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2015 Second XI

 

Bradford League 2nd Eleven  

Match Reports 2015

Final League Position = 9th, 210 Points

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New Farnley v Pudsey Congs

At the Barry Jackson Ground

Saturday August 22nd, 2015

Match report by Jacques Allen

On the back of yet another good result for Congs second eleven against Hanging Heaton it was high flyers New Farnley the opponents in this week’s round of fixtures as Cong’s were hitting form at the right end of the season. Captain JLD lost the toss and was elected to have a bowl on a dry looking wicket.

Doey and Mohammed opened the bowling and Mohammed struck in his 1st over caught in slip by Jq Allen down low. At 8-1 both opening bowlers were struggling to find there rhythm and New Farnley began to score freely repeatedly finding the boundaries. JLD made some changes bringing on Patrick and Jq Allen which immediately began to slow down the rate with the batters all of a sudden having to put the pace on the ball. Patrick removed the dangerous Suggit before receiving an onslaught from the agricultural number 4 hitting boundaries to cow corner repeatedly. Patrick then received reward removing the number 5 hauling out to another outstanding catch, this time from Doey. Jq Allen finally gained some reward caught at 1st slip by Patrick, New Farnley continued to try and accelerate the score having some joy getting Patrick away.

Jq Allen continued to bowl tight repeatedly beating the bat however Patrick took some tap in his last 2 overs of his spell. With Patrick and Allen bowling their full quota they were replaced by sporadic bowler Ahmed and fellow spinner Mahmood. Ahmed bowled incredibly well mixing up his pace. New Farnley finished 226-5 which Congs felt a success as this was an achievable target against debatably the best batting line up in the league.

New Farnley 226-5 (Adam Patrick 15/2/79, Jacques Allen 15/1/39)

Dissanayaka and Jq Allen opened the batting both bowlers were causing early problems finding late swing which was troubling the batters. Dissanayaka fell followed back by JLD after a short and sweet innings finding the boundary 3 times. In form Mahmood then joined Allen at the crease with Allen looking to anchor the innings (“batting slower than Boycott”) whereas Mahmood was once again putting the ball to all parts with an elegant cover drive clearly the highlight of the innings. Congs began to take the initiative but the weather intervened.

Congs managed to get back on but only 4 overs were fulfilled at the second time of asking before the heavens opened again finishing the game off with Congs at 74-2 after 23 overs.

Pudsey Congs 74-2 (Zahid Mahmood 39 not out, Jacques Allen 18 not out)

Overall Congs showed real spirit making sure that New Farnley didn’t get away from them in the 1st innings and also battling back to a good score before the weather intervened. Next week Congs are to face woodlands twice, the 1st game in the league and then on bank holiday Monday in the Crowther cup final hoping to take momentum into that game.

Pudsey Congs v Hanging Heaton

At Strikes Britannia Ground

Saturday August 15th, 2015

Match report by Jacques Allen

After the brilliant cup semi-final win on the previous Sunday, the feel good factor was back around the Strikes Britannia ground with all players feeling confident about the result going their way. JLD won the toss and chose to bowl first on a wicket which was slightly wet because of the overnight rain and also had a green tinge about it.

Doey and Mohammed took the new ball and repeatedly beat the bat finding some movement both in the air and off of the pitch. Both bowlers continued to nibble away but Hanging Heaton had got off to a reasonable start at 32-0 at the 10 over stage. Mohammed claimed the first wicket for Congs caught by wicketkeeper/captain JLD. Finally Doey got his rewards sending back the dangerous Hanging Heaton skipper trapped in front before claiming his second with a good catch from Dissanayaka at backward point.

Jamie Allen replaced Mohammed and immediately joined the party claiming an early wicket knocking back the batsman’s middle stump. Chris Doey claimed another wicket with a brilliant in swinging delivery that started at around a 5th stump line before boomeranging back in to take the batsman’s middle stump. This was a huge wicket as the number 7 had done serious damage hitting 60 in quick time in the reverse fixture. Jamie Allen and then Patrick both claimed important wickets with Patrick removing the set number 4 who looked dangerous and at 83-6 Congs had Hanging Heaton on the ropes.

The Cong’s bowling began to turn sloppy and allowed Hanging Heaton free runs with them reaching a total of 128 all out with the last three wickets falling to Patrick, Mohammed and Allen. A mix of poor bowling towards the back end of the innings and dreadful fielding from individual players allowed Hanging Heaton to a competitive score on a hard wicket to bat on.

Hanging Heaton 128 all out (Chris Doey 15/3/39, Jamie Allen 13/3/48)

Dissanayaka and Jacques Allen opened the batting with the challenge of getting their team off to a solid start however this was not to be with Allen on his way back to the shed with the score at 12-1 quickly followed back by the captain JLD. When Dissanayaka fell soon after Congs were in serious trouble at 20-3.

However this brought the coolest man in the ground to the crease Zahid Mahmood joined by Tom Elliot who began to set about the task beautifully with Elliot anchoring the innings batting slowly but effectively whereas Mahmood at the other end caressing the ball to all parts looking as if he was batting on a different wicket to everybody else. Mahmood continued to play elegantly playing some outstanding shots with every boundary taking Congs closer and closer to that all important victory. Elliot joined the party with a slog sweep that went for a six over cow corner region. Mahmood brought up his unbelievably valuable fifty before falling very soon after. Followed back by Elliot bringing to the crease two inform batters in the shape of Holroyd and Ahmed.

With just 30 runs required these two batsmen set about the task brilliantly and saw Cong’s home with ease featuring a maximum from Holroyd on the hook.

