Being able to watch a Sunday cricket league match on a beautiful ground with tea from a popular Kashmiri restaurant set things up nicely.
Azeems is both an Indian eatery in Keighley and one of the top teams in the Quaid-e-Azam Sunday Cricket League Premier League.
We arrived before the game to be greeted by Mohammed Iqbal, Azeems’ acclaimed chef. I was then introduced to Azeems captain Muhammad Qadeer, who later played an exceptional home side.
For as long as anyone can remember, they have employed Sutton-in-Craven Cricket Club on the ground; a very attractive village ground with Saturday sides playing in the Craven Cricket League.
Among other greetings I said hello to Katrina Todd who kept Mrs Cricket Yorkshire and I well stocked with Yorkshire Tea on a sunny but chilly afternoon.
Shout out to Fais whose real estate business sponsored the Azeems and was full of jokes and entertained everyone on the sidelines as the Azeems hit.
While you could be forgiven for thinking it was either April or October judging by the lack of heat (my phone app said it was around 16 degrees), it made up for it with conversation, laughter and hospitality.
Early gates
Azeems won the toss and batted first; lost early wickets as Aftab Ur Rahim (2-28) and Muhammad Munsaf kept things tight for Bradford Eagles (who are based at Keighley Cricket Club).
It’s a decent-sized playing area in Sutton, with some odd features as the boundary lines swing around the corner of the stone walls of the Sutton Gate Lodge flats and also navigate past handsome overhanging trees at the far end.
On a surface that offered plenty of bounce at times, the Azeems had to endure it, and their battle came through Feyaz Akram, a chatty, chain-smoking old boy (his word, not mine). Akram had injured his ankle in the previous week’s Eldwick Law Premiership Pro40 Cup final at Keighley CC.
His innings of 66 here was initially cautious but built nicely as the Azeems reached a total of 200. They surpassed it thanks to a scintillating innings of 69 by captain Qadeer who belted several huge sixes in a few overs.
It was one of those batting performances where as a spectator, but possibly also a bowler, you just knew that boundaries were inevitable.
If you could watch this back on the big screen (in Sutton Craven, you’d need a Frog box!), there were some absolutely huge strikes, including six that blew out the solar panels at Sutton Hall and Lodge Care Home.
“Someone’s TV picture just broke in the nursing home!” was the bane I heard in the running commentary from Sutton’s supporters enjoying the action in the front row VIP seats.
I’ve seen my fair share of games this season and I’d put that six places with a few planted over Thornton’s houses Author: Josh Hutchinson
Fasih Ul Hassan (4-47) deserves a mention as he brought some much-needed batting to the Eagles and Ansar Mahmood (2-29) picked up Qadeer’s key as well as some smart running.
At tea, Azeems put on a tasty selection of Kashmiri food in the clubhouse for Mrs F and I to dive into. We know the restaurant well, but the warmth of the crispier samosa and seek kebab worked absolute wonders on a cold day.
If you have a chance to go Azeems At Keighley you will be very well looked after. I enjoyed Iqbal’s inquiry about how he cooks. Something as simple as infusing rice with as much spice and flavor as possible is a skill I’ve never really gotten the hang of.
The intermission also allowed me to catch up with Naheem, the league secretary who had informed Azeems that I would be attending, and also came along himself, which was very kind. It’s the kind of gesture I’ve come to appreciate, if not expect, from the Quaid-e-Azam Sunday League.
If Azeems felt confident in second place in the league and hoped to link up with leaders Earl Marshall (oddly a Sheffield side in Bradford’s league), Bradford Eagles had not read the script.
The Eagles clawed and lifted their way to victory by seven wickets, reaching 242 for three in 39.2 overs. It was a successful run, some of which we saw before leaving around 8pm.
Chaudry Anwar Ul Haq (93), who also plays at Birkby Rose Hill in the Huddersfield League Championship on Saturdays, scored his highest individual total of the season.
Eagles in charge
It was the kind of quietly effective batting display that creeps out on the field side. Clever flicks coupled with fearlessness against the short ball meant he looked carefree.
The Azeems couldn’t build the pressure often enough as Shahid Nadeem (2-38) and Adeel Munir (1-38) were the only wickets.
Eagles captain Adele Dar (46 not out) and Mudasir Iqbal (49 not out) saw things home and their side are now in third place after this six-wicket win.
It is a big blow for the newly promoted Azeems especially after Earl Marshall (266-9) easily beat Adam (57-5) who conceded the game in the unusual 12th over.
The Quaid-e-Azam Sunday Cricket League Premier League table reads: Earl Marshall (47), Azeems (36), Bradford Eagles (30) and Salem Athletic (29).
Earl Marshall must now lose (who finished second in 2023), although the Sheffield side welcome Bradford Eagles next in a first-to-third clash before the leaders play the Azeems at Sutton on September 1.
So everything builds up nicely.
Thanks to everyone who made us so welcome on the day and all the best to the Quaid-e-Azam Sunday Cricket League teams in their remaining games.
Enjoy the match photos below and you can read more articles here Quaid-e-Azam Sunday Cricket League.
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Founder of Cricket Yorkshire, author of Dales, Bails and Cricket Club Tales, All Wickets Great & Small and Last of the Summer Wickets.
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