THE UAJCA BLKRAT-GIRAFFE FESTIVAL !!

[Click for past results]

The two 6-team hardball groups will commence at 10:30 whilst the larger under-9 group will be required to start at 09:30. The good news is that they will all have more fixtures. Each Section will also feature the top two teams in a Final for the 'Malsis' Cups. Sadly though there will be no separate girls section. The team entries are

The draw will be issued to clubs shortly. Further entries may be possible if your club is considering a late entry.

The 20th Annual UAJCA Festival on 16th June [mixed]. Following the pre-season meeting the under-9 and under-11 sections were over-subscribed. Accordingly the Secretaries carried out a lottery to determine the final 10 teams in each category. At under-9, 10 teams sought 8 places whilst at under-11, 9 teams sought the 7 places remaining. The Festival will feature a record 39 teams playing on 8 pitches [4 hardball, 4 softball]

Thee applicants that did not get through the lottery process were Sutton u11 [1st res], Embay u11 [2nd res], Airedale u9 [1st res] and Crossflatts u9 [2nd res]. These clubs will be guaranteed places in 2025.

12 weeks after the Under-13 Festival was curtailed in horrendously heavy rain, the Harden club staged the un-played semi-finals and the Final to complete the UAJCA prestigious event. In the first semi-final, a Worth Valley derby, Haworth posted an excellent 34 score thanks to boundaries from Max Wareing. The Oakworth bowlers had failed to dislodge the young all-rounder and with fielding lapses had helped the Haworth boys into pole position. The Oakworth batting line-up looked strong enough to chase down the total but a lack-lustre approach with too many ot balls and poor running filed to inspire and Haworth deservedly reached the final by a 3-run margin. Alwoodley batting too was somewhat restricted partly by good Steeton bowling, particularly from Finlay Hampson,  and a similar inability to turn ones into twos and to strike the boundary. The 29 total was though shy of the first semi-final and the Steeton side would find their passage to the final surprisingly easier.

In the Final Haworth [pictured right] again batted first and once more young Wareing was the mainstay of the attack but he had plenty of help and with 14 runs from the fourth over, a highest yet total of 37 was posted.  Steeton would now face much more pressure to take the Trophy. That pressure was increased by the loss of a wicket in the first over, which left them requiring 35 runs in the remaining four overs. But the target proved within their reach with Archie Cox showing superb batting skills scoring sufficient boundaries to propel Steeton [above] to the win with four balls to spare.

The progress of the Festival though was again interrupted by heavy rain but after heroic efforts form the Harden ground-staff with assistance form the participants, the final match was played. Huge thanks are due to the Harden club for its magnificent efforts with thee entire day for a substantial crowd of onlookers.

A lovely warm and sunny day on Father's day 18th June attracted around 6-700 people to the vast Sandylands grounds for the 2023 Black Rat Infestival. A record 25 teams were to take part with a five-team group of under-11 girls having their own competition for a new trophy.

The under-9s mixed softball competition organised as usual in two groups showcased the youngest recruits to UAJCA in a real 'boom' year for young people's cricket. The Trent Bridge group provided Oakworth with four comfortable victories to top that table whilst Settle concluded with a 3-1 return to take the 2nd spot ahead of Wharfedale, Bingley Congs and Crossflatts, all of whom were eliminated from the competition. The Edgbaston ground followed a similar path with Gt Horton Church also recording a 4-0 outcome on their return to the Festival. Surprise runners-up Barnoldswick really showed their mettle with a 3-1 outcome defeating holders Skipton, Cullingworth and NWCL compatriots Earby. So the semi-final line up was Gt Horton Church vs Settle and Oakworth vs Barnoldswick. Settle were comfortably defeated by Gt Horton Church whilst Oakworth fell 5 runs short of the 37 runs posted by the Barlick team. So it was to be a first Final for Barnoldwick whilst Gt Horton Church were returning to the competition after a few years absence. But first the 3rd-4th place play-off provided Oakworth with a second win against Settle. The 2nd match between the finalists went the same way as their earlier group fixture but proved a close encounter before the Bradford side ran out winners 48-1 vs 43-1 to take the trophy for a second time, the previous occasion nine years ago in 2013.

The inaugural Girls Festival Group brought together the four girls teams from 2022 along with 2023 addition Oakworth, who had settled well into their league campaign. Skipton and Crossflatts battled to avoid the wooden spoon but which fell to Crossflatts after their loss to Skipton. The Great Horton Church team provided the section's highest scores and reversed their two recent league defeats to Oakworh, who were otherwise unbeaten. The 3rd-4th place game between Skipton and Settle went the way of the hosts with a 17-run margin. The Oakworth vs Gt Horton Church Final was a clear cut win for the Allerton Road girls, who posted 45-1 which proved too many for the Worth Valley girls who reponded with 25-1. So GHC picked up their second trophy for their day's work whilst first year team Oakworth could feel very proud to have reached the Final.

Holders of the under-11 trophy, Alwoodley found the 2023 competition again to their liking but did lose to a strong Oakworth team on the Headingley pitch. Oakworth too lost their match up with debutants Addingham. To raise the tempo yet higher Alwoodley lowered their Aire-Wharfe fellow members colours to leave a 3 way bowl off to determine who would progress and into which semi-final slot. The bowl off eliminated Alwoodley with Addingham winning the group, Oakworth would face the winners of the Old Trafford section. That group was headed by Settle on the way to elimination for Crossflatts, Bingley Congs and Wharfedale. Settle would therefore face Oakworth in the semi-final. At this point the rains arrived and the competiion was foreshortened to a bowl-off basis as the weather looked fierce and likely long-lasting. It was not of course the ideal manner to determine finalists and ultimate winners but one that would allow the competition to conclude. Unbeaten Settle succumbed to the accuracy of the Oakworth bowlers who hit the timbers three times, whilst Addingham edged out Old Trafford runners-up Skipton by 2-1. The 3rd-4th play-off match was scrapped and then Addingham kept the trophy in Aire-Wharfe hands by defeating Oakworth 2-0.