Pudsey Congs 132-5 (Zahid Mahmood 54, Aidan Holroyd 19 not out, Tom Elliot 17)  

Overall a convincing win from Congs and we need to take the momentum into next week’s game against high flyers New Farnley. If we can touch up on some sloppy fielding and bowling at the tail we can conquer all 4 remaining games.

 

Crowther Cup Semi Final

Pudsey Congs v Ossett 

At Strikes Britannia Ground

Sunday August 9th, 2015

Match report by Jacques Allen

Ossett was to be Congs opponent for the semi-final of the Crowther cup and this was undoubtedly the biggest game of the season for the second eleven so far. JLD lost the toss but Congs were still elected to bat which seemed a slightly strange decision considering chasing a total for a place in the final would always be a nervous one for the batting side.

Dissanayaka and Jq Allen opened up for the second time in the weekend and repeated the dose of a solid start which was essential in such a big game. The first over however was extremely favourable for the batting team costing Ossett 18 with 12 of which coming off of the bat with the same exquisite shot tickling it off of his hip. Allen pounced on a short and wide one early cutting it through backwards point for 4 and Congs were on the front foot massively. At the 10 over stage Congs were 42-0 with only 20 of the runs coming off of the bat, extras were proving incredibly costly. Dissanayaka fell playing an expansive straight drive with the ball just sneaking through the gate between bat and pad. Allen soon followed him back with a big in swinger hooping back in to take his off stump after he deliberately left it alone. Arbaab Hussain and the captain were now at the crease and accelerated the innings beautifully hitting the balls to all parts, especially the captain, however Hussain fell for 12 to a full toss bringing the inform Mahmood to the crease.

JLD continued with his powerful stroke play and continued to hit boundaries before he hauled out to the long on for a quite brilliant 36. Mahmood and Jamshed were now at the crease who are both debatably the quickest runners between the wickets and this began to show running 3’s when there should have only been 2’s. These two batters at the crease were beginning to set a base from which a really large total could be set from. Mahmood fell for 26 and Jamshed for a very respectable 19.

Ahtsham Ahmed came to the crease looking to continue the run rate that had been set by the previous batsman and he did this with ease timing the ball to all parts continuously finding the boundaries and running between the wickets excellently with Doey who had some shots of his own, consecutively hitting the ball back down the ground for four’s. Doey fell, followed back almost immediately by Patrick bringing Jamie Allen to the crease with 5 overs left the score had just ticked past the 200 mark. Jamie Allen offered Ahmed great help with some great shots from both. Allen played a glorious cover drive followed by two outstanding on drives from Ahmed. Ahmed was painfully close to his maiden 2nd team 50 finishing 48 not out which was an outstanding innings turning an average score into a very good one, helped massively at the death by Jamie Allen who scored 28 unfortunately being run out off of the last ball. Ossett required 245 for a place in the final.

Pudsey Congs 244-9 (Ahtsham Ahmed 48 not out, James Linley Dawe 36, Jamie Allen 28)

Doey and Harris opened the bowling once again and the extra pace that is not normally seen in the central Yorkshire league was clearly worrying the Ossett batsman with early wafts outside off stump a regular occurrence. Doey could have had 5 wickets within his first two overs, however his first legitimate wicket came due to a clever slower ball that the batter ended up hitting straight up caught by the man of the moment Ahmed. Immediately next ball Doey struck again with a fierce back of a length delivery which was nudged through to first slip where Jacques Allen couldn’t claim it, he managed to parry it up to Mahmood standing gratefully in at second.

Congs were buzzing and had Ossett on the ropes, even more so when Harris Mohammed cleaned up the wicket keeper batsman for 4. Doey claimed his 3rd cleaning up a batter who could only be described as agricultural and Congs had Ossett at 33-4. Ossett began to enjoy a partnership, and Mohammed and Doey were replaced by Jacques Allen and Adam Patrick at the end of their spells. Both bowled tight but didn’t get the reward that they deserved bowling economically. Jacques Allen was replaced by his elder Jamie Allen. Patrick claimed a crucial wicket sending back Ossett’s number six for 50 due to an outstanding catch from Dissanayaka. Jamie then removed the opener who had stuck around trying to anchor the innings and once more it looked like Congs were through them.

Once more Ossett had batters still left with the ball beginning to disappear to all parts mainly favouring the leg side boundary. Jamie Allen claimed another huge wicket with taking a caught and bowled that came down with snow on it and Congs had removed the main man for 43. Ossett required 60 runs from the last 8 overs with just 3 wickets in hand. Jamie claimed his third wicket and with 5 overs left Ossett had begun to regain some momentum again but with 5 overs left needing runs Mahmood ran out the only man left who was capable of doing it for Ossett, immediately next ball Dissanayaka removed the final man bowling Ossett all out for 199, jubilant scenes ensued as Congs had made the final of the Crowther cup.

Ossett 199 all out (Chris Doey 10/3/31, Jamie Allen 9/3/52, Harris Mohammed 7/1/26)

The final is to be played at Morley on the 31st of August against either Woodlands or Scholes (HL). Momentum from this game needs to be taken and applied in league matched in order to achieve a respectable finish. Overall an outstanding effort from every single player in the Congs team!

Pudsey St Lawrence v Pudsey Congs

At Tofts Rd

Saturday August 8th, 2015

Matchball Sponsor – The Humpleby’s

Match report by Jacques Allen

Congs made the short trip up the road in the second local derby of the season on an absolute scorcher of the day. Captain JLD won the toss and elected to bat on a rock hard track with clear blue skies overhead.

Dissanayaka and Jq Allen opened the batting with Allen looking very rusty to say the least, while Dissanayaka continued his brilliant form at the other end playing fluently. Allen began to find his way timing a couple of balls through the covers for four while Dissanayaka played through the leg side excellently. Allen fell for 22 caught in slip with the scores at 46-1. Dissanayaka soon followed Allen back to the changing rooms falling for a fluent 34 leaving Hussain and JLD at the crease, the captain went for a short but sweet 6 hitting a maximum before trying to repeat the dose a couple of balls later and it going straight up.

