The final day of June became a bonus dose of T20 cricket from Roberts Park in Saltaire, after a planned event at the Bradford Literature Festival was cancelled.
It was an overcast day that threatened rain but thankfully, none materialised which meant an uninterrupted programme for the Quaid e Azam Sunday Cricket League’s T20 Finals day.
I missed the first game which saw Jhelum score 109-7 to ease past Cambridge Methodists (103 ao) and claim the Division 1 ACS T20 Trophy for 2024.
A mention for the sponsor Alexander Cousins Solicitors who presumably backed the league’s showpiece to defend any criminal legside wides or low strike rates?
Feeble jokes aside, all leagues rely on sponsors and along with Eldwick Law and Regal Foods, there is a hat-trick of companies supporting grassroots cricket and I’m all for that.
Having pegged it for an earlier train and thus avoided the odd scenario of an hour delay at Shipley because the service didn’t pause the one stop at Saltaire, I made my way across to Saltaire Cricket Club’s white pavilion, with a decent number of spectators clustered around the public park.
The second match saw Pak Cuisine in orange up against the green of Great Horton Church; the relative rarity of a cricket club involved in a competition where often they are single teams.
Up on the terrace, I caught up with Naheem Malik, the league’s Secretary and Chair Abdul Aziz. This was the first of quite a few finals days as the Quaid-e-Azam Sunday League offers a breadth of formats from T20 to 40-over as well as optional Hundred and tapeball contests too.
They’re a league who have impressed me in recent years with their innovation and desire to keep things local. They’ve been ahead of the curve on stuff like coloured clothing and adapted formats (T10 during Covid for half a season).
I am treated to a karak chai and onion bhajis by Aziz (thanks to The Nizam’s Table who provided catering). He glances up at a batter out in the middle for Pak Cuisine.
“He’s a good player, he can hit a few. I hope I don’t put the mockers on him….”
Cue a top edge the very next ball and a simple catch for the keeper.
This second match – the Championship ACS T20 Shield – was a low-scoring affair with Pak Cuisine bundled out for 87. Little did he know it at the time but Nadeem Hussain Khan’s unbeaten knock of 23 was to prove crucial.
Eshan Raja’s 4-18 and Wasim Khan’s 3-14 did the damage and there were some impressive catches in the deep with balls fired high and handsome into the Saltaire skyline.
Great Horton Church never got going and were dismissed for 63 with the wickets shared round. As this unfolded, I was photographing the cricket while smiling at the cultural music mash-up that was blending together in Roberts Park.
At the bandstand, a jive performance with a bit of a bogie for anyone who wanted it was floating over to the cricket. There, it was met with some gusto from a couple of guys, well-known in the Quaid-e-Azam Sunday League apparently, who come with vuvuzela and a bluetooth speaker, complete with microphone.
It was loud and I almost immediately started tapping my foot to the tunes being belted out (not ideal for photography but get your excuses in early).
Every now and then the bluetooth signal would drop and a lady, of Chinese descent at a guess, would robotically announce to everyone (at some volume) that the bluetooth speaker was re-connecting.
Got to be honest, I loved that. The speaker itself incidentally was an ornately woven bag that gradually made it way round.
The finale was the Premiership ACS T20 Cup: Azeems versus Salem Athletic. It caught my attention on several fronts. Firstly, I’d collared a couple of players for Azeems to gush over the Keighley-based restaurant (we’re Azeems fans at CYHQ).
Secondly, there was the Haris factor.
Not so long ago, Haris Khan hit 297 off 113 balls for Salem Athletic. He has doubtless enjoyed some fame (or notoriety) in the league since. The first inkling of this was when he walked out to open the innings with ‘Harris 297’ emblazoned on his back.
Bold.
The way I see it, there’s probably only one direction from an innings that incredible and spoiler alert, it’s not up. And yet, if you can’t be proud of a performance like that – when can you be?
As it happens, the crowd got a taste of boom-boom Haris with a few mighty sixes and rocket-propelled fours before he saw his stumps splattered. Even with captain Khan back inside for just 25, Salem had more than enough firepower.
Maajid Khan’s muscular 48 off 33 balls helped Salem to 170. Not unsurmountable but comfortably more than any team had looked like posting.
For Azeems, Shahid Nadeem (2-22) and Adeel Munir (2-21) were the pick.
I sloped off before the close, conscious that my trains were disrupted except one in ten minutes. You might have witnessed a skinny dude with heavy backpack wheezing across Roberts Park at walking pace. Imagine Forest Gump in slo-mo.
Salem Athletic would go on to win by 32 runs after Azeems ended on 138-9. The run chase was dominated by Shahid Nadeem’s 43 and latterly a knock of 44 not out from Muhammad Naveed.
It was not quite enough – but the good news for all teams who came up short on finals day (and those who didn’t make it) is that league action returns then there are cups galore.
My thanks to the Quaid e Azam Sunday Cricket League who welcomed me warmly (and I’m not just saying that because I got free chai).
The league germinated back in 1980 and on current form, the roots are strong for many more years to come. They do well at social media with photography, results and live updates at matches and this is a league that doesn’t stand still.
You can check them out in all of the usual ways.
Here’s their Play Cricket website: and there’s a Quaid-e-Azam Sunday League Facebook page.
If you want to do an umpiring stint, offer some financial assistance as a league sponsor or help in another way, just drop them a message.
📸 GREAT HORTON CHURCH VS PAK CUISINE: MATCH PHOTOS
📸 AZEEMS VS SALEM ATHLETIC: MATCH PHOTOS
Founder of Cricket Yorkshire, Author of Dales, Bails and Cricket Club Tales, All Wickets Great & Small and Last of the Summer Wickets.