UAJCA Performance & Quality Review 2020

UPPER JUNIOR CRICKET ASSOCIATION

2020

PERFORMANCE, QUALITY & STRATEGY REVIEW Compiled by Terry Thompson, Secretary September 2020

This Report details and summarises outcomes and evaluates the extent of cricket played throughout the Upper Airedale Junior Cricket Association during 2020, the year of the global pandemic.

CONTENTS

1 2020 Review p2 2 Association Overview p2 3 Friendly, Cup & Plate Cricket p3 4 Representative Cricket p4 5 Age Group by Age Group analysis p5 6 Prize winners p7

DYSON ELECTRICAL []THE CUP2000 COMMITTEE

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UAJCA Performance & Quality Review 2020

1 2020 REVIEW

1.1 The 2020 Pre-Season • UAJCA was very grateful for extended over-arching support from R N Wooler Ltd for a 4th season. • UAJCA was delighted to welcome back long-term sponsors CartaSport-in-Christ after a two years’ interval. • UAJCA welcomed another two new member clubs in Barnoldswick CC with 3 teams and CC with 2 teams for 2020. Sadly though, CC would not be entering any teams in 2020. • The UAJCA Festival was planned for a structure change and a significant increase in team entry to a record 34 teams. • For the first time, Upper CC and Settle CC were to host UAJCA the Grand Finals days. • The severe contraction in playing numbers of recent years seemed to have bottomed out. The increase in number of Association teams by 1 team and 18 players in 2019, whilst modest, may have indicated early signs of a recovery. • Following a pre-season declaration to field 61 teams, our Association of 17 clubs was delayed from commencement as the Government and ECB wrestled with how to deal with sport amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. • UAJCA commenced its 2020 league programme with 16 clubs fielding 45 teams, a significant fall of 16 from the initial declaration in March. Sadly, Long Lee were unable to take up their proposed new membership, whilst Wilsden had already indicated its withdrawal. Following zoom meetings, the reduced membership determined to provide as many cricket-matches as possible for the youngsters within the pandemic regulations. Risk Assessments were carried out on all grounds and posted to the website to give parents confidence. Regulations governing the conduct of cricket matches including social-distancing and hygiene precautions for players, officials and spectators were circulated for implementation at all UAJCA clubs.

1.2 Considerations for 2021

The Government announcements regarding Covi-d19 security on 22nd September and January 6th placed all winter indoor training in jeopardy and it seems probable that 2021 representative fixtures will not have the benefit of advance training.

But the principal need is clear as crystal. To get back to the pre-2020 season level of optimism that led to a 20% increase in the number of teams we would field, we will all need to focus even more heavily on retention and recruitment in the pre-season period. The feeling is that it needs to be a concerted effort by all our members with as much support as can be offered by the YCB and local Senior Leagues. We are aware that all our members have their own club Facebook page and quite a few of our villages/towns also have local village hub Facebook sites. It strikes us that a co-ordinated and sustained publicity campaign through all these channels and others could significantly increase interest. Where clubs have twitter accounts a bombardment there will also help. Linkage with schools also needs somehow to be strengthened. A collective minimum target should be to get back to the 61 team-entry we originally had for 2020.

Resurrection of the under-18s League remains a topic for discussion, as only 3 teams entered for the 2020 Covid-19 restricted season. The significant changes to under-9s cricket of the last 2-3 seasons naturally need review as there remain concerns about the ball and the level of safety equipment.

Availability of Umpires continues to come into spotlight with the unavailability of a few of our panel. UAJCA now needs an injection of umpires to enable representative programme to be maintained at current levels.

16 Junior Teams at 6 [of 26] & District Cricket League Clubs in 2020 Airedale 0 Embsay 3 Long Lee 0 Barrowford 0 Foulridge 0 4 Congs 0 Gargrave 0 0 Bradley 2 0 Sandy Lane 0 Cononley 0 1 0 Cowling 0 Haworth Road 0 Skipton CI 0 3 Hepworth-Idle 0 Sutton-in-Craven 3 0 0 Thornton-in-Craven 0 & 0 Wilsden 0 29 Junior Teams at 10 other [non-CDCL] Clubs in 2020 Barnoldswick 3 & Bingley 1 Harden 3 Skipton 4 Earby 4 Oxenhope 2 Steeton 2 Gt Horton Church 4 Settle 3 U Wharfedale 3

2 ASSOCIATION 2020 OVERVIEW Association Membership The number of UAJCA member clubs remained static at 16 Clubs [Lost Wilsden, gained Barnoldswick].

