For the first time this season, rain seriously affected the scheduled matches in the ENCO Halifax Cricket League with only one fixture played to a finish.

The Premier Division saw only one match start and that was at Bradshaw, where SBCI visited, but it only lasted five overs before the rains came, the hosts having scored 21-0.

All the other matches were called off without a ball being bowled, namely Copley v Warley & Elland, Illingworth St Mary's v Booth, Shelf Northowram HT v Oxenhope, Thornton v Clayton and Upper Hopton v Triangle.

In the First Division, hosts Blackley opted to bat first against Sowerby St Peter's and the visitors had the best of the early exchanges before the weather intervened.

Sowerby St Peter's had Blackley in trouble at 61-5 before rain ended play. Pic: Mike Britland

placeholder image — Sowerby St Peter's had Blackley in trouble at 61-5 before rain ended play. Pic: Mike Britland

However, they earned an extra bowling point as Blackley had slipped to 61-5. Of that score Sam Mindham improved his season's average with 43 not out, as Jack Leonard picked up 3-27.

Eight overs were played at Great Horton PC, where the home team scored 40-3 against Sowerby Bridge before the match was curtailed.

There was a similar story at Oakworth, as visiting Stones scored 40-0 in 11 overs before the cancellation.

The other two matches in the division never started; Cullingworth v Luddendenfoot and Low Moor HT v Mytholmroyd.

The one match to survive the weather came in the Second Division at Bridgeholme, where Augustinians visited.

Only four balls were bowled initially before play eventually resumed as conditions improved.

The hosts raced to 176 all out in an effort to defeat any impending downpours, with Zaheer Abbas top scoring, Muhammad Mushtaq taking 4-37.

On their longest trip of the season, the visitors took up the challenge to defeat both its hosts, and the weather, and succeeded by registering an excellent seven-wicket win.

Opener Naveed Afzal hit 41 runs but it was his partner, Abdul Jabar (76 not out), who gained the most plaudits as he guided his team to a winning 179-3 in 27 overs, aided towards the end of the innings by Faisal Sheraz's 33 runs in 13 balls.

The other four matches in the division all started, but none passed 22 overs; Bradley & Colnebridge reached 11-0, hosting Leymoor, Old Town 49-3 at Outlane, Queensbury 55-2 at Southowram and Stainland's 74-3, at home to Mount, being the scores in question.

There were two exceptional performances in Second XI matches last Saturday and two long-serving bowlers somehow contrived, after many years of playing, to produce career best performances.

Craig Green of Low Moor HT returned figures of 13.2-7-24-8 against Augustinians, eclipsing his 7-10 in 2019.

Meanwhile, Queensbury's Jack Richardson, at home to Bridgeholme, produced figures of 9-2-37-6 with his previous best of 5-26 stretching back to 2011.

Unfortunately both matches were eventually abandoned but the records stand.

The standings in the divisional league tables are as follows – Premier Division - Top: Booth 139, Thornton 120, Copley 117, Illingworth St Mary's 107. Bottom: Warley & Elland 44, Shelf Northowram HT 60, Clayton 61.

First Division - Top: Luddendenfoot 117, Sowerby St Peter's 108, Great Horton PC 101. Bottom: Sowerby Bridge 42, Stones 49, Low Moor HT 64.

Second Division - Top: Southowram 139, Queensbury 137, Mount 128. Bottom: Augustinians 45, Leymoor 54, Bradley & Colnebridge 67.

The semi-finals of both the Parish Cup and Crossley Shield were all postponed at the weekend and have been rearranged for this Sunday. They are - Parish Cup: Copley v Illingworth St Mary's; SBCI v Oxenhope. Crossley Shield: Booth v SBCI; Illlingworth St Mary's v Bradshaw.