Bradford League: Misfits and house martins at Wagon Lane

It’s funny how you can re-visit something familiar with fresh eyes and see it in an entirely different light.

On Saturday, I opted to visit the closest club to Cricket Yorkshire HQ and headed to Wagon Lane; home to Bradford & Bingley Cricket Club.

I do dip in from time to time but despite its convenience, I’m often off gallivanting across Yorkshire so it had been quite a while since heading down.

After weeks of village cricket at Glasshouses, Stainland and Crakehall, it was time for some sleeves-rolled-up, no-nonsense, Premier League cricket.

On arrival, it was warm and sunny, after a pleasant, dry morning in the garden (all of which was unpredicted by the weather apps I occasionally trust for guidance).

Not for the first time, I turned up to the cricket in a jumper where everyone else seemed to have got the memo and were in t-shirts.

Spinner Reece Cockshott, who claimed the Bradford League’s Young Spinner of the Year Award in 2023, was bowling a few on the outfield. Ed Brown, Bradford & Bingley’s captain, came over to have a chat as we did a lap.

The ground, prone to ridiculously heavy flooding, was in good nick albeit with evidence of the biblical midweek deluge that had hit Bingley. A mini-lake had formed beyond the playing surface, to the right of the scoreboard, where geese were waddling about and having a drink.

Bradford & Bingley are a young side who surprised a few in defeating Woodlands, today’s visitors, to lift the Priestley Cup last August by six wickets at Pudsey Congs.

Their 2024 league form is a little more wayward with two wins from four before Woodlands, defending champions going for their fifth successive Bradford Premier League title, came to Wagon Lane.

It reads: Edged Undercliffe, big win at Pudsey Congs, comfortably beaten by Townville then a narrow defeat to New Farnley.

We take a pew on the long row of benches that line this side of the ground, with the long white building of the indoor nets and The Cricket School shop to our backs.

I’m barely limbering up with the podcast episode when a drummer starts their routine in the rugby club. I’d forgotten the mini music festival over the weekend, replacing the Challenge Festival earmarked for Myrtle Park that got cancelled.

Occasionally, a car creeps by to add some background ambience to this latest episode for Spotify but we persevere. I like recording outside because you pick up birdsong, the sound of cricket and the occasional deep growl of a bass track from inside a Porsche.

Ed tells me that his side has been labelled misfits and they’re comfortable with the tag; picking up players that can’t necessarily fit into first elevens elsewhere but have plenty to offer.

The game gets underway during the interview and immediately there’s trouble. The home side’s Jacob Slater shoulders arms to the third ball of the match from Muhammad Bilal (above) and stumps get uprooted.

We talk about overseas players and the impact that former Australia Under-19 batter Corey Miller had at Wagon Lane over two seasons; culminating in 55 in the Priestley Cup to win the man-of-the-match award.

This season, they have Louren Steenkamp who has already hit two hundreds and shown what he’s about. Though if Bradford & Bingley are to kick on and recapture their form, they’ll need consistent runs from across their top six.

There’s a Yorkshire County Cricket Club pedigree to Bradford & Bingley with Harry Brook having had a short stint here (“Didn’t score many, tried to whack everything!”) and Will Luxton turning out this season, when not required to bat for the county side.

The cricket club is evolving and trying to add to the offering here. The ground has hosted showpiece finals for years, courtesy of its floodlights, parking, indoor and outdoor nets and playing surface.

I didn’t know they served teas to spectators at Bradford & Bingley until the club entered my Cricket Yorkshire Tea of the Year (ahem, anyone can nominate a club before the end of June 2024 deadline!)

In other news, the Luxtons made a fine tea at @Brad_BingleyCC. I did my due diligence. Very well looked after.
Don't forget to enter our competition: https://t.co/SYokUROF1P pic.twitter.com/t1Aug9AfE9
— Cricket Yorkshire (@cricketyorks) May 25, 2024

There’s now a licensed bar and live streaming with FrogBox while on the field, a new women’s team have two wins from two in Bradford Division B of the West Yorkshire Women and Girls Cricket League.

It’s a softball development league for those who’ve never played before, are returning to the game or just like this format and standard. I am continually impressed with the way that league is growing but also offers something for cricketers of all standards.

Back to the Bradford Premier League; I sit for a spell on the fold-down seats outside the pavilion, to catch a few overs but also marvel at the house martins swooping in numbers and returning to roost in the eaves.

I routinely – and lazily – refer to most acrobatic birds at cricket grounds as swifts when they are often swallows or house martins. Identification can be tricky but here, the locals are not timid and in decent numbers to spot white bellies and short tails.

