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The final few matches of the season have now been completed and we now know the various champions.

Congratulations to Scholes Chapelgaters (Waterfront Premiership), Walkers Arms (Bottomley Conference) and Edgerton & Dalton (Stallard Conference) who were all section winners. The latter two teams will now move up into the Waterfront Premisership next season. They will replace Easypave CC and Yorkshire Medics who will move down to the two Conferences - details to be decided ahead of next season.

The three champions were joined by Almondbury Sunsets, as Victor Muff Salver winners, at the Allen Priest Trophy Finals Day on Sunday (7th September). This was held at Lepton Highlanders. Almondbury Sunsets pipped Holme Valley Casuals to the Salver, which is based on results in the last 7 scheduled League matches - both won 6 out of 7, but Sunsets had a significantly better runs per wicket average over those 7 matches.

Scholes Chapelgaters finished off a stellar season by securing the Allen Priest Trophy on Finals Day and won the treble for the first time in their history (Premiership, Emmerson Cup & Allen Priest Trophy). Please see the Allen Priest Trophy tab for full details of Finals Day.

The next meeting will be the End of Season meeting on Tuesday 7th October - this will be to decide upon the individual winners as per all the teams averages. Rule 20 explains the qualification criteria.

Finally, further details of the Presentation/Comedy evening will be given shortly. It will be held in November as last year.

Twenty20 cricket is not a new phenomenon. The Huddersfield Evening Cricket League was founded in 1937, just before the outbreak of the Second World War, and its structure is remarkably similar to the “new” format that has taken the world of cricket by storm.

The League was established with a very simple goal. To provide competitive cricket for players who either did not have time for weekend cricket or did not consider themselves good enough. With a couple of minor changes, this is how the League runs to this day. Most players playing in any other competitive leagues are not eligible to play in the Evening League.

 

All matches start at 6.30pm on weekday evenings with the season running from late April to early August. Matches vary in length depending on the evening weather and can be as little as 10 eight ball overs, up to a maximum of 15 eight ball overs. The number of balls in the over means that there is less time wasted in changing ends.

 

The League is split into three sections and currently provides “friendly” competition for 18 teams. There are also two knockout competitions, the Emmerson Cup and the Priestley Cup, and an end of season playoff, the Allen Priest Trophy. The latter sees two semi finals and one final, played out on the same day in mid September - what does this remind you of? Even we, however, have succumbed to new fashions as, since the start of the 2010 season, all matches have been played with an orange ball.

 

Participating teams vary from works teams, to pub teams, to old boy’s teams. If you have a group of players that want to play on a competitive basis, the Evening League is ideal.

 

The Huddersfield Evening Cricket League has stood the test of time – long may it continue.