2020 UAJCA Membership

District Club Teams Standard Pairs u-18 u-15 u-13 u-11 u-9 North Bradley 2 1 1 1 1 6 clubs, 18 teams Embsay 3 2 1 1 1 1 Settle 3 2 1 1 1 1 Skipton 4 3 1 2 1 1 Sutton 3 2 1 1 1 1 Upper Wharfedale 4 2 1 1 1 1

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UAJCA Performance & Quality Review 2020

West Yorkshire Bradford & Bingley 1 1 1 8 clubs, 20 teams Crossflatts 3 1 2 1 1 1 Church 4 2 2 1 1 1 1 Oakworth 4 2 2 1 1 1 1 Harden 3 1 2 1 1 1 Haworth 1 1 1 Oxenhope 2 1 1 1 1 Steeton 2 1 1 1 1 Pendle Earby 4 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 clubs, 7 teams Barnoldswick 3 1 2 1 1 1

16 clubs, 45 teams 24 21 10 14 14 7

3 FRIENDLY, CUP & PLATE CRICKET Fixtures A total of 110 friendly fixtures along with 59 Cup and new Plate matches were planned for a truncated 8-week programme. 130 matches were completed on the field [77%]. 2020 Scheduled Fixtures Fixture Completion 2020 Teams Friendly Cup & Plate Total Friendly Cup & Plate Completed Completion % U9 7 15 8 23 11 6 17 74% U11 14 36 19 56 31 17 48 87% U13 14 35 19 54 24 16 40 74% U15 10 24 13 37 14 11 25 68% U18 0 Totals 45 110 59 169 80 50 130 77% Club Teams Friendly Cup & Plate Total Friendly Cup & Plate Total Completion Barnoldswick 3 13 8 21 6 5 11 55% Bradford & Bingley 1 4 3 7 4 2 6 83% Bradley 2 12 5 17 10 5 15 88% Crossflatts 3 14 7 21 13 5 18 86% Earby 4 17 12 29 7 10 17 58% Embsay 3 17 8 25 9 8 17 68% Gt Horton Church 4 17 15 32 13 13 26 81% Harden 3 15 5 20 13 4 17 85% Haworth 1 6 2 8 6 1 7 88% Oakworth 4 19 10 29 16 9 25 86% Oxenhope 2 11 4 15 8 4 12 80% Settle 3 12 8 20 10 7 17 85% Skipton 4 21 11 32 15 9 24 80% Steeton 2 10 5 15 9 5 14 93% Sutton 3 17 7 24 10 5 15 63% U Wharfedale 3 15 8 23 11 8 19 83% Totals 45 220 118 338 160 100 260 77% Participation & Registration table shows 548 registered players played a min 1 match in 2020. Colour shading highlights potential 2021 team structures

Age Group in 2020 U18s u16s u15s u14s u13s u12s u11s u10s u9s u8s Total Age Group in 2021 U18s u17s u16s u15s u14s u13s u12s u11s u10s u9s Birth years 00-02 02-03 03-04 04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 2020 Skipton 1 6 15 5 8 12 8 2 2 59 Gt Horton Church 5 9 8 6 8 5 7 6 54 Oakworth 3 9 4 10 3 9 3 9 50 Settle 4 7 4 10 8 3 3 2 41 Upper Wharfedale 10 2 4 6 4 5 3 7 41 Embsay 6 8 9 5 3 5 2 38 Sutton 1 7 12 3 8 3 34 Crossflatts 9 5 6 7 7 34 Earby 6 4 2 7 5 5 1 3 33 Harden 5 6 7 4 10 32 Steeton 5 8 7 8 1 1 30 Bradley 12 2 4 5 3 26 Oxenhope 1 3 5 1 10 3 2 25 Barnoldswick 1 2 7 3 9 22 Bradford & Bingley 6 8 3 2 19 Haworth 9 1 10 Total 1 42 70 61 97 87 78 53 59 548

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UAJCA Performance & Quality Review 2020

