It was day one of the meteorological summer, the weather apps gave 100% chance of rain all afternoon and evening, there was 0% chance these two games would be on. So, of course, the rain never came, the games were on and it was a night when Lightcliffe’s U11s bowling line-up was, thankfully, far more accurate than the weather forecasters.

We start at Brighouse Sports Club where it was the U11 Development side, including Albie making his competitive debut at this level, who lined up against Brighouse’s U11s.

They won the toss, decided to get some runs on the board and set about their task. First up, the every reliable pair of Hugo and Jacob who started well adding runs and not losing runs through wickets. Albie and Ethan next at the crease facing some good balls, followed by Dougie and George who kept the score ticking up with a brilliant boundary for the young Master Landin. Jack and Harry were the closers, and they managed to get the runs scores column to 89 with just 4 wickets lost across the innings. A solid 269 net score to defend.

In a format where wickets are crucial, when a team loses 13 then it’s going to be almost impossible to win. And so it proved as a steady stream of good balls and decent fielding meant that every time the home side managed to add runs, they were pegged back. A wicket in the first off Hugo’s tight bowling was followed by a truly impressive 4-4 from 3 overs from Dougie, 3-20 from 3 for Albie, 2-13 from 2 for Harry and 1-7 from 2 for Jacob. Miserly bowling from George and Ethan completed a fine performance with top work behind the stumps from Jack.

Brighouse’s net score was 214 as they fell 55 runs short of the visitors total, securing the win for the young Villagers.

The scale of victory was even stronger at Thornton as Lightcliffe continued to be unbeaten in the Halifax Junior Cricket U11A League. They top the table with five wins from five games, and the latest four points were secured with a strong 107 run win on the hills above Bradford.

The visitors had the chance to put runs on the board and openers Henry and Dom set about the task quickly and by the end of their four overs, 47 runs had been added with no wickets lost – 13 to Dom, 26 to Henry including a run five thanks to some enthusiastic but less than accurate fielding. George and Joey kept their wickets and kept the scorecard ticking upwards while Jack and Rafferty scored but also lost a couple of wickets during their innings. Ollie and Max completed the 16 overs and although there were another couple of wickets lost, they added 41 to make it 151 runs scored – a net score of 331.

In reply, Thornton’s inexperienced U11s battled hard and should be really proud of their performance, their futures are bright even if it was a challenging night for them. 9 wickets fell during the course of the innings – 3-5 for George, 2-1 for Dom and 1 each for Jack (1-5), Ollie (1-1), Max (1-11) and Joey (1-10). Mention has to go to Max’s one handed grab off Dom’s bowling – the sort of take you never live down if you miss, but you never forget if you make. And, of course, the ever-impressive Henry’s fast hands behind the stumps proving the old adage that the best keepers are the ones you don’t notice going about their work.

The evening ended with just an odd shower having fallen, a good night of cricket had by all, and a win for Lightcliffe.

As ever, thanks to those who cheered on all the players from Lightcliffe, Brighouse and Thornton through the fixtures, to James and Gaz for running the matches, our scorers and support crew of parents and grandparents.