Bradford Junior League facing delayed start to season

The 2024 campaign was due to begin on Thursday, May 9, but, depending on how much rains falls in the meantime, it may be necessary to delay the first matches until Thursday, May 16.

If that is the case, it is not known how many of the fixtures will be re-arranged as it will be a matter of fitting them into an already-crowded schedule.

At the league’s pre-season meeting at Cleckheaton Sports Club, league chairman Dax Sowrey said: “A lot of senior leagues have already postponed or cancelled matches because the groundsmen haven’t been able to get onto the grounds to cut the outfields.

There have been no Bradford Premier League games yet this season, so it is no surprise that the Bradford Junior League is expecting delays too. (Image: Ray Spencer.)

“The feedback (from our clubs) is about 50-50 as to whether they reckon they can play from May 9 onwards.

“Some clubs are two months behind with their pre-season groundwork, but by May 3 we will have a better idea of where we are at.”

For example, Cleckheaton’s groundsman Keith Johnstone said: “We only got a mower on to the outfield for the first time on April 20 and we should have done that six weeks beforehand.

“The outfield is like a (wet) sponge and there is nowhere for the water to go as the ground is already saturated.”

League treasurer Phil Radcliffe added: “We want to play cricket as soon as we are able, but don’t just want to play for the sake of it. It needs to be safe for the kids.

“Matches can be re-arranged as per rule but if they are postponed on May 9 then they need to be re-arranged for on or before May 23.”

Meanwhile, Sowrey has overseen Pudsey St Lawrence come back into the Junior League fold and he also welcomed newcomers Crossbank Methodists.

He also thanked Media & MGMT Ltd for their continued sponsorship of the league and said that there would be three geographically-based roadshows at which the league’s backers would explain how they can help clubs.

Media & MGMT Ltd will also be supplying training tops and tracksuit bottoms for the league’s representative teams and providing each club with six cricket balls, be they for the Under-11s and Under-13s or just for the U11s or U13s.

Radcliffe added that the league were buying six incrediballs for each club for use in the younger age-group matches.

The dates of the cup finals were also announced, with the U9s and U11s taking place on Sunday, August 18 at the same venue, the U13s on Sunday, August 25 and the U15s on August 26 (Bank Holiday Monday), with venues being decided later in the season.

All of the representative teams have already held indoor nets, with Sowrey saying: “They have gone really well.

He also said that “the coaches were rather surprised at the quality of players”, hinting that some of the newer youngsters will have pushed their way into the reckoning.