No of players actually playing in UAJCA Age-Group 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 YOY 2021 Change forecast 16 year olds 42 45 63 42 39 35 22 17 0 -17 1 15 year olds 61 62 54 44 48 28 16 27 1 -26 42 Under 17s 103 107 117 86 87 63 38 44 1 -43 43 14 year olds 109 92 91 81 80 45 57 44 42 -2 70 13 year olds 105 95 83 88 61 70 48 59 70 +11 61 Under 15s 214 187 174 169 141 115 105 103 112 +9 131 12 year olds 116 100 119 78 81 62 78 96 61 -35 97 11 year olds 94 125 96 81 64 93 86 70 97 +27 87 Under 13s 210 225 215 159 145 155 164 166 158 -8 184 10 year olds 112 105 106 90 101 103 67 103 87 -16 78 9 year olds 96 84 87 81 107 65 96 87 78 -9 53 Under 11s 208 189 193 171 208 168 163 190 165 -25 131 8 year olds 80 79 86 107 66 85 70 80 53 -27 59 Younger than 8 66 106 92 79 103 101 97 72 59 -13 ? Under 9s 146 185 178 186 169 186 167 152 112 -40 59+ new u8 Annual Totals 881 893 877 771 750 687 637 655 548 -107

Annual Change -84 +12 -16 -106 -21 -63 -50 +18 -107

Recruitment Our playing database [above] shows 548 players made at least one appearance in 2020. This is a reduction of 107 from 2019 whereas a significant increase had been expected. Nevertheless 548 in the circumstances represents a huge effort by our 16 clubs to entice and encouraged parents and youngsters to continue to play cricket during these troubled times. The most successful age-group was under-12s with 97. Skipton, Great Horton Church and Oakworth featured most players and it was a delight to see 22 from new club Barnoldswick. Our 2021 forecast indicates the u15 and u13 age-groups may have the most players for some years. However, the large cut in under-9 numbers this year will require great effort by clubs to restore the younger age-groups to the pre-2020 levels.

Girl’s Cricket Pleasingly Girls’ cricket registrations in 2020 have increased to 50. However there have been no girl-specific fixtures completed.

Coaching The UAJCA Winter Elite Academy was interrupted in the pre-Lockdown period and was not completed. Our second Girls winter coaching course was slightly down on numbers before it too was halted by the pandemic.

4 REPRESENTATIVE CRICKET

Under 13s – The Yorkshire Junior Cricket Festival Squad UAJCA Manager for 2020, Ji Mukherjee [Skipton] took charge of the UAJCA u-13 squad: Player Club Region Owais Mahmood GHC Mustapha Husaain GHC West Yorkshire Hamza Saeed GHC West Yorkshire Max Williams Oxenhope West Yorkshire Samesh Chotai Bradley North Yorkshire Jack Caton Bradley North Yorkshire Will Lampkin Bradley North Yorkshire Adam Harding Embsay North Yorkshire Luke Lovell Embsay North Yorkshire Archie Phillipson Settle North Yorkshire Moheed Shafiq Skipton North Yorkshire Joe Birks Skipton North Yorkshire Match results were as follows: 09th August H vs Skipton u15s at Skipton CC UAJCA 138-8 Skipton u15 81-9 Won by 57 runs 14th August H vs Nidderdale at Skipton CC UAJCA 106-3 Nidderdale 104-11 Won by 7 wkts 20th August A vs Heavy Woollen at N Farnley CC Heavy Woollen UAJCA Rain 28th August A vs Nidderdale at Beckwithshaw CC Nidderdale UAJCA Rain

Under 11s – The Yorkshire Junior Cricket Festival Squad Mark Stoneman (Sutton) was the manager for UAJCA u-11 squad: Player Club Region Archie Brooksbank Crossflatts West Yorkshire Edward Fordham Oxenhope West Yorkshire Oliver Bija Oxenhope West Yorkshire Max Lampkin Bradley North Yorkshire Thomas Mountain Embsay North Yorkshire

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UAJCA Performance & Quality Review 2020

Thomas Caton Settle North Yorkshire Charlie Price Skipton North Yorkshire Noah Kennedy Skipton North Yorkshire Ryan Lee Skipton North Yorkshire Sam Stoneman Sutton North Yorkshire Brandon Howie Sutton North Yorkshire Match results were as follows: 06th September A v Huddersfield at Rastrick CC Huddersfield 193-5 UAJCA 86-8 Lost by 107 runs 20th September H vs Heavy Woollen at Oxenhope CC UAJCA 73-9 Heavy Woollen 162-4 Lost by 89 runs

Under-10s Development Team Squad The under-10 UAJCA team again entered the K3 Dental tournament. Our Manager was Ale Howarth, Steeton CC

Player Club Region Max Bailey Crossflatts West Yorkshire Max Wilkinson Crossflatts West Yorkshire Joe Powell Oakworth West Yorkshire Haroon Nazam Oakworth West Yorkshire Freddie Greathead Oakworth West Yorkshire Archie Cox Steeton West Yorkshire Joshua Barton Steeton West Yorkshire Seth Hunt Bradley North Yorkshire James Galley Settle North Yorkshire Sam Galley Settle North Yorkshire Frank Caton Settle North Yorkshire Match result was as follows: 23rd August H vs Huddersfield at Haworth CC UAJCA Huddersfield Lost

5 AGE-GROUP BY AGE-GROUP REVIEW

The Pro Coach Academy u-15 Age-Group A total of 25 fixtures were played of the scheduled 37, 68% of the total, after poor weather in August and September which necessitated a number of Cup & Plate matches to be re-scheduled.

