“Initially, I don’t think the team that won six Byrom Shields in seven years really realised just how good they were. Ten lads that all lived within two miles of the ground and chuck in a good overseas too. There was a good team spirit there.”
Is it really June already? You’re damn right it is! We’re a third of the way through an enthralling season - really it couldn’t be any more exciting with drama-soaked weekends at every turn.
This week saw the start of both T20 competitions; the T20 Shield and the T20 Trophy as barbeques were lit all around Huddersfield and beyond, which seemed the perfect opportunity to ask our guests whether they thought the format in its current form is what we need.
But we were also really, really pleased to welcome one of the league’s most destructive batsmen ever on the show. Honley’s Simon Kelly has amassed more than 16,000 runs in over 400 innings for his team which puts him right up there as one of the league’s all-time greats. But, as most of the huge players you come across, he is as modest about his achievements as you’ll find. To him, it’s all about the team. So we found out about his early days as a junior cricketer at Holmfirth, who then made the step up to Thongsbridge at first before his long spell at Honley.
He was part of a side that lifted the Byrom Shield six times out of seven along with back-to-back Sykes Cups in 2005 and 2006. Today he’s one of the senior players mentoring and bringing along a plethora of talented young cricketers which hope to continue into the next generation.
We also reflected on the weekend action and the first round of T20 group matches with Simon, Andrew and Steven’s thoughts on the games they were involved in. So we hope you enjoy what was a thoroughly absorbing conversation.
