Winter League
The sun shone brightly in a perceived supporting gesture to a new season of winter bowling in Huddersfield yesterday. Milnsbridge BC was rewarded for their early start with a good crowd gathering as allowed for the first time in the League's existence.
It was exactly a year ago - 6 October 2020 - that the League was scheduled to play its first-ever league matches on two greens but a heavy morning downpour proved too much for both greens which became waterlogged and so delaying the start of the inaugural season. The season opened a week later but then two further lockdowns with strict restrictions on activity, spectators, social distancing and shaking hands, all from a different era. Lot different this time around with glorious sunshine, shirtsleeve bowlers, a vibrant green and the bar open for business.
A different atmosphere as well with new teams to face and new friendships to form. I wasn't the only one to notice the friendlier approach of a community being formed. Maybe it is the fact that we are all inclusive or maybe it is just because we are still a relatively new competition but I am hopeful that spirit will still be to the fore as the competition mounts as teams find their standing in their respective divisions.
Good start for the all-ladies team in Division 1 as the New Millers beat Kirkheaton Cons 6-2 on opening day. In fact all the four Division 1 matches finished 6-2 in the new 2 Singles and 1 Pairs matches format with 2 points for each game and 2 points for the average. The opening Singles match went the way of the New Millers when Linda Drury fought back from being 9-13 down to win to 14. The new side then owed their win to the recovery of their Pairs bowlers who came back from 5-14 to win 21-15 by reverting to a long mark where, interestingly, the ladies saw off their male opponents.
Last year Clayton West led the Springwood Division when the season was halted with an unbeaten record. That form didn't carry forward to their new home of Milnsbridge as they went down to Lindley BC 'A' despite a spirited fightback from their pairs duo who fought back from 4-17 to draw level before eventually losing out 17-21. The Pairs is a very different game to the usual singles matches and it isn't always the two best bowlers that make the best Pairs. It is a very different game and not all bowlers get the opportunity to practice the art or build a partnership. It will be interesting to see how successful some of the Pairings perform and then develop over the season.
Milnsbridge 'A' couldn't make home advantage pay as they were beaten by Thorpe Green 'A' whilst Lowerhouses won their opening day match against Rastrick 'A'. The standard of bowling throughout was excellent and the top division is always the one used to judge the standard of any league so that argues well for the future.
The next set of fixtures in the Winter League are below as the Divison 3 programme gets underway next Monday followed by more Division 1 matches on the Wednesday. The Division 2 fixtures start the week after (20 October) as greens become available for our League matches. Let's hope that the sun continues to shine for a few more weeks and the spectators get into the habit of visiting our greens and enjoying the hospitality of our hosts.
A selection of photos (look at that sky!) of Day 1 of the new season at Milnsbridge yesterday mainly taken by Bob Haigh are provided below. The first of the photos is the opening bowl of the 2021-22 season when Garry Senior of Kirkheaton Con sent down the first wood in his match against Linda Drury of the New Millers.
Click on any image to enlarge
THE WINTER LEAGUE BOWLSNET PAGES
Comments