Binns blasts ton to give Craven League champions Haworth big finish (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Gary Binns blasts ton to give Craven League champions Haworth big finish

3:36pm Tuesday 18th September 2012 in Sport By Trevor Coe

Gary Binns blasted an unbeaten 114 as Haworth celebrated being presented with the Craven & District League champions’ trophy before their final match with a big win at Bradley .

The end of a soggy season – of 1,320 games scheduled, 429 (32.5 per cent) were abandoned – was at least played in sunshine and Haworth concluded their Division One campaign in style.

They altered their batting order but it made little difference as Binns clobbered ten sixes and 11 fours to help his side declare on 227-6. Bradley were all out for 143 in reply as Jamie Rowell took 4-8.

Crossflatts finished runners-up, five points adrift, after hammering a Thornton side who could muster just 79 (Jimmy O’Hara 5-25) in reply to 228-9.

Amer Ayub (74) and Cammy Ayub (59) defied Mark Paxton (5-60) in the Crossflatts innings and only the defiance of ninth-wicket pair Jack Laycock (22) and Dave Scothern (16no) rescued Thornton from complete humiliation.

Third-placed Haworth Road saw off Embsay by 54 runs as Inayatt Ullah picked up 6-29. The Shires Laners stumbled to 77 all out in reply to Road’s modest 131 (Scott Robinson 4-10).

Fourth place went to Oakworth after a dramatic one-wicket victory over visiting Barrowford, who recovered from 29-5 to reach 201 thanks to Ajmal Choudrhy (106) and Nick Burton (56).

The reached 170-9 in reply on the back of a fine knock of 61 by Robert Hollingsworth before Paul Spragg (33no) and Adam Smith (20no) completed a tense run chase.

The two relegated sides both enjoyed comfortable victories to end on a positive note.

Alan Broadley’s 107 helped Ingrow to 208-3 and Bingley Congs could only reach 145 (Ian Roberts 4-41, Jake Hoyle 4-62).

Airedale rattled up 194-8 at home to Cullingworth before A Mahmood (5-26) had the visitors back in the hut for 133.

Division Two champions Foulridge were in fine fettle as they crushed Cowling , who were all out for a miserable 64 (John Lambert 4-40) replying to 185-8 (Steve Richardson 4-89).

Runners-up Ingrow St John’s piled up a superb 311-7 (Dissayanika Deepal 114) at home to Pendle Forest, who were then skittled for 54 by Nadeem Saftar (6-9).

Third-placed Oakworth Seconds (180) rounded off a terrific season with a 33-run win against Sutton , who reached 147-8 as skipper Si Doane wound up his Craven League career with 71 not out.

Wilsden ’s four-wicket victory over Cononley condemned them to relegation. The South Craveners made a gallant 160-9 (Andrew Starkey 66no) but Dave Henson (59) led Wilsden home.

Long Lee’s players must have been nervous about going to Riddlesden knowing that if they lost they were vulnerable until the Cononley result was known.

And it was a good job their rivals did lose as they could only scrape together 139 (M Zulfiqar 5-40) in response to their hosts’ 187-9.

Joining Cononley in the lower division will be Sandy Lane , despite their two-wicket closing victory over Glusburn (145-7). Nick Williamson (46 and 4-49) starred for Glusburn but A Blackburn’s 89 swung the game to the visitors.

Four teams were in with a shout of promotion from Division Three but in the end it went with form as Barrowford Seconds and Denholme won while Haworth WE and Embsay Seconds fell at the final hurdle.

Champions Barrowford Seconds were at home to Ingrow St John’s and restricted them to 140-9 in their innings. Ali Raza top scored with 30 as Jahangir Babar claimed 4-57 and Jonny Ormerod 3-28.

The Bull Holme side, after a bright start, saw nerves creep in and they crossed the line with seven wickets down. W Ali made 63 and Ormerod 32.

Denholme were at Embsay Seconds and, going first, made 167, Adam Taylor leading the way with 88 as Jonathan Coward took 4-13.