Finally the eagerly awaited under-13 competition began with a posting of intent from Haworth with 92-2 against Crossflatts. Their progress was halted a little with a stunning Tied match of 71 runs each with Harden but a second win against Settle would ensure their place in the semi-finals. Tantalisingly three teams finished on 2 wins & 2 defeats to generate a 2nd place Play-off. Holders Alwoodley were the only ones to find the timber and they qualified ahead of Settle and Crossflatts. The bowl off though was conducted in torrential rain as the competition was destined to be curtailed. The Oval pitch competition concluded with Steeton remaining unbeaten ahead of 3-1 tallied Oakworth. Earby, Skipton and Addingham failing to make the semi-finals.

The semi-final line will be Oakworth vs Haworth and Steeton vs Alwoodley on a day to be agreed in an anticipated 2-semi-finals anf final mini-competition, potentially at Skipton CC.

The 19th Annual UAJCA Black Rat Festival on 18th June 2023 will see a record participation with 35 teams taking part. The addition of the Girls Group of five will see seven groupings on seven pitches. The u13s and u11s Sections remain as hardball standard matches with the u9s and Girls Group using the softball standard format. The schedule will include the following teams:

The highly-popular mid-season Cricket Picnic is to be held at Sandylands, as usual, on Sunday 18th June and again will be an all day festival with each 6-player team playing a minimum four games.  The sponsors will again be Black Rat, the on-line cricket clothing & equipment specialist.

Member clubs have been invited to submit their entries at under-9, under-11, under-13 and together with the girls group will bring the total participation to 35 teams, a new record. A crowd of upwards of 500 is expected with hopefully weather on a par with 2022.

The under-13s section started with two wickets for the host side, Skipton in the first two balls, but they still won the match! The 'senior' section included one amazing innings from Skipton's Noah Kennedy of 70 runs in a staggering team total of 102-0. The Lord's pitch hosted Skipton, Sutton, Oakworth, Oxenhope & Haworth 'B'. Skipton ran out winners of all 4 matches end reached the semi-final having scored 286 runs in their 4 matches. The runners-up spot was decided by a bowl-off after three teams finished with two wins each. Only 1 lad hit the stumps and he was from Sutton, who would play the winner of the Oval pitch group. On the Oval pitch it was the first match for guest club Alwoodley against Earby that determined the outcome of places with the Leeds team winning all four of their matches ahead of Earby with three wins against Steeton, Haworth & Crossflatts.

So the semi-final line up was Skipton vs Earby and Alwoodley vs Sutton. The winners were Earby and Alwoodley, who went on to win the trophy against the Ribblesdale team. Alwoodley posted a daunting 84-2 in their five overs, the second highest score of the day. Earby battled hard to not lose a wicket whilst totalling 53-0 in a quality final.

The under-11 section also featured guest club Alwoodley on the Headingley pitch along with Barnoldswick, Earby, Settle and Skipton. The front runners were again Alwoodley and Settle and their pivotal match was a cracker, won by Alwoodley with 43-2 just ahead of Settle 39-1. Across at the Old Trafford arena Upper Wharfedale set the early pace but were defeated by Oakworth and Steeton who both finished at the head of the group. Oakworth with 45-0 won the encounter with Steeton 44-1. Oakworth remarkably never lost a wicket in their four group games.

The semi-finals were Oakworth vs Settle and Alwoodley vs Steeton. This time Oakworth lost 1 wicket but scored just 33 in the face of top bowling from Settle, who edged out the Craven League side with 34-1. Alwoodley won more comfortably against Steeton who tallied 24-5 in response to the guests' 47-4. The Final was to be an amazing match between Settle and Alwoodley, who had won their earlier group encounter. Alwoodley posted 51-3 and Settle matched it with 51-2 in a scintillating tied match that was decided by a bowl-out which supplied Alwoodley with their second trophy of the day.

The under-9 section playing on the Rugby field, aka Trent Bridge and Edgbaston ovals. Two boys teams from each group would also play against Skipton Girls, as a first introduction to 6-aside cricket for the new Girls' league leaders. At Trent Bridge the Skipton boys proved top dogs winning all for of their matches against debutants Bingley Congs and Barnoldswick along with Earby and Cullingworth, to go directly into the 3-team round-robin final alongside the fast-tracked girls. The Edgbaston group produced four wins for Crossflatts who topped the pile ahead of Settle, Oakworth & Cullingworth, each of whom had 2-2 records. In the round robin the girls lost both matches but performed well losing by just 7 runs to their boys team and by 15 runs to Crossflatts. The decider was won by Skipton who contained a strong Crossflatts team to 25-5 and made 27-2 to take the Cup

UAJCA is as always extremely grateful to Skipton CC and its hard-working team of volunteers, and who this year brought in their sponsors Keelham Farm with free fruit for all the participants. The principal sponsor Black Rat Cricket remain one of our valued supporters who now sell cricket equipment and clothing on line.