Mahmood came to the crease with Congs looking to be in a bit of trouble after a solid start at 68-3 needing a partnership with Hussain. This was exactly what happened with both players hitting boundaries when they needed to and running brilliantly between the wickets pilling pressure on the fielders causing midfields. Both batters stepped up the momentum again playing some outstanding shots to all parts of the ground, Mahmood and Hussain both fell at similar times for 38 and 39 and had both shifted the momentum.

Aidan Holroyd accelerated well with the tale and scored 23 including an exquisite aerial cover drive going for a maximum. However once Holroyd the tail/middle order offered zero resistance and from what was looking like 200 plus Congs were bowled all out for 184 after 49 overs allowing Lawrence 51 overs to chase 184.

184 All out (Zahid Mahmood 39, Arbaab Hussain 38, Lahiru Dissanayaka 34)

Congs knew that on a good wicket they needed to bowl and field outstandingly to give themselves a chance of winning the game. Doey and Mohammed beat the outside edge repeatedly bowling outstandingly well and deserving some reward. Mohammed finally claimed a wicket sending back the opener for a 22 ball duck. Lawrence enjoyed a partnership but Congs always felt that they were in the game as the rate was always rising. Patrick and Jq Allen replaced Mohammed and Doey who had both bowled outstandingly, Patrick struck early and this was closely followed by a brilliant run out from Dissanayaka and Congs were back in the game again.

Mohammed was brought back into the attack and bowled brilliantly alongside Patrick both picking up another 2 scalps each and Lawrence began to realise they were in a game for the first time. With 5 overs remaining in the game Lawrence required 25 and Doey was able to come back with 3 overs remaining. Doey claimed the big wicket of Priestley and the rate rose again. It came down to the last over 11 required off of it. The first ball was muscled for 4 and singles and 2’s scampered 4 was required from 2 balls and a big shot found the inside edge spinning past Holroyd at midwicket and trickling away for 4. Lawrence had pipped Congs in a thriller by 2 wickets with just 1 ball remaining.

185-8 (Harris Mohammed 15/3/36, Adam Patrick 14.5/3/59)

Overall a great performance with the ball and in the field from Congs but unfortunately we didn’t have enough runs on the board because of a late order collapse. Need to keep performing in a similar manner in order to not be dragged back into the relegation battle.

 

 

Pudsey Congs v Keighley

At Strikes Britannia Ground

Saturday August 1st, 2015

Matchball Sponsor – Kathleen Bales

Match Report by Jacques Allen

Looking to repeat last week’s brilliant win at Wakefield Road, Congs hosted Keighley at the Strikes Britannia Ground. Rain was a clear threat at the start of the day with all forecasts rapidly changing overnight from dry to severe showers. JLD won the toss and elected to bowl with the weather threatening, hoping to at least claim some points before the game was interrupted which felt inevitable.

Doey and Mohammed opened the bowling and with Keighley 6-0 after 3.2 overs the heavens opened with a lengthy delay ensuing. With a near 4 hour delay and at the second time of trying the game finally commenced with only 47 overs remaining in the game, Keighley was entitled to bat all of which if they wished. Congs therefore knew that they needed to bowl their opposition out if they were to win the game.

This quest started outstandingly with Doey sending back 3 batters in as many overs. However the wickets then began to dry up with Keighley’s batters having one intention to spoil the party and just block out their overs. JLD made multiple bowling changes to try and make the break through. Jamie Allen finally got this breakthrough for Congs. With 18 overs remaining Congs needed 6 wickets, Mohammed came back into the attack bowling in tandem with Patrick. Patrick finally claimed a wicket that he deserved and Mohammed claimed 2. However the overs remaining had become too few and Congs hopes of winning were decimated. Jacques Allen then claimed the last wicket with Keighley then declaring on 140-9 after 48 overs which was a questionable decision to say the least meaning that Congs had the proposition of seeing off 2 overs.

Keighley 140-9 (Chris Doey 11/4/32)

JLD and Elliot opened the batting and saw off the 2 overs with ease no thanks to some excessive appealing from the Keighley players.

The end result was that of a rain affected draw with Congs claiming 7 points and Keighley claiming 4 points.

Overall a successful 4 points gained when most over teams did not play however not enough balls were directed at the stumps from the bowlers as a whole which was the overall cause for us not bowling our opposition out and having a realistic chance of beating our opponent.

Lightcliffe v Pudsey Congs

At Wakefield Road

Saturday July 25th, 2015

Match Report by Jacques Allen

Looking to overturn a stream of poor results and performances Congs travelled to Lightcliffe who had also being dragged into the relegation battle of late. Captain JLD won the toss elected to bat on a nice deck with a small boundary towards one side.

Elliot and Dissanayaka opened up and got off to an unbelievable start 25-0 after just 4 overs setting early momentum. Unfortunately Elliot fell for 8 after he just miss timed a short ball straight to the field. Enter Arbaab Hussain at 34-1. Some outstanding shots from both men, repeatedly targeting the small boundary and the favourable straight boundary. Boundaries came repeatedly from one end while both batters cleverly played 1st team spinner Ahmed playing each ball on its merit knowing that he was the main wicket threat. Both batters brought up their fifties just after drinks and an amazing platform was being set because of these two batters. Dissanayaka and Hussain both continued to caress the ball to all parts, beginning to demoralise opponents. Hussain fell for a brilliant 67 and the opener and number three had enjoyed an outstanding 112 partnership.