I am a restless visitor; partly because I like to photograph from every angle and partly because to sit in one place is to miss out on many conversations and chance encounters.

A subsequent lap leads to a natter with Joe Pyrah’s parents. Top-order batter Joe is a winter signing from New Farnley; the teen has proved his match-winning potential with weight of runs at the Heavy Woollen Cup holders but hopes to kick on at his new home.

The immediate focus is juggling A-Levels exams with the Bradford Premier League; a discussion of Joe doing A-Level English prompts a shuddering memory of my own battles with John Milton and Paradise Lost.

Strangely enough, deciphering lines of an epic poem (epic in length at 1,000 lines) written in the 1600s didn’t massively help forge my career in cricket journalism.

I recall my report card stating, with a degree of exasperation, that “if John showed half the dedication to his studies that he does in the cricket nets, he’d do much better!”

Unfortunately, Joe is dismissed as his parents look on, nicking off against Bilal who finishes with 3-36. Woodlands have been dogged in line and a persistent threat with Thomas Clee a muscular allrounder who bowls with pace; Clee dismisses Louren Steenkamp cheaply en route to 2-25 off 15 overs.

From 52-5, Bradford & Bingley rebuild somewhat with Brown (32, above) and Wade (33) but you can’t keep Brad Schmulian out of the game and his leg-breaks pick up 4-45.

During his rearguard, Brown has an equipment malfunction when his Kookaburra bat snaps at the handle, prompting a change and a bemused look.

On my tour of Wagon Lane, it’s satisfying to bump into those I’ve not seen for years. Chris Brice, now coaching Northern Diamonds but still signed on at Woodlands, Amar Rashid of the Adil Rashid Cricket Academy and Reg Nelson, writer and historian of the Bradford League.

With the innings break beckoning, it’s time to get a brew and explore the cricket teas. Spoiler alert, they are excellent.

The Luxton family’s generous teas are well-known at the club and in the league; anywhere that I can stuff curly fries, a mini sausage in a Yorkshire pud and a slab of Victoria sponge onto one plate is always going to be chalked off as a win.

A score of 142-9 off 50 overs is low at a ground that is traditionally a harder, bouncier surface with good value for batting. Yet, factor in the context of all that rain and you just never know.

Will it be enough? The hosts need early wickets and Jack Luxton accounts for Sam Frankland second ball before the key wicket of Brad Schmulian (18) by Reece Cockshott elicits whoops of delight.

Flickering hope is extinguished by a ruthless Woodlands outfit who have gotten used to winning from all positions. The best sides tend to have different headline-grabbing heroes over the course of a long season.

Today, it’s Thomas Clee with 50 not out to usher in a comfortable seven-wicket win as the visitors reach 146-3 off 47.1 overs. Cockshott finishes with 2-30 off his 15 overs; an entertaining tussle before the champions closed the door emphatically.

On this performance, Woodlands look in ominous form and have built up a lead already. Their main challenges may well come from fixture congestion or injuries. (As I write this, New Farnley have lost to Jer Lane and will miss skipper Alex Lilley’s runs and wickets after an achilles problem.)

There will be many twists and turns in the Bradford League no doubt. Woodlands will expect to win in league and cups. Balancing domestic and national commitments will be intriguing. It’s in the ECB National Club Championship where Woodlands, and other Yorkshire clubs, will feel they have a gap in their CV.

As for Bradford & Bingley, with June beckoning they are some way down the pack and have to regroup. After finishing seventh, fifth and eighth in the last three years, the hope will be to get something going in 2024.

Before the close, I have scooted off home to defrost after the weather flipped dramatically from balmy to baltic. It is a precursor to a dramatic thunderstorm on Sunday. As I watch a punishing wall of hail rattle our car, a thought strays to Neil Hartley and what state the Wagon Lane ground will be in.

All in all, a very enjoyable afternoon; combining hard league cricket in the middle and a friendly welcome off it.

On the Bank Holiday Monday, Woodlands’ game with Cleckheaton was abandoned without a ball being bowled while Jer Lane defeated Bradford & Bingley to go top.

PODCAST EPISODE 🎙️

To listen to my interview with Bradford & Bingley captain Ed Brown, as well as my observations on the day, click the episode below.

Subscribe to The Cricket Yorkshire Podcast for more travels and interviews from around Yorkshire.
Available on Spotify, Apple and other platforms.

MATCH PHOTOS 📸

Check out these match photos, taken when not nursing mugs of tea to revive the circulation.

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