2020 Club Played Friendly Cup Plate Not Played 1 Bradford & Bingley 6 4 1 1 1 2 Earby 5 2 1 2 3 3 Embsay 4 2 1 1 4 4 Great Horton Ch 6 2 4 0 2 5 Oakworth 4 3 1 0 3 6 Settle 5 3 2 0 1 7 Skipton [2 teams] 11 7 4 0 4 8 Sutton 3 2 1 0 5 9 Upper Wharfedale 6 3 3 0 1 TOTAL 50 28 18 4 24

The Raleigh Hargreaves Cup The 39th Final was contested by Upper Wharfedale and Great Horton Church as a finale for the 2020 season at the County Ground of Bradford on Saturday 19th September. Upper Wharfedale posted a 97 total for the loss of 6 wickets. Opener Dylan Canny held the innings together with 30 until caught off Hanaan Qureshi. Jack Midgley proved his best ally with 24 no, whilst GHC skipper Mohammed Yusuf marshalled his bowlers well. Hassan Qureshi proved the most productive with 4-0-17-2. The Bradford side lost three early wickets before Yusuf got to grips with the bowling. His 38 retirement-score came in double-quick time and with support from Taymour Awan and Hassan Qureshi [12] the target was reached with four down and four and a half overs in hand. So Great Horton Church went one better than the 2019 Oakworth side and captured a fourth Cup in 2020, quite remarkable consistency.

A first ever Plate competition for 1st round losers was held. The final featured Bradford & Bingley and Earby at Wagon Lane, Bingley on 13th September. The host team proved successful with a 7 wicket win in a 16-over match. Earby scored 62-7 and were overhauled in 11 overs.

The Brook Taverner under-13 Age-Group Fourteen clubs entered the popular age-group and completed 40 matches from the 54 scheduled, 74%.

2020 Club Played Friendly Cup Plate Not Played 1 Barnoldswick 1 1 0 0 6 2 Bradley 7 4 3 0 1 3 Crossflatts 6 4 2 0 1 4 Earby 4 2 2 0 3 5 Embsay 7 3 1 3 2 6 Great Horton Ch 6 3 3 0 2 7 Harden 5 4 0 1 2

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UAJCA Performance & Quality Review 2020

8 Oakworth 8 4 1 3 9 Oxenhope 5 3 1 1 2 10 Settle 5 3 0 2 3 11 Skipton 6 3 3 0 3 12 Steeton 7 5 2 0 13 Sutton 6 4 1 1 2 14 U Wharfedale 7 5 1 1 1 Total 80 48 20 12 28

The John Hindle Memorial Cup Skipton CC hosted the 20th Final on 13th September between Skipton and Gt Horton Church. Last year’s runners-up, proved stronger in 2020, posting 90-7 in their 20 overs. Noah Thirkill [19], Ibrahim Khan [18] and Mustapha Hussain [14] were their leading scorers whilst Charlie Goulty grabbed 3-15 for the hosts. Skipton opener Moheed Shafiq reached 10 but no-one else could make double figures of runs. Tallah Baath [3-10] and Mohammed Hassan [2-2] were backed up in dismissing all 10 Skipton wickets for 56 to claim their second Hindle Cup [previous 2017]. A Covid-19 Plate competition for 1st round losers produced a Final between Oakworth and Embsay, held at Wide Lane, Oakworth. Lauren Hunter [13] and Mohammed Saad [10] had support from Eli Henson [8] but a combined 44 all out suffered from 7 ducks with 5 wickets falling at the score of 44. Damage by the Embsay bowlers was spearheaded by Oliver Riley-Radcliffe [2-0] with braces for Jacob Ratcliffe, Will Rickerby & Josh Draper. It was Riley-Radcliffe who led the charge to victory with 27 no in their 46-1 in 9.4 overs.