The captain came to the crease with 18 overs remaining looking to accelerate the innings and turn the end score into an unachievable one for Lightcliffe to chase. JLD couldn’t do this though falling for 7, replaced by Mahmood he looked to get his eye in for a couple of overs before accelerating along with Dissanayaka brilliantly smashing the ball around the ground. Mahmood fell for a swift 39. Patrick came to the crease looking to finish off the innings in style and he did so with a screaming 21 off of just 5 balls playing his trademark swipe over the cow corner boundary twice for maximums. Patrick fell and with just 2 overs remaining Dissnayaka brought up his ton and it was a brilliant knock and anchored the Congs innings brilliantly before falling. Dissanayaka fell in the following over for 104 and was unfortunate to not get a red inker. Congs finished with 268-9 which was way above par on a slow wicket.

Pudsey Congs 263-8 (Lahiru Dissanayaka 104, Arbaab Hussain 67, Zahid Mahmood 39, Adam Patrick 21)

JLD opened up with Mohammed and Patrick due to the slow nature exposed in the wicket in the first innings looking to expose scoreboard pressure. This bowling partnership started outstandingly well giving the batters nothing to work with in terms of lines and lengths. After 10 overs Lightcliffe were just 24 without loss and 269 was beginning to look like a daunting chase. Harris Mohammed was replaced by Jamie Allen and Scoreboard pressure took its effect as Allen bowled tight in partnership with Patrick before a ball was just lobbed up to Doey at backward point.

At 42-1 Lightcliffe began to offer a serious resistance attacking more and beginning to find the boundaries, Patrick however found a huge breakthrough sending back the opener with a full straight one for 39. Allen repeated the dose from the opposing end finding an outside edge with a brilliant catch from JLD behind the stumps. Patrick claimed his second, finding the outside edge with a brilliant ball caught in first slip by Jacques Allen. Moments later Patrick claimed three with some brilliant thinking from JLD as the ball passed the outside edge the batsman remained outside his crease before the new keeper threw the stumps down.

In a flash Lightcliffe were 85-5. Jamie Allen was replaced by Doey and Patrick replaced by Jacques Allen after both had bowled outstanding spells. Doey and Allen had the job of cleaning up the last 5 wickets and did this extremely efficiently with Doey bouncing one man out and the other with an outstanding caught and bowled. Allen claimed 3 including one due to an outstanding catch on the boundary because of Hussain. Lightcliffe finishing the innings 148 all out.

Lightcliffe 148-10 (Jacques Allen 7/3/26, Adam Patrick 15/3/33, Chris Doey 6/2/19, Jamie Allen 9/2/37)

Overall an outstanding performance from Congs with the team fielding brilliantly when the ball was in the air and on the ground which had been the main problem in previous weeks. A brilliant response from the previous week’s performance and looking to convert this momentum and take it into next week’s game.

Pudsey Congs v Bradford & Bingley

At Strikes Britannia Ground

Saturday July 18th, 2015

Matchball Sponsor – Mick & Tracey Hirst

Match Report by Jacques Allen

Before the game started there was just 3 pts separating the two teams meaning it was a vital game for both parties. JLD returning to the captaincy won the toss and elected to bat on a great deck for batting with clear overhead conditions.

Elliot fell early bringing the captain to the crease alongside the remaining opener Dissanayaka. They batted beautifully and enjoyed a 100 partnership with Dissanayaka caressing the ball to all parts and JLD showing more power and muscle consistently finding the boundaries. At drinks Congs had a solid base set for the first time in weeks and it looked like a mammoth score was on the cards.

Dissanayaka ran straight past one the first ball after drinks and fell for 25, was a key innings and was the anchor which was what let JLD play with such freedom. Stolarski came to the crease and put away some poor bowling playing a great cameo of 24. JLD fell soon after for 80 with a century in sight, however this was brilliant innings and was the main resistance offered to the B and B bowling playing a variety of different scoring shots. Holroyd finished off the innings well scoring an aggressive 37 not out anchoring the tail. Congs finished on 238-8 but was probably slightly under par and should have been more from the platform set.

Pudsey Congs 238-8 (James Linley Dawe 80, Aidan Holroyd 37 not out, Lahiru Dissanayaka 25, Andre Stolarski 24)

Congs knew that to protect 238 fielding well was essential. Doey enjoyed an early battle with opener Allit exchanging words before a brilliant bouncer followed by a slower ball Yorker and then immediately sending back the number 3 claiming 2 wickets in 2 balls. Congs were in the driving seat at 32-2. However Doey began to take some tap from Bradford league legend McCarthy. Jamie Allen was bowling a brilliant spell from the opposite end bowling very economically but with little reward. Jacques Allen and Adam Patrick came into the attack looking to take some wickets but instead were painfully unlucky with multiple edges and balls not finding hands. Catches yet again were shelled from both batters and began to look costly.

Short spells from Disanayaka, Mehmood and Mahmood were all slightly costly before Will Grace brought up his maiden hundred, overs later McCarthy repeated the actions of his partner bringing up his hundred winning the game in this process by 8 wickets. Grace dropped on 19 and on 49 twice and Mccarthy dropped on 32 and 76 was the game changer for the 3rd week running.

Bradford and Bingley 241-2 (Grace 104 not out, McCcarthy 102 not out)

Fielding is the aspect on the 2nds game that is dragging us into the relegation battle and sitting in 10th three points clear of Farsley in one of the relegation spots and 4 points away from Lightcliffe in 9th. Next week’s game against Lightcliffe is absolutely massive in terms of the position we finish in at the end of the season and overhauling them is crucial.

