OTLEY are gearing up for a third consecutive Premier Division championship in the Aire-Wharfe League, writes Bill Marshall.<\/p>\n
The Cross Greeners, who have bagged the title in seven of the last 12 seasons, are under the same leadership as last year, Josh Atkinson.<\/p>\n
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The team have lost key player Steve Brown, who has now signed with Moorlands to be closer to home.<\/p>\n
Jake Ross has transferred to Burley, while Otley have enlisted Jake Whittaker from Guiseley, and a new overseas player from Sri Lanka is waiting for paperwork to be finalised.<\/p>\n
Otley Cricket Club’s clubhouse has recently faced a partial flooding issue due to burst pipes, but repairs are underway, with the club confident that everything will be “shipshape and Bristol fashion” before the season starts.<\/p>\n
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The cricket season is set to commence on April 18.<\/p>\n
Burley, the runners-up from 2025, have also seen a significant reshuffle with departures of Jonathan Postle, Richard and Edward Brook, and Mack Hall.<\/p>\n
Burley have gained Jake Ross alongside other additions like Sam Fox, Matthew Revis, and South African Cayden Wilson from Eastern Province.<\/p>\n
A new indoor cricket facility is in the works, and a new groundsman\u2019s building has just been completed.<\/p>\n
This has led to an extension of the boundary into the old tennis court.<\/p>\n
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The club’s junior and women\u2019s sections are reportedly thriving.<\/p>\n
At Addingham, under new captaincy, the club is keeping hush about their expectations for the season despite claiming the third place and the Waddilove Cup in the last season.<\/p>\n
James Nixon is the new skipper, supported by vice-captain Ricky Palacio.<\/p>\n
New Zealand overseas Jack Duffy has also joined the club, re-establishing a connection from the previous campaign.<\/p>\n
Adhering to their strategy of internal promotions, Jacob Parker is returning for a second consecutive season.<\/p>\n
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Horsforth Hall Park are heading into the new season with Kiwi Tayden Smit and Aarsam Malik, both strong batting additions.<\/p>\n
Richi Limbechaya recovers from a long-term injury, while Ben Abbott will be leading the third XI.<\/p>\n
The club\u2019s cricket matches will be upgraded with live streaming and the outdoor nets have also been spruced up.<\/p>\n
Pool Cricket Club is witnessing its first season without Charlie Bell as captain after a decade.<\/p>\n
Australian Logan Duval is taking the reins for his third campaign.<\/p>\n
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Charlie Taylor from New Rover and Danny Groom from Tong Park Esholt have joined, while Charlie Popely is returning to Pool this year.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a poignant time for Pool as they stand to remember former overseas player Atiba Alert, who passed away last July.<\/p>\n
The club is also reintroducing a third XI into the league, mainly comprising juniors, with leadership from Brian Davis.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Ilkley and Rawdon, both narrowly missing out on promotion by just two points last season, are still strong contenders for the Division One title.<\/p>\n
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Woody Luffman, Brad Goodaire, and Jack Winterbottom will lead the three Ilkley teams, respectively.<\/p>\n
Ilkley has enlisted Tasmanian Jesse Willmott and Sion Blears from Ben Rhydding in an otherwise largely unchanged squad.<\/p>\n
Ilkley, after their 175th anniversary season in 2025, invested in a new roller and the ladies\u2019 section is undergoing a surge, with over 40 members training regularly.<\/p>\n
At Rawdon, first XI\u2019s new skipper is James Doidge, with new signing Joel Newlove set to form a fresh new-ball combination with overseas player Sam Chapman.<\/p>\n
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The club is set to introduce two women\u2019s teams for the first time.<\/p>\n
As the season approaches, each team is bracing itself for a fresh start, with the addition of new players, refurbished grounds, and improved facilities.<\/p>\n
Whether Otley can yet again secure their domination in the Premier Division, or if the mantle will pass on to any of the other contenders, remains to be seen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OTLEY are gearing up for a third consecutive Premier Division championship in the Aire-Wharfe League, writes Bill Marshall.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":594665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,259446,740,290226,290223,290219,290224,290222,290225,290220,193643,290221,85,68654],"class_list":["post-594664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-consecutive-season","tag-cricket","tag-ilkley","tag-jack-duffy","tag-jake-ross","tag-jake-whittaker","tag-james-nixon","tag-josh-atkinson","tag-otley-cricket-club","tag-overseas-player","tag-premier-division","tag-sports","tag-steve-brown"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/594665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}