DOWN TO THE WIRE

Shepley took maximum points as leaders Honley got just five, meaning there are now two points between the sides going into next Saturday's final round of fixtures.  Honley are firm favourites as they face bottom side Holmfirth at home, but who knows: this is cricket!  An excellent game of cricket ended with Shepley getting maximum points with just one ball to spare and a margin of six runs.  Shepley batted first and were soon struggling at 34-3 as Tom Denton, Tim Rees and Liam Wiles went cheaply.  SP Singh, however, held firm and was joined by Shepley's new batting find Sam Denton who followed his season's best 32* the previous day with an excellent, responsible 64 as the pair added 93 for the fourth wicket.  Singh eventually went for a top-class 75 and some lusty blows from Huw Ellis helped get the score over the two hundred mark.  Slaithwaite's reply started slowly but John Booth (40) and Ijaz Khan (75*) in particular added momentum and took their side to a position where they could have gone on to win.  Ten were needed from the final over with three wickets left, but Singh held his nerve and two victims plus a run out saw Shepley home. Click here for scorecard.

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STATUS QUO

Shepley had a comfortable eight wicket win at Holmfirth, taking five points in the process.  Holmfirth won the toss and batted, but were soon reduced to 8-2 as Leigh Millar (3-42) continued his good form.  Darren Lockwood and Andrew Gleave rallied with a stand of 67 for the third wicket but, once Danny Glover (3-43) had Gleave lbw, wickets fell regularly.  Lockwood oddly refused a series of easy singles over the last four overs as his team failed to secure a point.  Shepley's reply was emphatic.  The first 45 runs came entirely from boundaries, apart from one wide, as SP Singh (56) and stand-in opener Sam Denton (an excellent 32*) took control.  Following Singh's dismissal Tim Rees (32) and Liam Wiles (22*) hit out to see their team home with 21 overs to spare.  Honley matched Shepley's five points, meaning the gap remains three points with two matches to play.  Click here for scorecard.

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THIS WEEK'S SENIOR FIXTURES

SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER

at 12.30pm

SHEPLEY v SKELMANTHORPE

at Marsh Lane, Shepley

Drakes Huddersfield League Premiership

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SUNDAY 5 SEPTEMBER

at 12.30pm

SKELMANTHORPE 2nd XI v SHEPLEY 2nd XI

at Lidgett Lane, Skelmanthorpe

Drakes Huddersfield League Premiership Two

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PLANNING APPLICATION SUBMITTED

A Planning Application for the new Clubhouse has now been submitted to Kirklees Council.  The building is broadly in line with the plans shared with residents at a public meeting last year, although the appearance is now far more pleasing.  The new Clubhouse will replace the existing Tea Hut and Clubhouse, and will be erected in the open space next to the new Changing Rooms built before the start of the 2010 season.  The new building's overall footprint is larger than the two old buildings combined, largely due to the need to meet current legislation on disabled access, toilets etc., as well as the addition of a stone entrance lobby.  The 'public' space has just a modest increase in size.

Like the Changing Rooms, the building will be single storey, predominantly finished in white render, with the same roof tiles, creating an attractive 'arc' around that corner of the ground; there will be local stone facings.  Similarly, the areas to the front and side will be finished with matching stone terraces.  Timing is still unknown as we await the outcome of funding applications.  Ideally, we will build in 2011, but that is by no means certain.

Copies of the application are linked below.  Anyone wishing to discuss the plans can call Ian Watkinson on 07825 129446 or speak to Richard Haigh.

Plans  Design & Access Statement  Application Form  Site Location Plan

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NEW SHIRT SPONSORS

Shepley Cricket Club is delighted to welcome a new 1st XI shirt sponsor for 2010.  NGC Networks Limited are a leading provider of Business Telephone Systems and Contact Centres based in Leeds and Manchester.  The Club wishes to thank both the company and Director Dean Harrop for their generous support and look forward to welcoming them to Marsh Lane during the coming season.

RAIN JACKETS

Click here for details

NEW CHANGING ROOMS

Planning permission for the Club's new changing rooms was finally given on February 15th and construction began the following day.  The work will be completed by the start of the 2010 season.

The project comprises the demolition of eighty percent of the existing building, with only the two-storey scoreboard block spared.  The ground floor of that block (currently the Home changing room) will be converted to a new tackle shed.  The new building will cover a virtually identical footprint to its predecessor.  It will comprise spacious Home and Visitors' changing rooms, each with four individual shower cubicles and a toilet.  A lobby between the two changing rooms will provide access to the field of play, as well as into the field behind used as a campsite during the Shepley Spring Festival weekend, offering a great facility to the campers.  At the northern (Clubhouse) end of the new building will be a generous room for the Umpires, also incorporating toilet facilities.  The whole building will have under-floor heating.

The project is funded by the generosity of Kirklees Metropolitan Council's Capital Investment Fund.  The Club would like to thank Claire Howe from Kirklees' Culture and Leisure Services for her encouragement and assistance in securing the funding; to our local councillors for their support in the funding and planning applications; and to Mark & Alyson Ronan for their generous in-kind sponsorship of the project.

Throughout the project we will provide a photographic record of the work as it makes progress.  Photographs (including a couple of surprise finds) are already on line, as well as a photographic record of the old building. Both can be accessed using the links below, as can plans for the new building:

As It Was    Progress Day By Day   Plans

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

A call from a senior club in the north-west considering employing Romain Grenville (2009) as their overseas player (although he elected to come back to the Huddersfield League with Broad Oak) prompted a quick trawl of the web to see what had happened to some recent Shepley overseas men.  Trent Copeland (2007) has had the highest profile recently.  He made his first-class debut for New South Wales this winter and his first ten innings produced 35 wickets; all the more remarkable when one considers he got managed just 23 wickets in a full league season at Shepley!  His successor, Ramesh Subasinghe (2008), played for Clay Cross in the Derbyshire Premier League in 2009 and returns to play for Denby in the same competition in 2010.  Rob Fairchild (2005), of course, plays 1st Grade club cricket in for Wanneroo in Perth, where he was a colleague of Danny Glover and Leigh Millar (2010) this winter.  Bevan Bennett (2004) is playing first-class cricket in South Africa for Border.  Ravi Chandra Sharma (2003) - or at least someone of that name - is playing fifth division cricket for the YMCA in Bangalore.

The above report prompted a phone call to David Hall from Shepley's 1998 overseas player, leg spinner Sarmad 'Sammy' Khan.  Sarmad, who played in the Section B championship winning side is now living and playing cricket in New York and has fond memories of his time in Shepley.  If Sarmad reads this, could you please contact ian.watkinson@shepleycc.com so I can pass your email details onto David to allow him and some of your former colleagues to keep in touch.

We'd also love to hear from any other former Shepley players, just drop us an email.