Farsley v Pudsey Congs

At Red Lane

Saturday July 11th, 2015

Match Report by Jacques Allen

Congs were looking to bounce back after a poor loss/performance in the previous fixture against Yeadon and travelled to the Red Lane ground to play against near rivals Farsley. Chris Doey was the stand in skipper for the second week running and on winning the toss elected to bat on a favourable looking wicket.

Lahiru Dissanayaka opened with a new partner Jacques Allen, Allen fell in the third over to an LBW quickly followed back by Dissanayaka in the same form of dismissal. Hussain and Elliot were the ones with the job of rebuilding but this didn’t last for long as Hussain played around a full toss before it cannoned into his off stump, this was a rare loose shot from the 2nds stand out batter this year. Elliot was then given LBW and 3 of the top 4 had fallen to this dismissal.

Mahmood and Holroyd were now at the crease and started to rebuild which was needed as Farsley had Congs on the ropes at 33-4. Some clever running and elegant stroke play boosted the score but as these players both got in and looked like building a substantial partnership. Holroyd and Mahmood fell together, followed by Patrick who didn’t trouble the scoring and yet again Congs had lost a flurry of wickets.

At 84-7 Doey and Jamie Allen convened at the crease and realised they had the challenge of getting Congs to a respectable total. With a mix of aggressive shots at the right time and strong running, Congs score began to look respectable. With just 10 overs left Doey and Allen began to bat more aggressively finding the boundaries. With a 66 run partnership Allen fell but he’d gained much needed runs, Doey kept pushing the score but then fell with 2 overs remaining but he’d played an outstanding anchoring role for his team. Mehmood and Mohammed were involved in a mix up and ended up at the same end resulting in a run out and Farsley bowling Congs all out for 161.

 

Pudsey Congs 161 all out (Chris Doey 34, Zahid Mahmood 25, Jamie Allen 21, Aiden Holroyd 21)

With Congs only having a mediocre total Doey decided to open the bowling with spin in Jacques Allen and medium pace with Adam Patrick. They both bowled tight with very few bad balls before Patrick reaped the rewards with the dangerous Kenyon removed by a slower ball caught in gully by Hussain. This bowling partnership continued to bowl tight lines but didn’t get much reward and after 20 overs Farsley were 27-1.

Doey changed up the bowling bringing on Harris Mohammed and Uwais Mehmood, immediately Mehmood got a wicket with the opener chipping the ball up to Jamie Allen who took the catch diving forwards. The leg spinner (Mehmood) struck again with a brilliant googly that gripped and turned up the hill that removed the main man Tempest bowling him through the gate. Harris Mohammed was finally rewarded for his brilliant tight spell by removing an aggressive batter caught behind by Holroyd. Doey brought back Jacques Allen and Adam Patrick who bowled tight again especially Patrick, the run rate began to sneak up and by the end of Jq Allen and Patricks spell 9 overs remained with the two quick men coming on to bowl Farsley required 6 an over.

Doey struck removing the two batters who were set but boundaries were being leaked and sloppy fielding had slipped in. Allen removed 2 batters one of which thanks to a brilliant catch from Elliot, both of which were dangerous. 8 down Congs had the proposition of protecting 21 from 18 balls. Jamie’s over went for 7 meaning it was 14 from 12 balls.

Doeys last ball of the penultimate over was smeared over cover for a one bounce four. 7 required from the last over begain with an edge down to third man for 2, the next 2 balls just went for 1 and 4 was required from 2 balls. The second to last ball was carved down the ground for four and Farsley had won an enthralling game.

Farsley 162-8 (Uwais Mehmood 2/23, Christopher Doey 2/34, Jamie Allen 2/19)

A mix of bad batting and sloppy fielding yet again cost us in a game that as a team should be won and we need to bounce back. Next week against Bradford and Bingley is a must win game in order for the seconds not to be dragged into a real relegation battle.

Yeadon v Pudsey Congs

At White Swan Ground

Saturday July 4th, 2015

Match Report by Jacques Allen

On late Friday night after horrendous storms nobody expected to be playing on the Saturday with most people ready to accept 3 points for the rain affected draw. However on the Saturday it turned out to be blistering heat once again with Yeadon’s White Swan ground drying out superbly aided mainly by their new drainage system. With James Lindey-Dawe away Chris Doey was the captain and was looking for more of the same after his captaincy against Morley where Congs triumphed with ease.

Doey won the toss and elected to bowl on a slightly damp surface, Congs took to the field in hope of taking some early wickets and getting into Yeadon’s middle order early. Harris Mohammed and Jamie Allen opened up and bowled tight lines with very little run scoring balls being bowled but were both extremely unlucky with balls just missing the fielders and edges through the slip cordon occurring frequently. After 14 overs Yeadon were 41-0 and the captain turned to Adam Patrick who struck immediately in the first over with a great catch from Dissanayaka. From the other end Doey turned to the spinner Jacques Allen who also struck in his first over with another good catch this time from Elliot and in a flash Yeadon were 41-2. The dangerous Simpson entered for Yeadon and fell into Jacques Allen’s trap by him serving up a loopy wide one and then immediately next ball unveiling his faster ball for the first time in the match resulting in middle stump being knocked back. Patrick got another dangerous wicket of Heptinstall who was on the back of some good knocks, as Patrick served up a little out swinger met by a great diving catch from Holroyd behind the sticks. Tight bowling was consistently rewarded through the innings with Jacques Allen returning with a 5 wicket haul, however the fielding dropped off dramatically with singles being allowed in the ring and catches been shelled. Jamie Allen and Chris Doey both returned and both bowled well but were incredibly unlucky again with balls missing fielders by inches. Jamie was rewarded by getting the dangerous Pickering after he had scored a crucial 35 for his team. Yeadon ended their innings 170-8 off of 50 overs but Congs couldn’t help but feel disappointed with this after they had Yeadon on the ropes at 61-5 and 102-7. Fielding was poor and allowed Yeadon more than they should have scored but Congs still felt that it was an achievable target.

