Clayton close on Halifax League Premier Division

Having earmarked a fixture with ‘meaning’ for each team, the final Saturday of my 2024 season found me at Clayton Cricket Club, west of – and high above – central Bradford.

Clayton were hosting Halifax League rivals Upper Hopton; a crunch instalment – “huge”, according to Clayton’s social media – in the Division One (i.e. second tier) championship title and promotion battles.

Before play, with three rounds of the season to be completed, Upper Hopton (180 points) were first (of eight teams), Clayton (169) second, and a still-in-contention Great Horton Park Chapel (161) third. Great Horton were playing at Mytholmroyd, fourth. The top two finishers will be promoted to the Halifax League’s Premier Division.

Come Saturday tea-time, none of the issues had been resolved. Clayton beat Upper Hopton, by 53 runs, to move to within two points of their visitors, while Great Horton Park Chapel thrashed Mytholmroyd, by 10 wickets, to remain eight adrift of Clayton.

None of the top three play each other over the division’s concluding rounds, scheduled for September 7 and 14.

Facing what appears to be the easier run-in, Upper Hopton have two home fixtures: Low Moor Holy Trinity (sixth) visit the Sutcliffe Memorial Ground followed by relegated Augustinians (eighth). In the league, the latter, based near Brighouse, have won twice.

Clayton travel to Blackley (fourth) before entertaining Mytholmroyd (who have dropped to fifth), with Great Horton Park Chapel hosting Greetland (seventh) then travelling to Blackley, who, clearly, have an important role to play in the season’s outcome.

Community at The Avenue

Clayton Cricket Club, established in 1952, describe themselves as “community focused”.

Running six teams – two Saturday seniors and four juniors – Clayton play at The Avenue (after an eponymous adjacent road), which is very much my kind of cricket ground. 

Compact and quirky, The Avenue, located at considerable altitude, is a southwest climb from the beating heart of what, I would suggest, remains a proper village.

To boot, from the north end boundary, there is a remarkable view, looking down into the glacial bowl containing the bulk of Bradford and across to the moors of the Aire Valley. 

The tower of Clayton’s St John’s Church provides a pleasing foreground. Far below, the 249ft landmark chimney of the converted former Lister (or Manningham) Mills, protected by Grade II* listing, stands proud above countless city centre rooftops.

On a day when patchy morning cloud rolled back steadily, revealing a gloriously sunny afternoon, both ground and view were seen at their best.

Clayton’s small pitch slopes down, from east to west, and features numerous little rises and falls. An Upper Hopton supporter likened its terrain to a golf green’s borrows.

Seen from the south end, where the pavilion is positioned, it seems as if the pitch rises, markedly. Having walked from south to north, during the tea interval, I’d say this is an optical illusion.

Not unlike the ground of Huddersfield League club Hoylandswaine, only the square – big enough for, maybe, four or five wickets – seems anything like absolutely level.

The single-storey, gabled pavilion, long and low, is neat and tidy. Interesting display of Clayton cricket-related newspaper cuttings in the bar/kitchen area.

Pre-match, mindful of windows at risk from straight hits, Clayton officials busied themselves, fixing nets to the pavilion’s veranda columns.

More than once, spectators sitting in front of the pavilion were forced to scurry for cover, as a smashed ball arrowed their way.

A recent addition to the Clayton scene, The Avenue Nursing Home, a vast, incongruously modern building, dwarfs the pavilion, from its rear.

Behind the nursing home’s north-facing, tinted windows, I fancied I spotted a few residents, possibly watching the cricket.

The Avenue’s east side is so tight for space, there isn’t room for spectator seats. A whitewashed, gritstone wall doubles as boundary and back garden perimeter of cottages lining Clayton Lane.

No room, either, for on-site parking. Mindful of my windscreen, I opted for the relative safety of Westminster Drive, a minute’s walk from the pedestrian-only, embowered ground entrance, on The Avenue, a residential street of attractive Edwardian semis.

Seeking shade

Most visitors preferred to park along The Avenue, to which, via a bench-topped grass bank, the ground descends, sharply, on its west side.

