Veterans League
Division 2 of the Huddersfield Veterans 6-Man League becomes an 11 team division under the reorganisation by adding an extra division following the 4-team net gain for the 2025 season. The promotion of the top two teams from last season has been honoured which sees Clayton West and New Mill moving into the top tier leaving 4 teams to be relegated from Division 1.
A big shake up of teams in Division 2 this season with only 5 of the 11 teams featuring last year playing at the same level this season. Seven teams have been relegated down into Division 3 and Brockholes B and Thongsbridge B come up from Division 3. Bradley & Colne finished 4th in Division 2 last season but have now withdrawn from the League so the new team entry from Broad Oak have leapfrogged into the 2nd tier for a flying start to their 6-man experience.
The League doesn't have a good track record in placing teams to the right division over recent years so I assume they have some assurances about the make-up of that team to justify their elevation past some longstanding teams in the League. I can only see one of their bowlers registered with the new team that played regularly for their 10-Man A team last season so I am not convinced enough to give them the vote for promotion this coming season.
So who does that leave? Well bearing in mind that one of the two teams promoted out of this Division last season was New Mill who had only had one season at that level after winning the Division 3 title the previous year. So maybe that feat could be repeated this year. Looking at the two promoted contenders attention turns to the Division 3 Champions from last year Brockholes B. Despite playing two fewer matches than teams in the other two divisions they still collected more points - 130 altogether - than any other team in the League. With a final 13-match winning run to add to all that makes it an impressive record coupled with the 17-points gap to the second-placed team that came up with them.
That second-placed team was Thongsbridge B which included beating the Champions on their way to promotion and they may well be looking for another promotion this year. However that would be dismissing the chances of the 4 teams relegated from Division 1. The pick of these being Lindley Lib A who only lost their Division 1 place on the Aggregate For total and having won 13 of their 26 matches, a cruel outcome, so they have to be among the shortlist for promotion this year.
However I have to veer away to consider the credentials of Marsh Lib A. They finished one point behind promoted New Mill last season in this Division and that was a repeat of the previous year when they finished one point behind New Mill in Division 3 to gain promotion along with the Champions. So Marsh Lib A get my second vote which is probably enough to completely scupper their chances.
As for the two selections to go through the relegation trapdoor I have to examine the chances of the two teams left lowest from the Division 2 mid-table and that is Golcar Lib and Longwood. That may be harsh but bowling can be a cruel game. Maybe not though. What about the teams dropping out of Division 1? Lockwood Con finished bottom of the pile last season and I get a feeling that they may continue in that vein much as I respect their record over the years. I fear that those years may be catching up with them and they have another relegation in them before finding their new level. To go with them I pair up the new boys from Broad Oak. I think this is a big ask for a new team coupled with the League's dire record of placing teams at the wrong level I think they may have done that once again this year but my track record isn't that good either.
TOP TIPS: New Mill and Marsh Lib A DROP TIPS: Lockwood Cons and Broad Oak
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