Jacques Allen 15/3/43/5 – Adam Patrick 11/3/28/2 – Jamie Allen 9/1/43/1

Congs knew that to chase this score on a mediocre wicket a solid start was essential but this was not to be as early wickets fell. Lahiru Dissanayaka and Aidan Holroyd (both openers) went early and Congs were 8-2 with 170 looking a barbaric task. Andre Stolatski and Tom Elliot both tried to steady the ship but both fell once more in quick succession with Congs being left 23-4. Zahid Mahmood and Jacques Allen both came to the crease with Jacques Allen hitting boundaries but falling at another key time after yet another poor shot. Chris Doey the captain was on the back of 32 not out the week before against Undercliffe and was looking for more of the same with Mahmood playing and outstanding anchoring role. Doey swept around a straight one and was soon followed back by a short innings from Uwais Mehmood and Adam Patrick. With the congs innings in tatters it was felt that the game was gone at 81-8. Jamie Allen and Zahid Mahmood played some brilliant shots and all of a sudden everybody began to believe again with Yeadon’s men panicking, Mahmood brought up an outstanding 50 and needed to push on. He did but swept around a straight one with it cannoning into his pad, the umpire gave it and left the players broken again. A brilliant 67 from Mahmood, with the rest of the boys having him to thank for it not being an embarrassing day. After 52 runs were piled on by Jamie Allen and Mahmood, Harris Mohammad was all that Congs had left, Jamie tried to take the initiative but was caught at long on and Congs had been bowled all out for 135. Overall it was a poor effort from all of the batters except from Zahid Mahmood and Jamie Allen losing a game where it should have been an easy chase.

Zahid Mahmood 67 Jamie Allen 20

Congs 2nd eleven need to bounce back next week against close rivals Farsley in a must win game making sure that fielding and batting is much improved.

Pudsey Congs v Undercliffe

At Strikes Britannia Ground

Saturday June 27th, 2015

Matchball Sponsor – Sheila Lindley-Dawe

Match Report by James Lindley-Dawe

 

On a lovely hot sunny day, Undercliffe won the toss and batted first. Congs opened with Jamie and Harris and both bowled economically. Wickets were hard to come by but congs bowled well and fielded with passion to keep the run rate down. Adam did a superb direct hit from the boundary to dismiss their opener for 79. As undercliffe tried to up the scoring in the later overs, Jamie struck with some accurate full bowling and gained a 3 wicket haul. Undercliffe ended on 207 for 6.

In reply congs started badly with Aidan losing his wicket in the first over. Arbaab and Larry batted  brilliantly together putting on over 100 and both of them getting 50s.  Arbaab fell for 71 with the score on 152 for 4. We then lost our next 3 wickets for only 2 runs although two of the wickets were very dubious lbws.

It was down to Chris and Jacques to rebuild the innings and their partnership of 45 won us the game. Chris ended up on 32*. 208 for 8. A very good 17 point win.

 

Crowther Cup 2nd Round

Shelley v Pudsey Congs 

At Westerley Lane

Sunday June 7th, 2015

Match Report by James Lindley-Dawe

 

Congs won the toss and batted first.

Congs started brightly but lost the wickets of Aidan, Arbaab and Tom cheaply. James and Lahira came together and started to play their shots and the runs came freely. Lahira fell for 79. With the overs running out, Congs tried to up the rate but it was only until Adam came to the wicket that the boundaries came with him slapping their spinner into the football pitch several times for 6! James ended up on 79 and Adam 43 with a good total of 256.

In reply congs got the openers cheaply but then #3 and #4 put on nearly a hundred runs together but with Jacques taking an incredible catch off his own bowling to break it, Congs then had the momentum to keep it tight and keep pushing the run rate up. In the end we bowled them out for 212. A fantastic performance in the field, a massive difference from yesterday! Jacques and Adam bowled brilliantly and Chris took care of the lower order batters!

Through to the semifinals!!

Pudsey Congs v New Farnley

At Strikes Britannia Ground

Saturday June 6th, 2015

Matchball Sponsor – Nova Coin

Match Report by James Lindley-Dawe

New Farnley won the toss and batted on a very nice flat wicket.

Chris took a wicket in his first over but New Farnley soon got off to a positive start. Some aggressive batting mixed with woeful fielding meant that congs struggled to stop the flow of runs. With a very strong platform NF batters had the luxury of being able to play their shots. With 240 on the board with 10 overs left it looked like we would be chasing over 300 but with some tight bowling at the death by Lahira and Chris, we managed to keep them to 283 for 6.

In reply Congs were watchful and fell well behind the run rate with only 18 on the board after 10 overs. James and Jacques came together and started bringing the attack to them but unfortunately it wasn’t enough, both scoring 34. Congs managed to get to 177 meaning that we got 3 batting points.

One of the worst fielding performances our team have done but with some stern words we are determined to put it right in the cup tomorrow.

 Hanging Heaton v Pudsey Congs

At Bennett Lane

Saturday May 30th, 2015

Match Report by James Lindley-Dawe

The home side Hanging Heaton won the toss and elected to bowl.

Congs batted strongly scoring at a good rate, Arbaab was the spine of the innings with a brilliant 96 with good support from Junaid and Jacques. Adam pinch hit at the end to give us a solid total of 222.

We started very strongly with the ball putting it in the right areas. Harris was economical and Doey looked dangerous. Heaton were 53 for 5 at drinks. Their lower order played some agricultural shots targeting the short straight boundary with 2 of them getting 50’s quickly. But with the dismissal of those, we wrapped up the innings for 196. Special mention to Jamie who got 5 for 41.

