Championship Division round-up for 2 July

The second half of the season began much in the way of the first at the top and the bottom, but there were a couple of results, at Conisbrough and at Sprotbrough, where the scores made nonsense of the table positions. 

 

 

Collegiate 2nds have been gradually making up for a fairly bleak start to the season and have been putting some good results together. Conisbrough is a small ground where batters can enjoy expressing themselves and Collegiate clearly enjoyed the release it gave them, but the key innings of 110 by Michael Goodchild was well-crafted and owed more to careful placement and running between the wickets than big hitting. He built partnerships of 55 with Adam Burkinshaw for the first wicket, and 58 with Ben Fielding for the second. By the time Sam Meadows came in, the score was 153-3 with 17 overs left to play and the wild rumpus could begin. They put on 108 together in just over 60 balls, with Goodchild scoring most of the first fifty and Meadows, who has struggled for runs in the 2nds this season, exploding in the second, scoring 69 in 46 balls with six sixes. When Goodchild was bowled by Hassan Bin Shahab, Matt Williams took the score on to 316-6 - a good afternoon’s work. Conisbrough know their own ground well and have seen similar scores chased down but it needs batters to get in and build a platform. Matthew Lowe and Jonathan Redfern did well, Lowe scoring 50 before he was run out, and Conisbrough’s 150 was only three overs slower than Collegiate’s, but they lost six wickets getting there. Josh Whittaker showed what could be done, hitting 79 in 28 balls - 70 came in fours and sixes – but when he was out they were nine down and the target was fast receding into the distance. Tate Miller and Tom Eldred had done their job with the ball, though at no small cost to their figures. 

 

Sheffield Collegiate 2nds 316-6 (50) Michael Goodchild 110, Sam Meadows 69, Ben Fielding 34, Hassan Bib Shahab 4-67 

Conisbrough 267-9 (50) Josh Whittaker 79, Matthew Lowe 50, Jonathan Redfern 38, Tate Miller 4-101 

 

 

Barnsley found it hard going at Crimicar Lane against a well-balanced bowling attack who gave little away. Boeta Beukes and Jordan Slattery were the only batters to manage double figures. James Smedley had five maidens in nine overs and Rob Heyes took 4-22 in eight. Joe Cooper and Harman Puni took two each for very few and Barnsley were all out for 91 in 39.4 overs. Hallam took 15 overs to overtake, Rob Basu 38 noty out and Christian Leddicoat 22 not out stroking the ball around very smoothly. The teams meet again this Sunday in the Whitworth Cup semi-final, but cup games often have a different dynamic. 

 

Barnsley Woolley Miners 2nds 91 (39.4) Rob Heyes 4-22 

Hallam 94-2 (15.4) Rob Basu 38* 

 

 

Houghton are just behind the leaders in the Championship and beat bottom club Green Moor comfortably, but it wasn’t all as one-sided as the scores suggest. Houghton built their innings on the foundation of an opening partnership of 76 between Michael Brown and Brent Law. It took 32 overs to get to 100 though, 41.2 to reach 150, so there wasn’t much time left for the later batters to accerate, especially against Jake Rodgers, who bowled 15 overs 4-54 and Joseph White 15 for 45. Houghton finished on 214-9. It was enough though. Jamie Dixon’s 40 held together Green Moor’s early order, but they shed five wickets reaching 100 and, though Harry Airstone and Julian Bates did their best, the tail couldn’t take things much further, and they ended on 137 all out. Teriq Worrell and Usman Khan took 5-46 in 17 overs between them. Dylan Smythe took 3-40 and Matty Bowering a couple at the end. It was a good team performance from Houghton. 

