delight the home supporters later in the game with some quickfire hitting. Mahmood Sharafat also took 2 wickets for the home side.

Farsley's brief was clear enough – bowl the opposition out as soon as possible in view of more forecast rain, or pray that the dark clouds above scurried past on their way to other Second Division grounds and games. Chris Henry was quick;ly into mode with an LBW decision which the batsman cherished so much that he smashed a nearby chair on leaving the playing area, another cruel victim of the dreaded Law 36. At 9 – 1 the rain which had threatened came and Farsley's watching faithful each plucked out a watch in unison to count the minutes ticking away. Thankfully no overs were lost in the 14 minute break and at 5.30 pm prompt the game restarted with the Rams even more keen to get things over with, Bozza highlighting the resolve with another LBW at 15 – 2. great Horton had other ideas of course – one or two players even harboring thoughts of a distant victory would you believe – but a double bowling change – Ash and Enzo for Chris and Bozza – gave the home side a different set of values to work to as Enzo gained a smart "caught behind" by the ever alert Syers, 'Horton 27 – 3.

Ash was bowling round the wicket to the right handers and should have had a wicket when Bozza spilled a not too difficult catch at mid-on just after 'Horton had reached 50 – 3 but Enzo won yet another LBW to leave the home side at 64 – 4 and, seemingly, little chance of winning their sixth game of an up and down sort of season. Their overseas batsman S Khan was still there however and looking good for a few more runs than his, the, 27 not out but he then fell soon afterwards when Baz Frankland made a high skier of a catch look easy, As the bowler Great Horton 78 – 5. This became a demoralizing 89 – 6 when Ask clean bowled number 8 with only 12 overs remaining and still 119 runs needed for an unlikely Great Horton victory.

Bozza returned at the scoreboard end was short lived as he was smacked for successive sixes in a late defiant act as the home side swept to 127 – 6 in little or no time at all but when Harvey Anderson was called in to the Rams' attack he immediately dropped a sitter 'caught and bowled', but then gained the umpteenth LBW of the afternoon, 'Horton 130 – 7.

Anderson stole some thunder from what had been balled before by grabbing two more late wickets, Chris Henry taking a quite magnificent boundary edge pouch, and Dan Clayton a much easier one, and although Chris went for 3 '6's' in the games last over fling from big hitting Moin Ashraf, it was all too late for the home side who finished on a creditable 170 – 9, Ashraf winning home plaudits with his bludgeoning late 43 not out.

Harvey finished with an unlikely 3 – 5 from only 2 overs but Enza (2 wickets), Ash (2), Bozza (1) and Chris (1) had each contributed to another good win from the rampant Rams.

Top six placings: Farsley (220 points); Idle (206 points); Gomersal (184 points); Keighley (182 points); Undercliffe (169 points) and Bankfoot (157 points)