The Shires Lane reply was going reasonably when Coward, on 22, top-edged the ball into his face. His departure from the field seemed to knock the stuffing out of his side and they closed on 120. Earlier, 15-year-old Morgan Davies had made 36 as Neil Spencer took 4-24.

Haworth WE were at Chatburn and saw the Ribble Valley side make 170-9 in their overs, John Reynolds making 37 and James Price 35 as Ollie Palmer took 3-18. The Penistone Park side were never in the hunt and subsided to 113 as Reynolds took 4-20.

Bottom side Cullingworth Seconds’ season was summed up when visiting Gargrave blasted 267-8. John Beckwith (68) and Ted Wilman (43) put on 110 for the first wicket, then Will Smith entered the fray with 70 and R Taylor made 37 as Martin Rendell and Russell Hogg took four wickets each.

The Roydwood Terrace side also had a 120 opening stand by D Outlaw 57 and M Walker 57 before struggling to 148-7 at the end of their overs as Smith took 3-22.

There was no play at Skipton CI or Eldwick & Gilstead due to soggy ground conditions.

In Divison Four , Bradford & Bingley Thirds held their nerve to secure back-to-back promotions with a seven-wicket win against Bradley Seconds.

Neil Lambert’s 42 led visitors Bradley to a modest 95 as Neil Smith took 6-59 and skipper Dave Critchlow 3-0 off 4.2 overs, before the home side cruised home in the 28th over.

Champions Wilsden Seconds bowed out on a low note as they went down by 42 runs at Haworth Seconds.

The Bronte side’s innings was somewhat unusual in that the first wicket put on 196 then the next nine managed on 30. Adie Ratcliffe 112 and Ben Bright 79 were the stars of the innings as Shahid Mahmood claimed 7-42 off 11 overs.

Jason Bland 52no and Joe Jagger 38 were the main contributors to the Windy Grove side’s 184-7 as seasoned campaigner Derek Bright finished with 4-22.

Riddlesden Seconds, the only side who could have prevented Bradford & Bingley from going up, had a ding dong battle at Sandy Lane Seconds.

The Greenwood Park side had M Rana’s 40 not out to mainly thank for their score of 86-9. The Grange Road side also struggled and got home by just one wicket as M Iqbal took 5-33.

That defeat for Sandy Lane condemned them to relegation. Joining them in Division Five will be Cononley Seconds, who lost by 163 runs at home to Airedale Seconds.

The Keighley side rattled up 223-8, with Nick Ahad making 50, Paul Feather 43, Trevor Cox 42 not out and S Hunter 42.

The homesters were brushed aside and soon found themselves 20-7 before a bit of tail-wagging got them to 60. Pete Nelson top-scored with 20 as Giles Wilmore took 5-24 and Jason Ahad 3-15.

The defeat of Sandy Lane meant survival for Glusburn Seconds, despite them losing at Bingley Congs by five wickets.

Long Lee Seconds entertained Ingrow Seconds and went down by two wickets.

Pendle Forest Seconds, champions of Division Five , finished off their season with a comfortable 58-run victory over Chatburn Seconds at Fence.

The home side made 124-6, with A Ali scoring 53 and T Bailey taking 3-33. The Ribble Valley outfit were knocked over for 66 as A Ahmed took 5-13 and Tahir Zaman 4-37.

Thornton Seconds clinched the second promotion spot as they saw off seven-man Sutton Seconds by ten wickets.

There was an outstanding performance for Haworth WE Seconds in their 115-run victory over Oakworth Thirds at Penistone Park.

Charlie Shimmin top-scored with 53, to go with A Hallas’ 40, as they scored 176-9. Shimmin followed this with a fine spell of bowling to take 6-5 off six overs to help the visitors back to the hut for just 61.

Cowling Seconds rounded off their season with a 131-run win over Skipton CI, which was a big disappointment for Mel Mason in his last game after a long illustrious career for CI. Ben Davy 40, Zahid Shafait 6-22 and Matty Bygrave 4-17 were the stars for the winners.

Foulridge Seconds won by 32 runs at Denholme Seconds and Eldwick & Gilstead Seconds beat Gargrave Seconds by 108 runs at Skipton Road.