ARRON LILLEY will skipper the Drakes League’s Under 21 side when they set out to retain the White Rose Trophy with a semi-final clash against the Airedale & Wharfedale League at Broad Oak tomorrow (1.30).
The Delph & Dobcross all-rounder will be joined in the Huddersfield side by his Delph teammate, Pakistani-born speedster Adnan Ghous, who will bring some genuine pace to the attack, along with Scholes’ Tom Brook, Ben Potter from Hoylandswaine and Broad Oak ace Jack Hargreaves.
Ghous and Hargreaves can both bring county experience to the table, the former having played a handful of games with Derbyshire Seconds, while Hargreaves is very much on Yorkshire’s radar.
Lilley, who has experience of County Second Eleven cricket with Lancashire, will provide the main spin option, along with Lepton Highlanders’ in-form captain Steve Brown, who will be making his debut for Huddersfield and has earned his place in the side with some good performances with both bat and ball.
Another man on debut is Broad Oak’s Chris Gill, who takes over the gloves but is also a high-scoring batsman, having twice this season topped 150 in Premiership matches against Slaithwaite and Barkisland, while Brook steps up from previously being the Joe Lumb Cup captain to help spearhead the seam attack.
Elland’s Dominic Finn also gets a first representative appearance for the League side.
Shepley’s Liam Wiles, Elland’s Nick Sharp and Kirkburton’s Jonny Butterfield join Lilley and Potter as the five players who were in the team last season, when Craig Fletcher led the side to a glorious victory against the North Yorkshire and South Durham team in Middlesbrough.
Wiles is enjoying some consistency this year with over 500 runs to his name, while Butterfield, who recently moved from Honley, hit 45 on his debut for Kirkburton.
Sharpe has not been in the best of form of late but is a proven player, while Potter too has not seen as much action this season at Hoylandswaine, where he has less opportunity to bowl and has been batting way down the order.
Skipper Lilley has been among the wickets this year at Delph, with a best of six for 36 against Elland in the League programme, while his unbeaten 126 steered his club to victory over Golcar earlier in the season.
The Aire/Wharfe side are usually a strong outfit, and team manager Norman Clee knows his team will need to be on song if they are to reach the final and retain the trophy.
Huddersfield: Arron Lilley (capt), Adnan Ghous (both Delph & Dobcross), Jack Hargreaves, Chris Gill (both Broad Oak), Liam Wiles (Shepley), Tom Brook (Scholes), Nick Sharpe, Dominic Finn (both Elland), Ben Potter (Hoylandswaine), Steve Brown (Lepton Highlanders), Jonny Butterfield (Kirkburton).
