The 2009 season 

The pre-season speculation revolved around the fitness of Michael Scarborough, whose bad back was a major concern. Adam Smith was to start the year as successor to Tim Walsh whilst Luke Taylor and Ricky Linden were expected to fight it out for a bowling place. Drew Duffy was available and our strength looked formidable particularly if Michael was fit.

Neil Robinson did his best for Bradley in the first fixture taking 84no from our attack. Thankfully Drew made a spanking start with 67no to lead us to a 7-wicket opening win. Joel led the boys with 54no chasing a low Cononley total to a second win before an early doors test against Embsay. Joel again top scored with 29 as a 135 all out was a big disappointment. We were rescued by Graham Rankin who came up trumps with 5 for 28 exploiting the Shires Lane strip to have the home side out for 92. So 3 out of 3 was a great start. Mark Beckett led with 36 in a fine 6-wicket win over a dangerous Glusburn side. Foulridge were duly clobbered in the Cup with Jack Hainsworth to the fore with 68 and Rob Hopkinson laid his marker down with 51 versus Cowling.

So all our major batsmen had contributed in the opening 7-match unbeaten spell, whilst Michael assessed his fitness as a batsman with a run out in the 2nd XI.

The much awaited trip to Royd View Terrace proved a massive anti-climax as the Champions had us all out for 110, 97 adrift of their posting, despite 5 for 58 from Jack Ellis. Michael returned the following week for the Worth Valley derby with Haworth but his presence failed to restore the start as the batsmen again failed with 75 all out. Ian Jackson with 4 for 26 did his best to halt the Meths but they got home with 3 wickets in hand. The wheels fully came off the bus as we allowed Thornton to rack up a staggering 236-8 despite another Ellis five-for. Hoppy led the rearguard action with 83 but we subsided to 198 for a hat trick of defeats. Meanwhile Cullingworth, Haworth Road and Crossflatts strode on at the top.

Hoppy's good form continued and Sandy lane were smashed by over 100 runs with help from Jack Hainsworth tweakers. It was the start of a 6-match run which included Cup wins over Wilsden and Glusburn, the latter at the hands of 6-41 from Jack Ellis in a 10-wicket romp. A 20-20 Keighley Cup defeat at Cullingworth was a blow but the league form continued to garner points with wins over Embsay, Cowling and Glusburn. The win over Embsay produced 510 runs including a century for Duncan Ward and 92 for on-fire Rob Hopkinson.

Amongst all the cricket the club lost the services of Graham Rankin after an internal disciplinary issue sadly led to him quitting the club after many years in Oakworth colours. The remaining bowlers buckled down well to make up for his absence and Michael Scarborough settled back into his finest batting form.

By the time we faced Culllingworth our chances of the title were slim but the crushing 10-wicket defeat at the hands of Dave Hall and co finally ejected us from the race. The confirmation came soon afterwards as Damien Rowell exploded on our bowlers rattling up a 200 score in a 277 total to which we replied with 153-9.Michael making a successive half-century.

Our last match win over Haworth Road confirmed Cullingworth as worthy 3-time Champions. This came after the Wynn Cup final against Second Division Bingley Congs. Michael's 62 with Nivard Trowers' 57 took us to 195 but the Congs 231 had highlighted the overall deficiency in our bowling attack after the loss of Rankin.

We concluded the year in third place but feeling it could have been so much better. The two defeats to Cullingworth were both substantial and we never really threatened their supremacy. The two defeats to Haworth were symptomatic of the entire campaign, leaving players and supporters frustrated. The defeat at Thornton ironically came at the hands of former Oak Jason Lockley. The Cup loss was perhaps predictable after the depletion of the bowling attack.

Statistically, the batting was nevertheless fearsome with Rob qualifying on 43 plus whilst Michael too topped 40 in his nine outings. Joel and Drew had a quiet time after a smart start. The enigma was Mark Beckett who did return 293 runs but perhaps found the softer Craven League wickets hard to adjust to. His top score was 48. Jack Hainsworth showed glimpses of top form but there were also frustratingly soft dismissals to endure. Adam Smith suffered a back injury and his excellent keeping gave way to a return for Luke Scott. Another back in harness was Nivard Trowers who after a century for the Second XI made a return to First XI action with some success, principally 57 in the Cup Final.

But as always Championships hinge on the bowling and across the season as a whole there were seven five-fors, four to the maturing Ellis. Ricky Linden outshone Luke Taylor and Ian Jackson had a late season purple patch. Mark Beckett bowled over 90 overs for the first time in years and picked up 27 wickets. But in addition to the loss of control normally exercised by Rankin, the most noticeable loss was in fast bowling as Michael Scarborough played solely as a batsman. In all Jack Ellis grabbed 45 wickets at 16 in all competitions and he justified the considerable faith placed in him by his skipper.

2010 seems to offer the same hopes as 2009 but with uncertainties that were not apparent in April 2009.