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Captain's half-term report
Mark Burns5 Jul 2011 - 20:43
With the season half way through a look back at the story so far.
2011 will go down as an important one in the history of Birchencliffe CC with massive changes a foot and a complete re-development of the ground and facilities meaning home games were to take place at Leeds Rd playing fields. The prospect of a municipal field meant attracting new players was always going to be difficult and in fact actaully raising 2 full teams was a struggle for the opening few weeks.
The first game of the season saw Birchencliffe hosting Edgerton & Dalton who had centurion Shabaz and Cliffe's hapless fielders to thank for their victory only Geoff Nuttall carrying his bat for 44n/o showing any real resistance as Birchencliffe came away with a point. Next up a trip to Bradley & Colne where Giles Cliffe was the next man to bat through the innings for a well crafted 58 with the team finishing on 178 for 7. This score may well have been enough had bowler Robert Smith not picked up an injury in his first over and only over meaning just a point again for 'Cliffe. The following day saw the team only able to field 7 men in the Allsop Cup, suprisingly and with much credit they posted a very healthy score of 191 for 3 with Cliffe(33), Mark Burns(37n/o) & a wonderful 97 from Joe Lewis the highlights. The gaps in the field though meant the 7 men couldn't defend the score and the club's cup adventure was over at the first hurdle. Another league defeat and a point the following week to the same side saw Birchencliffe rooted firmly at the foot of the table. A trip to Crigglestone came next and again unable to raise a full team saw 9 men post 168 for 5 with Geoff Nuttall(40), Mark Burns unbeaten on 41 and a quickfire 51 from Tom Smith the men with the runs. The home side reached the total much easier than they would against a full side. Defeat followed at home to Upper Hopton when Birchencliffe's batting & catcing again let them down going down by 8 wickets. Things looked to have improved at Crossbank Methodists with a fantastic fielding performance restricting the home side to 130 before the batters failed to do their job chasing down a low total and falling 10 runs short. Unfortunately the fielding was back to normal the week after when Birkby Rose Hill posted a massive 268 a score always too much for the 'Cliffe. Leaders Almondbury Wes were next up and again missed early chances cost as Wes skipper Shaw amassed 122 after being put down twice early on, a couple of umpiring decisions went against 'Cliffe as the run chase fell well short.
Finally a first win of the season came with Denby Grange visiting Leeds Rd found debutant Waqar Azam too much to handle as he ripped through the middle order picking up 5 wickets, Giles Cliffe(40) & Joe Lewis(31n/o) bagging the victory. New leaders Mount were rattled when Mark Burns took out the top order with 4 for 24 but the likely champions recovered well and then showed their prowess with ball with Robert Smith & Paul Armitage batting heroically to snatch a point. The most recent game saw Denby Dale taking all the points from a game Birchencliffe could have won.
So probably a case of "could do much better" for Birchencliffe so far, the target for the rest of the season to pick up 3 or 4 wins they should be capable of to fight off relegation. Then exciting times ahead with a "new" ground to look forward to and more new faces at the club to add to this seasons new signings (Zubair Khan, Adi Bansal, Azam Akram, Paul Armitage, Waqar & Zeshan Azam & Shakil Hussain)and some more familiar faces returning.
The first game of the season saw Birchencliffe hosting Edgerton & Dalton who had centurion Shabaz and Cliffe's hapless fielders to thank for their victory only Geoff Nuttall carrying his bat for 44n/o showing any real resistance as Birchencliffe came away with a point. Next up a trip to Bradley & Colne where Giles Cliffe was the next man to bat through the innings for a well crafted 58 with the team finishing on 178 for 7. This score may well have been enough had bowler Robert Smith not picked up an injury in his first over and only over meaning just a point again for 'Cliffe. The following day saw the team only able to field 7 men in the Allsop Cup, suprisingly and with much credit they posted a very healthy score of 191 for 3 with Cliffe(33), Mark Burns(37n/o) & a wonderful 97 from Joe Lewis the highlights. The gaps in the field though meant the 7 men couldn't defend the score and the club's cup adventure was over at the first hurdle. Another league defeat and a point the following week to the same side saw Birchencliffe rooted firmly at the foot of the table. A trip to Crigglestone came next and again unable to raise a full team saw 9 men post 168 for 5 with Geoff Nuttall(40), Mark Burns unbeaten on 41 and a quickfire 51 from Tom Smith the men with the runs. The home side reached the total much easier than they would against a full side. Defeat followed at home to Upper Hopton when Birchencliffe's batting & catcing again let them down going down by 8 wickets. Things looked to have improved at Crossbank Methodists with a fantastic fielding performance restricting the home side to 130 before the batters failed to do their job chasing down a low total and falling 10 runs short. Unfortunately the fielding was back to normal the week after when Birkby Rose Hill posted a massive 268 a score always too much for the 'Cliffe. Leaders Almondbury Wes were next up and again missed early chances cost as Wes skipper Shaw amassed 122 after being put down twice early on, a couple of umpiring decisions went against 'Cliffe as the run chase fell well short.
Finally a first win of the season came with Denby Grange visiting Leeds Rd found debutant Waqar Azam too much to handle as he ripped through the middle order picking up 5 wickets, Giles Cliffe(40) & Joe Lewis(31n/o) bagging the victory. New leaders Mount were rattled when Mark Burns took out the top order with 4 for 24 but the likely champions recovered well and then showed their prowess with ball with Robert Smith & Paul Armitage batting heroically to snatch a point. The most recent game saw Denby Dale taking all the points from a game Birchencliffe could have won.
So probably a case of "could do much better" for Birchencliffe so far, the target for the rest of the season to pick up 3 or 4 wins they should be capable of to fight off relegation. Then exciting times ahead with a "new" ground to look forward to and more new faces at the club to add to this seasons new signings (Zubair Khan, Adi Bansal, Azam Akram, Paul Armitage, Waqar & Zeshan Azam & Shakil Hussain)and some more familiar faces returning.
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