Seeking shade, I shoehorned myself into the ground’s southeast corner. Several fellow spectators, sunning themselves contentedly at the north end, commented how cold it was in my part of the ground. 

With an inescapable, chilly breeze sweeping the ground (thankfully, eventually, it dropped), I didn’t need telling! At times, I regretted a decision to wear shorts.

It was noticeable, from the trees and shrubs fringing the pitch, how summer is now giving way to autumn (and, I guess, cricket to football). All browning leaves and reddening berries. 

There was a minor panic in the minutes leading up to the game’s one o’clock start, because neither scorer’s device would provide access to digital scoring.

Later, I discovered it was a user-wide “major issue” with Play-Cricket Scorer.

In belt-and-braces fashion, however, each scorer had brought along a ‘book’, so we were good to go, on time.

A shame I was denied ‘live scoring’, which I feel really adds to a spectator’s enjoyment of a match – particularly the neutral.

During the tea interval, I had a peek in the empty scorebox, which occupies the ground’s northeast corner, next to a single permanent practice net. The two scorebooks were on the table. Filled in neatly, things of beauty!

Adding to the harassed scorers’ problems, the mechanisms in the scorebox, a delightfully traditional, manual ‘clunker’, were playing up a bit. 

In the end, the hard-pressed home scorer simply gave up: the Clayton total did not advance beyond 155!

Put in, Clayton laboured to 38-3. Top three, David Paynter (13), Scott Etherington (13) and Michael Nicholson (2), went cheaply as Upper Hopton set off brightly.

During a pregnant pause (apparently, a ‘comfort break’ for an umpire), early in the proceedings, I cast an eye over the memorial plaques on adjacent spectator benches.

One, remembered Ben Craig (1999-2016), who “left us before his time”.

Another, commemorated Dot (1933-2017) and Paul (1952-2020) Holdsworth.

Of Dot, the inscription read: “Your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure, you are loved beyond words, and missed beyond measure”.

Righting the ship, Clayton captain Connor Ambler (36, including nine fours), in at four, and No 5 Joe Brown (21), then featured in a fourth wicket partnership worth 49. 

No 6 Sam Wilson (34), who smashed three straight sixes, towards the pavilion, in a single, late innings over, helped boost Clayton’s total – 169-9 from a full 45 overs – beyond what appeared likely. Two wickets went down at the fateful 155. 

Upper Hopton’s left-arm pacer Charlie Wightman, held back until the closing stages, took 3-26 from seven, Charlie Gallagher 2-45 from 13.

Crashing boundaries all over the place, Upper Hopton launched their reply at a breakneck rate. No 2 Tom Wightman (27 off 27, including six fours) spearheaded the assault. 

After one error too many in the field, a concerned Clayton player called out: “Come on, lads, we’re better than this.”

So enthusiastically did a dark blue-capped team-mate respond, with several diving saves, close to the bat, he was hailed, by another, as “The Human Shield”.

Clayton’s collective effort paid off. From 37-1, Upper Hopton subsided to 75-6, before two wickets went down with their score on 90. The game, it seemed, was up.

Charging in from the ‘city’ end, Clayton pacer Mitesh Mistry impressed, finishing with 5-49 from 11. He removed all but one of the top six Upper Hopton batsmen. 

Left-arm spinner Andrew Deegan picked up 2-11 from six. Clayton could even afford two dropped catches. Sharp chances, mind. 

Upper Hopton were all out, for 116, well short of their target, in the 34th over. Twelve priceless match points to Clayton, three to the visitors.

I overheard, late in the afternoon, a Clayton fielder telling a spectator about his recent holiday in Turkey (“got back, Wednesday”), where temperatures peaked at 42 degrees.

From this Saturday, for a couple of weeks, I’ll have to make do with whatever weather the East Sussex coast throws at me.

If it stays dry, the last cricket of my season is likely to be on September 9, at Hove: the first day of a County Championship match between Division Two rivals Sussex, the leaders, and lower mid-table Glamorgan.

Winter well, everyone. We’ll meet again, I trust, in 2025!

Enjoyed the read?

You can check out other club visits by Andrew in his column, Miles Per Gallon.

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