Alwoodley fail to rain on Menston’s parade (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
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Alwoodley fail to rain on Menston’s parade
7:00pm Tuesday 19th June 2012 in Sport By Sports Desk
A groundsman works on the rain-sodden pitch at Larkfield Road but his efforts were in vain as Rawdon’s match with Pool was called off
Menston were the only side to win a match in the Aire-Wharfe League and with all their rivals having to settle for one point as the rain lashed down, they moved up to second in Division Three, six points behind Colton.
The soggy summer of 2012 has already seen more than twice as many matches lost as the whole of last season, and we are not even at the halfway point.
But Menston took full advantage, with John Storey (44), Kyle Smith (34) and Gareth Lee (33) leading the way in their 177 total.
Alwoodley proved much more resilient than their lowly position suggested but Lee (4-36), Storey (3-48) and Chris Baldwin (3-25) managed to bowl them out still 13 runs short of victory.
The only other game to reach a result was in Division One, where Otley took four points off Follifoot, largely thanks to their middle order batting.
In a match restricted to 42 overs per side, No 4 Stewart Smith (50) and No 5 Andrew Ross (46) turned round their innings with a stand of 79. Matt O’Grady came in and added a useful 15 while No 7 Richard Rhodes took them to 198-6 with an unbeaten 35.
Stewart Smith played an important part once again, catching Follifoot’s top scorer Jim Pickles (36) just as he seemed to be threatening, and Rhodes (3-31) helped restrict the visitors to 163-6.
Craig Walton hit three sixes and five fours in his 121 and shared a stand of 217 with Chris Luxton (83) as Steeton raced to 252-4 at Ben Rhydding. But the weather intervened with the home side on 7-0.
Thackley slumped from 35-1 to 46-6 but a late flourish from Mahir Ali (34) and Gavin Lyons (24) helped them set a target of 131. Collingham were definitely in the driving seat at 41 without loss when the sides were forced off.
Neil Davies (4-30) and Nick Brook (2-19) helped restrict Kirkstall to 102-7 off their 20 overs but Burley only managed 8-0 before they too gave way to the rain.
Only one match got underway in Division Two, leaders Green Lane setting a target of 206-7, with Andrew Pickles hitting a half century and Davin Charleston 39. But with six points beckoning, their bowlers never had the chance to attack the Upper Wharfedale batting.
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