The Kev Mcdermott Show!
Well, up until around 6pm on Saturday, this page was going to look very different! I'd already started to put an article together, choosing which picture to use etc etc- then I looked at the first team score card and realised that Kev's achievements would reduce mine to a mere footnote! However, I'm more than happy to play second fiddle to a man who has joined what I would imagine to be a very small group of people who have scored 150+ and taken 4 wickets in the same Bradford League 1st XI game.
Our first team passed their entire score from the previous weekend after around the first 90 minutes of their game against an opposition who most would expect to be pushing for promotion this year. Along with Kev's amazing performance (160), we must also recognise that he put on 191 for the first wicket alongside James Ford (71). On a fantastic batting wicket away at Morley, the 1st XI posted 306/2 and then used 7 bowlers to restrict Morley to 264, with Kev's 4 for 56 being the pick of the attack. Hopefully this is the sign of things to come for our potent batting line-up.
The 2nd XI didn't fare so well at home against a strong Farsley side. Batting first, Darren Wilson's men were in trouble at 49-6 until the two Sam's (Holmes and Kelly - not Woledge-Wilkinson!) combined with a partnership of 58 to lift the team into three figures. Great to see two young players willing to buckle down and drag the side up to a total that gave the bowlers something to work with. Sadly, it wasn't enough as Farsley lost 5 wickets on the way to passing our total of 115. Sam Kelly took 3 wickets to go with his 29 runs in the first innings.
The 3rd XI got their season off with a bang, putting in a strong performance against the ten men of Cookridge twos. Batting first, we piled on 340 for 5 with quick runs to Tawseef Ahmed (42), skipper Dave Hodgson (28) and teacher's pet Harry Brook-Dobson (29) at the top of the order. Dan Grimmitt then made a promising (21) before James Butterfield (120*) and Tom Dixon (80), accelerated the scoring with a fast paced partnership of 159. In fact, we added 180 off the last 15 overs. Cookridge were then dismissed for 65, with the wickets shared out amongst the bowlers. 4 wickets went to our very young seam attack with Sam Miller (1 for 19), Sam Butterfield (2 for 0) and Josh Hannan (1 for 5) all taking their debut 3rd XI wickets. It was a proud moment for me to take the field with Sam for the first time in a senior game, especially with the game being at Belmont (Sandals for you young ones) where I played alongside my dad - and of course Don was there watching as well!
For half the game against Rodley threes, our 4th XI were very competitive. We restricted the opposition to 147 for 7 in their 45 overs on what must be one of the smallest grounds in the country. The bowling attack was brilliantly led by another young Baildon player, Will Baker, who returned the miserly figures of 12 overs, 7 maidens, 3 for 18. Lela Modhwadia supported Will by also taking 3 wickets. Sadly the 4th XI weren't able to knock off the Rodley score and were dismissed for 55. Our Chairman, Ash Free top scored with 24 - including a six (which he later confessed was off a top edge, over his shoulder!)
Then on Sunday our 2nd XI were in Priestley Shield action at home against a strong Crossflats team. Missing a few key players and with a couple of our team returning from injury, we put up a good fight but finished 34 short of the opposition's 186 all out. Louis Turner was the pick of the Baildon bowling attack, taking 3 for 35 from his 8 overs. With the bat, our chase was led by Danny Hunt (36), Simon Mcdermott (39) and skipper Darren Wilson with an almost run a ball 38 not out.
Finally, I would just like to say a quick thank you to everyone who has entered a team in our BCC fantasy cricket competition. We've had 44 teams registered which is absolutely tremendous news. Watch this space for updates and confirmation of the prize for first place!
James Butterfield
(2nd highest run scorer this weekend...)
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