Premier League captaincy: New Farnley’s Aidan Langley

New Farnley 1st XI captain Aidan Langley is discussing a rare defeat in the Bradford Premier League. It was an early blip; a full stop after 12 months of flowing prose.

Having taken over across formats this season from Alex Lilley, after a phenomenal 2025 where they lost just once in all competitions, it’s been a stop-start campaign.

“We got beaten by Bingley in the first couple of weeks which was good for us in a way. It gave us a bit of a kick to say it’s not going to be all smooth sailing but we’ve got a really strong team. We want to be challenging for everything again.”

I’m curious what the reaction in the squad was to the five-wicket defeat, orchestrated by Joe Pyrah’s 102 not out, along with the mindset to reset and go again.

Aidan said: “In the dressing room, obviously there’s disappointment. We go into every game expecting to win but we’ve been beaten by someone who’s batted really well – so you kind of take it. People are allowed to play well against us.”

He added: “You move on… it fires you up…it’s that realisation that this does hurt when you get beat and we want to avoid that as much as we can!”

There are many ways to lead. A comforting arm round the shoulder, the hairdryer treatment or a rousing speech. Captains might find themselves needing to employ a bit of everything at one point or another.

Langley describes himself as a laid-back captain: “You won’t catch me shouting… I’ve got a lot of players I can lean on in the group. We come to a common understanding of what the right options are at different moments in a game.”

He added: “I think the best approach is to take a bit of a relaxed approach, get everyone enjoying the cricket. If you’re enjoying your cricket, you’re going to get the best out of yourself. But that’s not to say that if anyone’s stepping out of line, they won’t get told!”

That pragmatic way has been needed as rain-affected abandonments have dogged the champions with Pudsey St Lawrence (80), Woodlands (73) and Bradford & Bingley (66), ahead of New Farnley (61) in the ECB Premier Division.

There are many twists to come though, not least with the promise of sunshine and the visit of Woodlands to Lawns Lane on Saturday.

While a loss at their Barry Jackson Ground tends to raise eyebrows for New Farnley’s first team, they passed another recent test in the ECB National Club Championship against Hoylandswaine.

The 10-run victory at home against the Huddersfield Premier League champions ensured a Round 2 away tie at Driffield Town on Sunday 31 May. Langley reckoned it was another confidence boost:

“Hoylandswaine are an unbelievable team. Some of the names they’ve got playing for them are serious players. To get a win like that…if we can beat that team, we know we can beat anyone.”

Such is the talent in Yorkshire’s ECB Premier Leagues at the top that a number of clubs are capable of beating each other across a season. As with 2025, New Farnley’s challenge across multiple fronts will rest on those twin pillars of fitness and form.

Their 1st XI have the Bradford Premier League, the Priestley Cup, the Bentley Blast T20, the Heavy Woollen Cup and the ECB National Club Championship to negotiate.

Managing workloads and ambitions (defending a number of those mentioned as current champions) means boxing clever. For Langley, it’s a chance to see emerging talent and ask fringe players to show what they can do:

“We’ve got a core group in the second team that jump up and down (between squads). Max Chaplin, who got 90-odd on Saturday for us, Johnny Phillips, Taylor Robinson, Sam Barraclough and Subhaan (Ali). Because we’re playing in so many competitions, it’s going to end up that those guys that are in between squads hopefully get a bit of exposure.”

They need only look at their skipper who began in the under-15s, progressed into the seconds and has since stepped up to lead the firsts, having auditioned for the role as winning captain in the National Vitality Club T20 Cup.

📸 As ever, thanks to Ray Spencer for his photos and you can check out the latest news, interviews and Ray’s galleries on the Bentley Drains Bradford Premier Cricket League website.

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