Craven League side Cononley rely on families for return

With their relegation from Division Two of the Craven League confirmed with games to spare last time out, the club have been buoyed by an influx of young talent and have subsequently become one of the favourites for promotion from Division Three.

“Last year was a tough one for the club,” admits captain Nathan Parker. “We lost our second team and didn’t have a team of juniors coming through, so we struggled a lot.

“But this season, things have just clicked. The young lads in the squad have come along really well and having dropped down a league, it’s an easier standard for them to get used to playing senior cricket.

“We couldn’t have started the season much better, and now it’s down to us to keep it up.”

After eight wins from eight, the club’s season hit a stumbling block at the end of last month with a six-wicket defeat against Oakworth II at Wide Lane.

Herbie Starkey - who has been a notable loss after making the decision to continue his studies in London - top-scored that day with 22, with only Parker (16) and David Turner (11) joining him in making double figures as they were bowled out for just 81.

Herbie Starkey, one of Cononley's top batsmen, is studying down in London, so has proved to be a big miss at times this season.

Oakworth then knocked off that total in the 28th over for the loss of four wickets.

Defeat against hot title favourites Thornton-in-Craven followed, with Parker confessing that his team were not at their best in the mid-season title decider.

“Thornton have been the team to watch this season,” he said.

“We know that it would have put us in a strong position if we had won the match, but we’ve still got almost half of the season ahead of us and I expect us to be right up there come September.”

Family is at the heart of the club’s ethos, with the current squad featuring two sets of brothers in the form of Nathan and younger brother Harry, as well as Afghan teenagers Ihsanulla and Ikram Daulatzia, who have been welcomed into the club with open arms after moving to the village 18 months ago.

Left-handers Herbie and Andrew Starkey also regularly feature for the side, as well as nephew and uncle Matthew and Charles Calvert.

Veteran Willie Naylor, who has previously scored back-to-back centuries and topped the Craven League’s batting and bowling averages, can also be found at the crease from time to time.

Cononley veteran Willie Naylor still turns out on occasions for the side, having previously topped both the batting and bowling averages in the Craven League, and having once scored back-to-back centuries too. Picture: Andy Garbutt.

Twenty-two-year-old Harry, who stands at a staggering six feet seven inches, is able to deliver pace and swing from just a three-stride run-up and has been one of the standouts for Cononley and on loan higher up the league.

The league’s loan system is something that captain Parker has used throughout the season, with players keen to get as much game-time as possible following the disruption caused by the pandemic.

“With an uneven number of teams in Division Three giving us a free week, we’ve had a number of players go out on loan so far this season,” he explains.

“Tom Feather scored his first century for (fellow Division Three side) Long Lee II, and Harry stepped up to take five wickets for Bradley against Airedale in Division Two.

“There have been some fantastic individual performances, and it’s been great to see them do well.”

Off the pitch, the club have benefitted from the appointment of Rick Calvert as Cononley’s director of sport after he made the step up from overseeing the village’s football club.

“It’s great to have Rick on board,” skipper Parker adds. “I’d probably say he’s the best director of sport in the whole of the Craven League.

“He’s always behind the clubhouse bar on a matchday, and it’s fantastic to see him every week with our regular supporters cheering on the lads.”

Cononley are next in action tomorrow at home to winless Long Lee II, where they will be hoping to get back to winning ways and complete the double over their opponents.