Keighley edge bum twitcher at home to Bankfoot.

In a rain affected 25 over match Keighley 1st X1 scraped home with 4 balls and 3 wickets to spare.

Batting first Bankfoot amassed a healthy 181 from their 25 over’s thanks mainly to Wicketkeeper batsman John Barton (73) and steady contributions from opener Gary Wainwright and Captain Neil Nicholson. Home skipper Ross Towler was the pick of the Keighley bowlers with 4 wickets ably backed up by some tight bowling from young opener Joe Stead.

In reply veteran opener Richard Robinson got Keighley off to a flying start and when they lost their first wicket on 32 this brought Imran Patel to the middle to join the now free scoring Robinson.

They quickly pushed the score on to 91 before Robinson was out - caught and bowled. Jonny Wilkinson was run out for 5 then Patel went LBW for 34, with the over rate steadily increasing and the light slightly deteriating young Jack Beetham and Simon Bailey swung the game back in Keighley’s favour with a display of top quality well timed stroke play and aggressive hitting.

Bailey went next, caught out in the deep and Beetham followed immediately after, with the score still on 165 a tense finish was on the cards. Amjid Hussain and Paul Quinlan added a further 11 runs before Hussain was caught agonisingly short whilst trying to clear the long on boundary.

A few dot balls, the odd swing and a miss, and a very close call for a run out all adding to the tension. Paul Quinlan and Freddy Pearson finally seeing Keighley home in the final over, much to the relief of the twitchy home support on the Western Terrace.

Scorecard

Keighley Cricket Club enjoy bumper awards evening

Keighley Cricket Club was delighted and humbled to receive the Albert Smith Spirit of Cricket Award at the Bradford League Annual Dinner. The event, which took place at the Cedar Court Hotel in Bradford, had former England batsman Derek Randall as the guest speaker.

The prestigious award came in recognition of the marks received by umpires for sportsmanship in both the first and second teams. The club rightfully place great significance to the ‘Spirit of Cricket’ ethos, and this is promoted throughout the club in all the senior teams and junior section. As part of the ‘Chance to Shine’ initiative, working in local schools, Keighley Cricket Club coaches also deliver the Spirit of Cricket message to hundreds of young cricketers across the town.

The presentation evening was also a successful event for a number of the Keighley players on a personal level. Matthew Bottomley received the Pennine Trophy for the highest individual score in the league. Supporters of the Lawkholme Lane side will vividly remember his sparkling 166 against Idle on a glorious May afternoon this year. Matthew also shared the John Heaton Memorial Trophy with Andrew Waggett, in recognition of the highest opening partnership. Their mammoth 211 runs for the first wicket also came in the game against Idle. The two Keighley openers now find themselves in the illustrious company of Test and county cricketers to have also won the trophy, including Indian cricket legend VVS Laxman.

The A Leslie Mollett Trophy was awarded to Alex Towler for the second team fielding. Anyone who has seen Alex field would surely agree he is one of the most tenacious, committed and athletic out fielders to have graced Keighley Cricket Club for some time.

After an excellent season with the bat and behind the stumps, talented young wicket keeper Callum Jones collected the David Bairstow Golden Gloves Trophy. Callum shared the award with Shahban Raheem (Yeadon) for the most victims in a match (six).