Collingham brush aside last year's heartache to win the cup

Feb 16, 2024

COLLINGHAM, beaten in the Aire-Wharfe League’s Birtwhistle Cup final last year in a thriller by Steeton, made amends by winning the 2023 version, thereby lifting the competition for the first time in their history.

They beat Tong Park Esholt in the final by five wickets at Ilkley.

Asanga Weerasinghe won the toss for Collingham and elected to field, with TPE’s openers Chris Holdsworth content to take ones and two, while Sean Kirkley was more aggressive, hitting three successive fours to take the score to 21-0 after four overs.

However, Kirtley’s adventurous approach was ended when he was 23 as Jonah Gillam took an excellent catch at long on, despite having to cope with the sun.

When Louis Morton was bowled the score became 51-2 and benefiting from five wides in the 15th over, Holdsworth’s vigil ended when he had made 25, caught behind by Alistair Batey off Alasdair Sadler to make the score 70-3.

Collingham tightened their grip on proceedings by dismissing George Hammond and Pritesh Lad (17), with Gillam again judging a catch well at long on, leaving TPE on 84-5.

Ryan Conlon was bowled by James to make it 101-6 and when Junaid Ahmed was caught behind off Stephen James it was 108-7, and with Collingham’s ground fielding up to snuff there was a 20-minute rain delay at 119-7 with 4.5 overs of the innings left.

TPE ended on 139-7 from their 45 overs, with Mark Pease 24 not out and Waleed Raja 12 not out, James finishing with 4-15 from his nine overs.

Weerasinghe and Gavin Ferneyhough then got Collingham off to a flier with a flurry of boundaries, taking the score to 52-0 at the end of the 10th over.

It looked like it would take something special to end the partnership, and that is what happened when Conlon ran 20 yards from mid-on to take a spectacular catch over his shoulder to dismiss Ferneyhough for 24 and make it 80-1.

Alistair Batey survived a dolly catch to put 30 on with Weerasinghe by which time the latter had reached his 50 off 79 balls.

However, Tong Park hit back when Weerasinghe chipped a ball from Lad to Hammond at mid-wicket to make it 110-2, and Jack McGahan was trapped lbw on the same score two balls later.

Lad made it three wickets in eight deliveries when he persuaded Gillam to play across the line (112-4) but James and Batey then added 27 before the former was caught by Pease off Lad with the scores tied.

Batey, who finished on 38 not out, then cover drove the ball to the boundary to secure Collingham’s five-wicket victory.

Lad bagged 4-18 from six overs.

Ilkley Cricket Club’s president Richard Simpson awarded the Roert Bland Ltd man-of-the-match trophy to James.

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