The CartaSport under-11 Age-Group Fourteen clubs also entered the under-11 age-group and completed 48 matches from the 55 scheduled, a superb 87% completion rate.

2020 Club Played Friendly Cup Plate Not Played 1 Barnoldswick 7 4 1 2 1 2 Bradley 8 6 2 0 3 Crossflatts 7 4 0 3 1 4 Earby 7 3 4 0 1 5 Embsay 6 4 1 1 2 6 Great Horton Ch 8 4 4 0 7 Harden 6 5 1 0 2 8 Haworth 7 6 1 0 1 9 Oakworth 6 4 2 0 1 10 Oxenhope 7 5 2 0 1 11 Settle 7 4 3 0 12 Skipton 7 5 1 1 1 13 Steeton 7 4 1 2 1 14 Sutton 6 4 1 1 2 Total 96 62 24 10 14

The Barritt-Stephenson Cup The 19th Cup was contested by Earby and cup-holders Great Horton Church at the prestigious Bradford Park Avenue ground on 12th September. It was Great Horton Church’s third final in three years after a close win in the semi-final v Settle. Great Horton Church batted first and got off to a flyer with a first pair partnership of 31 with Mohammed Zar Ali scoring 22 not out. The team scored regular runs with Armaan Mahmood 18 and Mohammed Hassan Khan and Mohammed Taha posting a 20-run partnership at the end bringing the score to 282-3. Milo Robinson with 2 maidens, Ava Craddock, and Owen Stevenson each with 2 wickets all bowled well. After a slow start Earby were always behind the run rate but a devastating spell from Ayaan Ahsan with figures of 3 overs 1 maiden 5 for 6 runs was the turning point. Alex Hall hit a few lusty blows but it proved an impossible task and the Earby response closed at 204-8. GHC achieved their hat-trick and fourth in six years of Barritt-Stephenson Cups in style.

The Plate competition brought Crossflatts and Steeton together at Ryshworth Park on 10th September. Crossflatts posted 191-9 [63-9] led by Hashim Hussain with 9 after opener Max Bailey had posted 7 runs. The leading Steeton wicket-taker was Austin Joseph with a terrific 3 for 4 whilst Elliot Howarth added an excellent 2-3. But it was the Steeton batsmen who really excelled with Archie Cox on top form with 18, ably backed by William Oakden with 12, and all the Steeton batsmen. Crossflatts were not able to disturb their stumps and Steeton ran out comfortable winners with 285-0.

The Soft-ball under-9 Age-Group A severely reduced 7-team group proved highly entertaining. They completed 17 of their 23 fixtures [74% completion].

2020 Club Played Friendly Cup Plate Not Played 1 Barnoldswick 3 1 1 1 3 2 Crossflatts Phoenix 5 5 0 0 1 3 Earby Clarets 1 0 1 0 4 4 Great Horton Church 6 4 2 0 2 5 Harden Cuckoos 6 4 1 1 6 Oakworth Sharks 7 5 2 0 7 Wharfedale Rams 6 3 3 0 2 Total 34 22 10 2 12

The 5th Soft-Ball Pairs Cup Final

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UAJCA Performance & Quality Review 2020

The 5th soft-ball Final provided us with a fifth winner in 5 years in Great Horton Church. The match was staged in the Yorkshire Dales at a sunny Grassington Oval, the home of hosts Upper Wharfedale CC. The Bradford-based visitors lost 4 wickets on their way to 250-4, top scorer Hamza Mahmood on 14. Their team included two girls, Noor Ul-Ain Ahmed [4] and Simrah Ahmed [7]. There were wickets for Ferdy Myers, Jamie Child, Betsy Caton and Harry Gould for the young Dales team, five of whom were under-8s. With the bat the Dales boys [and girl] ran into form bowlers Ayaan Mahmood, Armaan Hussain and Inaya Hussain, each of whom [picked up a couple of wickets. Dales skipper Harry Gould scored 7 and Frank Binns 8 on the way to a 211-8 response in what was a superb Final.

The Plate competition brought together new boys Barnoldswick and last year’s new boys Harden at Cuckoo Park on 30th August. A very young West Craven side posted a gallant 203-4, with both openers scoring 4 runs apiece. Oliver Hird with 2-0 was the Harden top bowler with wickets also for Seth Davies and Max Rigby. The Harden innings proved more productive with the experienced Freddie Padgett rattling off a titanic 26 with George Gerdes in support with 11. Their reply tallied 279-2 with brothers Ted and Charlie Chew taking scalps.

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