A very strong 19 point victory in a fiesty game gives us a lot of momentum for the big double weekend coming up!

Pudsey Congs v Pudsey St Lawrence

At Strikes Britannia Ground

Monday May 25th, 2015

Matchball Sponsor – Claire Emmett

Match Report by James Lindley-Dawe

Congs won the toss and elected to bat.

On a very hard flat wicket congs set about trying to build a big total, unfortunately due to some very accurate bowling we found ourselves 44 for 3. James and Arbaab battled away for a fifty run partnership and built the foundations for a big push in the final 10 overs. However with a flurry of wickets, we lost our final 6 wickets for only 16 runs. All out for 138 with a gutsy 60 from Arbaab.

PSL started positively in reply and luck was on their side as flashing drives went over and between fielders instead of finding the hand. Our bowlers toiled away but with far from enough runs on the board St Lawrence ran to victory with only 2 wickets down.  Very disappointing finish to the bank holiday weekend with the batters once again failing to make a real impact. With Hanging Heaton the opponents next weekend, we’ll be looking for more people to contribute runs if we hope to win it!

Keighley v Pudsey Congs

At Lawkholme Lane

Saturday May 23rd, 2015

Match Report by James Lindley-Dawe

Congs won the toss and chose to have a bowl on a green but used wicket.

Jamie and Chris started well putting it in good areas and getting it to nip around abit. Chris picked up 3 wickets and Jamie was unlucky having a thick inside edge go to Aidan but the umpire said not out. Adam and Jacques then took over and as Keighley tried to score runs, the wickets kept tumbling. Adam picked up 4 and Jacques 3. Keighley were bowled out for 73.

In reply Congs struggled to score runs and lost wickets through poor shots. Debutant Junaid was the pick of the batters with a well made 24. Adam and Jamie managed to get us to 73 with a last wicket stand of 12 but unfortunately couldn’t just get us over the line. 10 points for a tied game keeps us 7th in the league but the batters will have to have a long hard think about how we need to apply themselves before the big derby match against PSL on Monday.

Pudsey Congs v Lightcliffe

At Strikes Britannia Ground

Saturday May 16th, 2015

Matchball Sponsor – Moira Carr

Match report by James Lindley-Dawe

Lightcliffe won the toss and batted on what looked like a flat wicket.

Mustafa and Harris bowled well but Lightcliffe got off to a steady start. Paddy was as accurate as ever and built the pressure and the spin twins of Uwais and Jacques got the wickets tumbling with 3 apiece. Lightcliffe’s tail wagged and they posted 200 for 9.

In reply Congs lost early wickets stumbling to 34 for 3. Mustafa and James built a partnership of 143 and took the game away from lightcliffe with a good use of working the field for singles and 2s. Mustafa fell for 76 trying to finish the game quickly and after a couple of quick wickets, Congs knocked them off 6 down.

A great batting performance and with 3 wins in 3 Congs go into the bank holiday weekend full of confidence.

Bradford & Bingley v Pudsey Congs

At Wagon Lane

Saturday May 9th, 2015

Match Report by James Lindley-Dawe

After the torrential rainfall the night before getting a game on at all seemed doubtful, especially as the water had got under the covers but the B&B lads worked hard and we got a 24 over game going.

Congs won the toss and fielded. Another fine spell from Harris meant that we kept the runs down and Adam, Chris and Jamie all supported well. Special mention to Bilal who took 2 absolute blinding catches! B&B made a score of 98 for 6 mainly due the the 52* off their number 6.

Congs started strongly with Billy (Mubtada) coming back from injury opening the batting. He eventually fell for a hard hitting 59 with congs still needing 24 for victory. A few quick wickets got B&B excited but James and Uwais steered us over the line to victory 5 wickets down.

 

Good to get our first league win on the board. Now onto Methley tomorrow in the Crowther Cup Second Round.

 

Pudsey Congs v Farsley 

First Round

At Strikes Britannia Ground

Sunday May 3rd, 2015

Matchball Sponsor – Derrick Reason

Match report by James Lindley-Dawe

Another wet start to the day but special mention to the ever youthful Andre stolarski who coordinated the mop up efforts and meant that we could get a game on – 25 overs each.

Congs lost the toss and were put into bat on a damp wicket with overhead conditions favouring swing bowling. Congs’ innings never got going, a mixture of poor shots and them bowling in the right areas meant that we only managed 70 all out.

With the wicket drying out and the sun now shining we knew we had an uphill task but some brilliant bowling from Adam and Harris with the fielders backing them up we put the Farsley batters under immense pressure. Wickets were falling and the overs running out but with a few hefty blows from the Farsley lower order they made it home 6 wickets down.

 

Very disappointing result but we need to show a lot more with the bat over the coming weekends.

 Pudsey Congs v Yeadon

At Strikes Britannia Ground

Saturday April 25th, 2015

Match Report by James Lindley-Dawe

Yeadon won the toss and put Congs into bat on what proved to be a slow low deck. After losing early wickets for not many, Arbaab (67) and Jacques (18) batted very patiently and accumulated runs however both fell late on trying to up the run rate. Congs lower order collapsed leaving us all out for 124 off 46 overs.

A low total but very defendable on this wicket. Taking the pace off the ball was key. Harris and Adam bowled extremely well and we had Yeadon on the ropes at 44 for 4 but with Congs going in for the kill, the rain got slightly stronger and the umpires called an end to proceedings. Disappointing not to record our first league win of the season but with a double header against Farsley to look forward to, the lads can take a lot of confidence from the performance.