 

Houghton Main 214-9 (50) Michael Brown 56, Brent Law 43, Jake Rodgers 4-54 

Green Moor Sports) 137 (38.4) Jamie Dixon 40, Teriq Worrell 3-26, Dylan Smythe 3-40 

 

 

Rockingham were always going to struggle to take the game to Aston Hall who, after this game, are now 98 points ahead of them. Aston have a very strong bowling attack, especially sharp in the opening overs, and soon Rockingham were 10-2, though to be fair Jack Riley fended off 19 balls before succumbing to Tom Coulson. Bilal Afzal struck five fours to take the score to 53-3 and Aquib Shaikh raised it briefly to 125-5 and hopes of a competitive total, but it wasn't to be. Johannes Bothma (3-14 in 10 overs), Tom Coulson and Adam Clarke (3-23 in 14) brought things to a swift conclusion and Rockingham were all out for 140. This was some way short of stretching Aston Hall, but they took 40 overs to get to their target and Rockingham got four wickets. Alan Lockwood was even briefly on a hat-trick, but forties from Joe Stickland and Nasir Omar settled the game with the league leaders winning by six wickets. 

 

Rockingham Colliery 140 (49.1) Aquib Shaikh 32, Johannes Bothma 3-14, Adam Clarke 3-23 

Aston Hall 144-4 (39.5) Joe Stickland 44*, Nasir Omar 41 

 

 

Sprotbrough’s ability as a team belies their league position. They are deservedly in the semi-finals of the Whitworth Cup next Sunday and on Saturday they beat Shiregreen, who are one of the front runners in the division. They batted superbly – Tom Pepper and Harry Graham taking them to 100 in 23 overs. Sadrian Ward and William Rudkin, both scoring 60s, then put on 106 together. Shiregreen tried seven bowlers to dislodge them and despite Imran Khan taking 3-57 in 13 overs, they finished with 263-7, with Rudkin still there at the end. Clearly, this was a challenging total, but Shiregreen have batted really consistently this year and, despite a rocky start, they did so again. Abdul Qayoom and Aslam Hayat put on 109 for the third wicket (reaching 100 at almost the same rate as Sprotbrough). Hamzah Younis, the Championship’s top batter, took over from Qayoom, and made 56 in 37 balls with seven sixes, taking the score to 189 – enough to demoralise other bowling sides. However, Sprotbrough have Daniel Wright, and he had Younis caught and then took two more wickets. Suddenly there was no-one to take Shiregreen forward at the rate needed and they collapsed to 235 all out, with Wright taking a match-winning 4-53 and Sadrian Ward an arguably just as significant 3-18 in 15 overs. The win gives Sprotbrough a little more safety and Shiregreen another hill to climb as they fall to the back of the championship-chasing pack. 

 

Sprotbrough 263-7 (50) Sadrian Ward 63, William Rudkin 61*, Tom Pepper 44, Harry Graham 33, Imran Khan 3-57 

Shiregreen 235 (48.1) Aslam Hayat62, Hamzah Younis 56, Abdul Qayoom 43, Daniel Wright 4-53, Sadrian Ward 3-18 

 

 

It was a great day for wicket-keepers at Northfield Lane. Both Patrick Selkirk for Wath and Gareth Purshouse got four victims – three catches and a stumping each – and Selkirk also kept a clean sheet. These things are key to good teams, though they are often overlooked. Wickersley were inserted. Wath like to chase. Wickersley batted well as a team. Nathan Taylor got 49, putting on an opening stand of 93 with Mark Cummins. Isaac Spencer-Jones and Abu Sufyan took the score close to 200, and there were still more as Wickersley’s tail did its usual wag, settling on 229-9. Shawn Hopkins and Bradley Williams took seven wickets between them, but no-one managed to slow the rate or follow through on wickets to start a collapse. By contrast, that’s exactly what Wickersley were able to do to Wath. Bradley Williams and Jory Bannister both made forties but when wickets fell so did others and no-one else apart from James Barnard made double figures or batted long enough with those who were in to form a significant partnership. Williams and Bannister put on 86 together. The next highest partnership was 17 for the first wicket. Wath were all out for 166. Wickersley stay third in the table, just two points behind Hallam 

 

Wickersley Old Village 229-9 (50) Nathan Taylor 49, Abu Sufyan 37, Mark Cummins 33, Isaac Spencer-Jones 31, Shawn Hopkins 4-54, Bradley Williams 3-42 

Wath 166 (42) Bradley Williams 46, Jory Bannister 46, Oliver Blackburn 4-11 

 

League table and leading averages 

 

Full scorecards