Clergy from the Diocese of Leeds in final of Church Times Cricket Cup
Clergy from the Diocese of Leeds have made it to the final of the Church Times Cricket Cup which takes place this Thursday – and their northern reputation is on the line.
The Diocese of Sheffield won the first Cricket Cup final in 1951, but since then the tournament has mainly been dominated by teams from the South of England.
In the Cup’s 66th final, the Diocese of Leeds will be taking on three times Cup winners, the Diocese of London at The Walker Cricket Ground, Southgate.
The Leeds team has been captained by the Revd Phil Arnold, Vicar of St Wilfrid’s in Calverley, who said: “It’s great to be in the final and particularly as each match has produced great performances.
“With a large diocese there is a much bigger pool of players to choose from and we’ve benefited from that.
“The final is going to be a tough encounter. The Diocese of London, who we are playing, has won the competition for the last three years in a row.
"The competition has always been dominated by teams representing southern dioceses and, as far as I know, a northern team hasn’t won the cup for some time. But, we are confident that there’s one more big performance to come."
Out on the cricket pitch, Revd Phil has been joined by the Revd Mark Harlow, Curate at St George’s in Leeds; the Revd Andrew Patrick, Team Vicar at Bilton’s St John and St Luke; 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 Rt Revd Paul Slater, Bishop of Richmond; the Revd Graham Buttanshaw, Vicar of Otley Parish Church; 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; the Revd Canon Philip Gray, Ilkley’s Area Dean and Vicar of St Margaret’s; and Chris Balding, on staff at St George’s Leeds.
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.
The Revd Canon Philip Gray, Ilkley’s Area Dean and Vicar of St Margaret’s, said: “It has been a delight to represent four dioceses through the years in the Church Times Cricket Cup: York, Blackburn, Bradford, and now Leeds. Our present team is undoubtedly the strongest I have had the pleasure to be a part of.
“When we beat Lincoln in the semi-final it was the first time I had ever been involved in a team to reach that stage of the Cup.
“To be involved in the final will be very special and I am very much looking forward to it. I hope we can do ourselves justice!"
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.
This year’s final will take place this Thursday - during the Diocesan Clergy Conference which is taking place in Liverpool - so clergy taking part will be sent off with a blessing and prayers from almost all the clergy and the five bishops.
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.