 

Crowther Cup 1st Round

Pudsey Congs v Scholes 

At Strikes Britannia Ground

Sunday April 19th, 2015

Match Report by Chris Doey

It was freezing cold and windy on the second day of the first weekend of the season. However, this did not affect the ‘road’ which had been produced by grounds man Graham Curtis. A pitch with a slightly green tinge was full of life and played brilliantly, it was bursting with joy for any batsman. So of course when JLD won the toss, he elected to bowl. This however did not turn out to be a bad decision as Congs were looking to right the wrongs of yesterday and turn over the visiting Scholes without too much hassle.

Opening up with Doey and Howe again the run rate in the first 10 overs was 3.5 with some good bowling and batting which was aided by a woeful wide bowled by Doey which was bowled towards a 4th/5th slip and made its way down to the boundary for 5 wides. Much better catching when the chances came and much of the same on the ground was the message of the day and this was the case when Adam Patrick snaffled a thick edge at backwards point from the bowling of Howe to get the Congs on the socreboard, this was nothing less than Shaun deserved as he was bowling quick, full and very good lines. Doey at the other end had found a chink in the armour of Scholes’ elder states man and was bowling short and quick into the body, striking him on several occasions. Finally he called for his helmet and this didn’t do much good as he was soon walking back, helmet in hand, as he was bowled by Doey. The first bowling change saw Howe come off for Patrick and he bowled extremely impressive lines, doing what he does but it seemed to be for little reward. On the other end Doey had bowled his 10 overs and was replaced by Harris’ Chicken Hut’ Mohammed who bowled an unbelievable spell seeing him take 5 wickets for not many in 6 overs. It must also be mentioned that his first wicket clean snapped middle stump about 1/5th of the way up (maybe some stumps that are of higher quality than a beach cricket set would come in handy for the coming weeks). Iceman Patrick finally claimed his deserved wicket tempting their batsman into a lofted drive which found the edge and looped up to JLD at deep gully. Soon after he was replaced by Liam/Noel (Uwais Mehmood) who was keen to add to his success of the previous day… it took only 4 balls before Scholes’ scorer and number 10 batsman tried to heave a ball to cow corner, only for it to make its way to the very tall but reliable Jamie Allen at mid on, despite JLD trying his upmost to steal the ball from Jamie’s grasp. A brilliant effort from the lads in the field and some quality fielding and bowling really changed the game and gave Congs the upper hand. Scholes 99 all out.

The message to Aidy and Bilal was to play each ball on its merit and bring the game home non down. This was going really well and both were batting with confidence and class until Bilal tried to muscle one over cover, he didn’t and it ended up being a very friendly catch. Enter the fray Arbaab, he joined Aidy and together they brought the game home with some quality shots all round the ground. There isn’t much to say about the batting. The lads worked very professionally to make sure they got the job done and gained quality time out in the middle.

The standard of opposition wasn’t as great as the game on Saturday, but the way the lads went about the job was second to none. Professionalism, quality and patience was key to the success of the lads and each player can come away from the weekend knowing they have in some way shape or form over the weekend been involved in some high quality cricket.

We march on in the Crowther Cup, Yeadon at home in the league next Saturday will present a very different challenge for the lads. Let’s take the attitude of this weekend forward.

Well done boys #WCAW

 Undercliffe v Pudsey Congs (Season Opener)

At Intake Road

Saturday April 18th, 2015

Match Report by Chris Doey

On a sunny but blowy afternoon in April the Congs 2XI opened up their season against the newly promoted Undercliffe CC. With several new recruits in the Congs line up, the lads were unsure just how well we would work together. It is safe to say there is no need to worry.

JLD lost the toss and Undercliffe elected to bat on a hard but slow wicket. The opening bowling was good from Doey and Howe, with Howe getting the early break through. The next two to have a go at breaking the strong Undercliffe defence were Harris and Paddy, who both bowled well but didn’t get much reward for their efforts. The captain then took to spin bowling, two new recruits Jaques Allen (newly promoted from 3XI) and Uwais Mehmood (who came from rivals Spen Vic, the less said about them the better!!!) This worked a treat as the run rate slowed and the wickets started to tumble with Congs getting on top. Both spinners picking up 2 wickets a piece and bowling very well against some aggressive batting. The last change the skipper made was to bring on another new promotion, Jamie Allen (Peter Crouch), to grab some late wickets whilst bringing the ever reliable Adam ‘Ice man’ Patrick back on from the other end to tie down the batsmen. Unfortunately this didn’t go to plan as the Undercliffe attack rode their luck being dropped on several occasions and hitting the ball hard. Over all the ground fielding and intensity was top class but catches win matches and failure to catch these chances could in turn lead to Congs walking away from the first game of the season with a loss. Undercliffe innings finished 204/6.

Two more new faces to the Congs line up, Aiden and Bilal, opened the batting and went at a very good tempo. Bilal went back to a ball which he should have gone forward to leaving his off stump rocking and this brought Arbaab to the crease. Some quality strokes and running between the wickets left Congs well ahead of the run rate and at drinks were 104/2 after Aiden was adjudged to be run out, I believe the technical phrase for how close the run out was is a ‘cats whisker’. Needing only 100 with Arbaab and JLD hitting the ball hard it looked like Congs would stroll to victory… 

 

***PLOT TWIST***

 

 JLD played all round a straight one which he misjudged and was left walking off after a well worked 30 some. Jaques Allen came and went without adding too many to the scorecard and this was in fact the story for the rest of the Congs line up. Not enough care was taken whilst batting and some below par bowling was getting the better of some shocking batting. Congs finally ended up 150 all out, quite embarrassing really after we were in a very strong position to go on and win the game.

The dropped catches and lack of care for wickets meant that Congs would be leaving Intake Road with 5 points and their thinking heads on before the game tomorrow in the Crowther Cup against Scholes.

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