Scorebox will aid Great Horton Church's Halifax League bid (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
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Scorebox will aid Great Horton Church's Halifax League bid
5:30pm Wednesday 13th February 2013 in Sport
By Bill Marshall, T&A Sports Reporter
Taj Butt, left, pictured with coach Shiv Krishan, England women's international Kathryn Leng and organiser Mahesh Patel at a Cricketing Masterclass at Challenge College, wants to see Great Horton Churxch in the Halifax League
Great Horton Church are confident that they can overcome their main drawback to a successful application to the Halifax League.
The league are very keen on clubs having a scorebox, but Great Horton Church’s secretary Taj Butt has found a way for his club to comply.
In making a presentation to the league’s monthly meeting at Pellon Social Club, he said: “This is something that we discussed at our annual meeting, and for the last five years our ground has been used by a Sunday League team.
“Rather than charging them rent, we have decided to ask them to help us build a scorebox as one of their members is a builder.
“We have also joined NatWest CricketForce for the first time so we can also get help from Jewson's Build Center, where you pay £100 to join their privilege account scheme and can use a £500 account in their Build Center stores.
“We cannot afford to stand still. We have also spent £2,500 on our drainage where the ground has become compacted.
“We got it vertidrained. We are also getting help from the Yorkshire Cricket Board Groundsmens’ Association, and hope eventually to get pipe drainage, which will cost £30,000.
“We are also getting some deep probe aeration from Premier Pitches of Sheffield, and hope eventually to buy our ground outright.”
Butt added: “We set up an under-12 team about eight or nine years ago and now we have eight teams from under-nines through to under-17s and have junior players in our first and second team.
“Thirtenn of our players last season in the two senior teams had come through our junior teams, and we are not only teaching juniors how to bat and bowl but also how to behave, which is fighting against the stereotype of inner-city youngsters.
“We also have two Level two coaches and hold three indoor net sessions at local sports centres, and we have regular club tours to play cricket - we have been to India, Dubai, Sri Lanka, the Isle of Man, Turkey and Italy.”
The Halifax League will make a decision on the applications of Allerton-based Great Horton Church and Craven League club Cullingworth for the 2014 season at their April meeting.
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