Being three weekends into the season, we would normally have quite a few matches to report upon on behalf of our senior teams.

Last season, we didn’t lose a single fixture to the weather, but so far, we unfortunately have hit the other end of the spectrum. Fixtures taking place on 15th April (first Saturday of the season) were all cancelled by the League due to adverse weather hindering wicket and ground preparation and these fixtures are rescheduled to be played on Sunday 14th May. The Heavy Woollen fixture on 16th April also didn’t take place.

The following weekend saw the Saturday first team fixture at Moorlands wiped out by the weather although our 2nd team were able to play against Moorlands in the reverse fixture. The visitors won by 3 wickets, but mention should be made of a knock of 47 by Nigel Hoyle in our total of 125 followed by an excellent bowling performance by Noah Wood  with the excellent return of 2 for 9 in his allotted 9 overs. A hastily arranged friendly game against Sandal at Marsh Lane on the Sunday saw Sandal progress to the first round proper.

On Saturday 29th April, our first team lost narrowly by 2 runs against Broad Oak in a rain affected game involving the vagaries of the Duckworth Lewis system whilst our second team succumbed to defeat at Hall Bower by 79 runs, many of our promising juniors performing well with the ball and Duncan Richards and Nigel Hoyle being our joint top scorers with 35 runs apiece.

The following day saw our two senior sides progress to round two of the Sykes Cup and Paddock Shield competitions. The first team beat Denby by 63 runs with 4 wickets for Oliver Davidson and a superb unbeaten 110 from Max Joyce with support from captain Danny Glover with 51. In the Paddock Shield game at Thongsbridge, both teams fielded many of their junior players. Captain Phil Marsh top scored for Shepley with 51 and three of our very promising juniors, Teddy Hartley, Jake Jaggar and James Goldthorpe had excellent figures in taking 7 wickets between them with Nigel Hoyle chipping in with 2 wickets also.