It was a huge achievement to reach the final of the national Church Times Cricket Cup, but in the end the clergy team from the Diocese of Leeds were defeated by 9 wickets in their match against a more experienced Diocese of London team, cheered on by home supporters led by the Bishop of London, Rt Revd Richard Chartres.
Captain, the Revd Phil Arnold (Vicar of St Wilfrid’s in Calverley). and his team travelled to the Walker Cricket Ground, Southgate direct from the diocesan Clergy Conference in Liverpool and despite the 200 mile journey they got off to a strong start. The opening batsmen reached 50 without loss but after lunch came the collapse and the northern team were all out for 167.
Set 168 to win off 40 overs the Diocese of London overhauled the total in 29 overs with the loss of just 1 wicket. Afterwards it was time for commiserations. “After a great start by Dan Tyler and Heston Groenewald putting on 100 for no loss we couldn't maintain the momentum, " said captain, Phil Arnold. But, he added, “It was a great day and we hope the first of many."
For the Diocese of London clergy it was the fourth victory in a row in the annual Church Times tournament. But the Leeds team can look back proudly to victories on their road to the final against the dioceses of Chester, Carlisle and Lincoln.
Out on the cricket pitch, Revd Phil was joined by a team which included the Bishop of Richmond, Bishop Paul Slater, the Revd Mark Harlow, Curate at St George’s in Leeds; the Revd Simon Crook, Curate of Huddersfield Parish Church; the Revd Canon Simon Moor, Huddersfield Area Dean; the Revd John Bavington, Vicar in Great Horton; the Revd Richard Burge, Vicar of Hartshead, Hightown, Roberttown and Scholes; the Revd Brunel James, Vicar of the Cleckheaton Churches; the Revd Heston Groenewald, Vicar of All Hallows Church in Leeds; the Revd Mark Bradford, Curate at Ripon’s Holy Trinity; the Revd Dan Tyler, assistant pastor, St George’s in Leeds.; the Ven John Hawley, former Archdeacon of Blackburn and the Revd Canon Philip Gray, Ilkley’s Area Dean and Vicar of St Margaret’s.
For the Diocese of Leeds, the tournament began with their first game against Chester on 12 May, where they emerged victorious with Chester 128, Leeds, 129 for 3.
They progressed to win against Carlisle, 78, 79 for 0, before their match against Liverpool was forfeited, and their game against Manchester was rained off.
The Diocese of Leeds waltzed through to the tournament’s quarter-final after their game against Southwark, due to be played at Rugby in Warwickshire, was rained off at the end of June.
In fact, according to Church Times editor Paul Handley, this year was the first time in living memory that all four quarter-final games had to be cancelled, mainly due to the weather.
The game was postponed to later in the week but Southwark could not gather a team, putting the Diocese of Leeds automatically through to the next round of the Cup.
But they faced a tougher challenge in the semi-final against Lincoln when they won the close match at Scothern Cricket Club on July 4. Leeds won 242 for 5 with Lincoln all out for 90.
In their semi-final game, the Diocese of London beat the 2015 runners-up, the Diocese of Guildford, by 121 runs, making this their fifth consecutive Church Times Cricket Cup final.
The Church Times Cricket Cup brings together Diocesan teams from across the country, with just over half of English Dioceses submitting teams. Teams can consist of both men and women and the tournament brings a friendly rivalry between the country’s Dioceses.