Half a dozen Drakes Huddersfield League cricketers have made bright starts to their seasons playing Down Under.

Honley’s Tim Taylor, after grabbing three wickets in the opening game with his left-arm spin, hit a century when opening the batting for Melbourne club Kingston Saints.

The Far End Lane teenager scored 104 as his team piled up 269-8 in their 80 overs at Moorabbin in the Victorian Sub-District Association South-East first XI competition.

He is a teammate at the club with Elland’s Jack Hendy, 20, who had a wicket in the first game.

They will both be aiming to perform well with the ball when the match resumes this coming Saturday.

Honley’s Will Fraine, who has been playing for Worcestershire’s Academy this summer while at university, is playing at Sutherland in Sydney and opened the batting with the Fourth Grade side against Bankstown. He hit 31 and 29 while teammate Alex Clegg, from Meltham, had seven not out and two in the same fixture but didn’t get a bowl.

Meanwhile, in New Zealand, Shepley skipper Danny Glover took one for 31 in 10 overs in his first stint opening the bowling for Naenae Old Boys in Wellington.

But he couldn’t prevent them suffering a three-wicket defeat to Taita in the Iwen Chatfield Trophy.

Naenae batted first but were dismissed for just 91 in 43 overs, with Glover hitting six off 15 deliveries in 20 minutes, batting at No7 on the artificial surface.

His bowling effort helped put Taita under pressure and they lost seven wickets for just 66, but they scraped to their target in 29 overs.

Scholes batsman Tommy Boorman, who played in Australia with Atherton in Queensland last winter, is with Otumoetai Cadets Cricket Club in Tuaranga, New Zealand, this time and has started well.

He helped the club – where Scholes’ Northern Districts first-class cricketer Joe Carter comes from – to a winning draw against Whakatane United in the Baywide Cup second round, hitting 85 in their 301-6. Northern Districts all-rounder Jono Boult hit a half century. Whakatane responded with 203.