Guiseley Jets take off against Crossflatts in three-way battle

It’s like someone has slammed their foot down on the brakes; with various leagues and cups coming to an abrupt conclusion at the very end of July and the first week into August.

Looking at Play-Cricket to work out any given day’s schedule has been a daunting task in May, June, and July…but as I perused the ‘today tab’ on the app this past week, the myriad of fixtures once promised each day has become a trickle in the middle of August.

As I looked at the various women and girls’ fixtures on Sunday, it was noticeable that many of the softball and junior leagues have been concluded, and the number of games in the leagues that are still playing have dropped considerably as well.

My criteria of trying to get to new grounds, grounds that I haven’t been to in quite a while, or teams that I haven’t covered before…is becoming increasingly difficult.

So, to see a fixture that allowed me to revisit a ground that I haven’t been to since before the interruption of the pandemic (remember that anyone?) and two teams I’ve not covered before…then I jumped at the chance.

Looking at the West Yorkshire Women & Girls Cricket League’s Division Two table, things are very close between all the teams, but with only two points for a win…that’s always to be expected.

I do believe there should be a better spread of points to allow the league to develop more depending on each team’s individual strength.

Guiseley and Crossflatts are joined by Menston 2nd XI, Burley-in-Wharfedale 1st XI and St. Chad’s Broomfield 2nd XI, making up a five-team league with Guiseley, Menston and Burley-in-Wharfedale all vying for that top spot. Menston and Burley were playing each other on Sunday…which gave Guiseley a great opportunity to steal a march [if they won] on one of the two by the close of play.

Sunday climate control

It was a really hot morning, and I was more than thankful to climb into the car and whack up (or should that be down???) the climate control to 15 degrees and enjoy the icy-cold air emanating from the various vents around the car’s cockpit.

The 25-minute drive was an uneventful and wonderfully chilled affair. Arriving at the ground, I wondered if I would be able to get parking in the car park, and much to my surprise, I did!

As I sat overlooking the oval, I wondered if I could take photos from the car and enjoy the air con throughout the game…reluctantly, I decided against the lazy option and headed out into the hot midday sun.

Quick introductions done – including a few moments chatting to Crossflatt’s Charlotte Boulton, I left the players warming up [ironic given the weather] and fetched my things from the boot of the car.

Hat firmly on head, camera in hand, and a stool to sit on around the boundary…I wandered towards the centre.

It’s been a while since I’ve been at this particular ground, 2019 to be exact, when I was there a few times to cover games for both the cricket and football clubs. I’ve always been impressed by the set-up of both…well thought out and presented grounds.

The cricket club has a great pavilion which has changing rooms at each end of the building separated by a well-stocked bar, and features a patio running across the front offering a great view of play.

It’s a big ground with a well-defined boundary made up mostly of solid stone walls and a few trees. The playing surface is superb – but as with almost all clubs in the area, baked hard and in desperate need of some rain.

A final game for some

With us reaching essentially the middle of August, some leagues that are still playing are only one or two games away from their conclusions, and this is the case with Division Two.

In fact, this was Crossflatts last game of the season and Guiseley’s penultimate one.

The home team won the toss and decided to put Crossflatts into bat first. The visitors were to get off to a good start, scoring eight runs in the first over before settling into a good early batting rhythm.

It looked like it was going to be a hard and hot day in the field for the fielders…I’ll be totally honest, I was glad that I wasn’t having to even walk that much as it was so hot!

It took until the tenth over for Guiseley to get any success…with the last two balls of the over picking up the wickets of Easha Chotal (18 from 31 deliveries) and her replacement Millie Stephens. Three balls later (in the 11th over) and opener Betsy Wilkinson (25 from 32)) was walking back to the pavilion and Guiseley were in the ascendency.

From looking comfortable at bat, Crossflatts were now seemingly struggling to cope with Guiseley’s bowling, and the run rate fell. Another wicket fell in the 12th over, before Amelia Hird and Heidi Rae Bailey started a spirited fightback…but that was to be broken four overs later.

Wickets in the 15th and 16th over saw the visitors now struggling to score more than one run an over and by the time the last wicket fell with the last ball of the 19th over, Crossflatts had scored 78 all out.

It had been a good innings of cricket with some fantastic shots played to score boundaries in the intense heat, but the score did look probably around 20 runs short of where they would want to be.

Guiseley’s reply seemed to be announced by a superb four scored with the second ball of the innings…but Easha Chotal’s superb delivery skittled Jen Haigh and the home team found themselves four for one at the end of the first over.

More was to come in the second as captain Sarah Hamilton was dismissed…were Guiseley about to be turned over? Five for two at the end of the second! Guiseley knew they had a game on!

Emily Trees and Lucy Yeates now were tasked with steadying the ship…and that’s exactly what they did. Over the next 11 overs, they first defended and then attacked the Crossflatts’ bowlers, adding runs and building the run rate to chase down their opponent’s total.

A huge seventh and eighth over saw Guiseley score 12 runs in each, following them up with nine in the ninth. 13 runs in the tenth was certainly unlucky for Crossflatts as that pushed the home team to the brink of victory, and just over two overs later, they hit the winning boundary take the game by five wickets.

Out of the sun; Into the limelight

The two points earned for the victory, combined with Menston beating Burley-in-Wharfedale by four wickets, meant that Guiseley sat proudly at the top of the table on Sunday evening.

With one game remaining, Guiseley, Menston and Burley-in-Wharfedale all have ten points, with Guiseley sitting top due to a significantly better run to wicket differential.

With Guiseley’s next game on Wednesday 20 August (6pm start) being against bottom of the table St. Chad’s Broomfield at Nethermoor Park, and rather coincidentally, the return fixture between Menston and Burley-in-Wharfedale having been played on Wednesday 13 August (in the past if you are reading this on the day of publication)…the favourite to collect the title will be Guiseley.

But as we know, none of the teams can take anything for granted. A loss for Guiseley and a win for third placed Burley-in-Wharfedale could see them lift the title…it is that close!

Thankful for getting back into the car, I drove home enjoying the cold air blowing and thinking about the really competitive game I had just watched. Guiseley had deservedly won the game, but again early wickets had cast some doubts in the home team’s minds and there had been some great individual performances in both teams.

I’ve said this earlier on in the season, and at the risk of repeating myself word-for-word…the standard of the cricket being played in the women and girls’ leagues has risen massively over the last few seasons.

Clubs are now building teams that have real talent in them, demonstrating a growing in-game savvy as to how to win games from difficult or adverse situations, and providing the county with greater options to select players at all ages. Continued investment in the game at this level is essential…as there is a huge legacy building right now.

I’ve enjoyed covering the various leagues over this season, as I can see stars of the future developing. From women and girls playing in the West Yorkshire Women and Girls and the Yorkshire Premier Leagues…and also taking part in what has been predominantly men’s only senior leagues…there are large number of female players that are saying [deservedly so] that this is their game too!

📸 PHOTOS

Want to read more?

Here are all of Mark’s articles and photos on Cricket Yorkshire.

To see more of his photography, you can visit caughtlight.com or he’s @caughtlight on Twitter/X.

There’s also the Caught Light Photography Facebook page.

I also highly recommend his blog called Leica Moments which includes days out at grounds around Yorkshire.