- Record-breaking performance by Buckley as Huddersfield Joe Lumb win again -

Huddersfield continued their fixtures with a convincing victory over Craven at Broad Oak on Sunday. Huddersfield won the toss and decided to bat losing Raven Hill in the third over, which was no problem as Micklehurst’s Greg Buckley (171) set about the Craven attack being involved in three 50 partnerships, and being the fulcrum of the Huddersfield innings.
Buckley had a partnership of 51 with Chris Matthewman (28), 105 with Sam Scott (23), and 50 with Jonny Butterfield (22), which enabled Huddersfield to post a very creditable score of 289 in the 50 overs.

The Joe Lumb Cup started in 1962, and Buckley’s score of 171 is the highest score by a Huddersfield player in the history of the competition.
He batted for 169 minutes, cfaced 141 balls, hit 27 fours and 5 sixes, with his first 50 coming in 53 balls, his second in 22, and his third in 59.
His chanceless performance was simply majestic; he had all the time in the world, played shots all around the wicket and simply destroyed the Craven attack, and was without doubt one of the best innings in the history of Huddersfield Joe Lumb cricket, and it was a privilege to be present to watch this record-breaking performance.

In reply, Craven started well with an opening stand of 74, but the introduction of the spinners soon changed things, and after the experienced off spinner, Greg Wadsworth (4-52) dismissed both openers the result was never in doubt.
Wadsworth was well supported by the two leg spinners, Raven Hill (2-29) and Buckley (3-21), and Craven were eventually dismissed for 165, leaving Huddersfield the winners by 124 runs.

The outstanding performance of the Craven innings was the wicket keeping of Elland’s Jo McNamara, who playing his first representative game, looked very impressive, having a big impact on the team.

Huddersfield fielded well and the victory was never in doubt, and this was another solid performance from a team that competes for every ball, and is one of the best Joe Lumb teams Huddersfield have had, and with six of the players available for next year, it holds well for the future.

However, the day belonged to Greg Buckley who has threatened a performance like this from the first game. The current manager Richard Dodson, who was the first Huddersfield Joe Lumb captain in 1962, has seen many Joe Lumb games and he stated:
“Greg’s 171 may be a Huddersfield Joe Lumb record, but this competition has seen some outstanding batsmen, including England captain, Michael Vaughan, and Greg’s innings was not simply good, it was one of the finest in the history of the competition”.
Huddersfield’s next game is on Sunday, 2 July against Pontefract at Featherstone Town C.C., which is next door to the Rugby League ground Post Office Road.