Alwoodley Cricket Club

Alwoodley Cricket Club is a cricket club based in Alwoodley, a suburb of north Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Alwoodley play in the Airedale-Wharfedale Senior Cricket League.
History
The club was formed 1935 when Alwoodley was a rapidly developing community. A group of cricketing enthusiasts decided that a Cricket Club was needed. Having found a field on King Lane, opposite the end of Alwoodley Lane, they cleared it of stone and livestock and a cricket ground was created. A second hand pavilion was purchased, dismantled, transported to its new home, re-erected, painted and 'Alwoodley CC' was born.
Within 3 years the Club had move to Goodrick Lane, next to Sandmoor Golf Club.
In 1952 the Club moved again, taking the Pavilion, to its present site - Crag Lane.
In 1953 the first prestigious Boxing Day fixture against the Northern Cricket Society was played. The BBC was there annually thereafter to report on the match and stars such as Brian Close and Don Wilson were regulars over the years. The match raised a lot of money for charity.
Traditionally Alwoodley's senior teams have occupied the lower divisions of the league. The 1st XI have been out of the top division for over 25 years, whilst the 2nd XI have fluctuated between the divisions, often winning lower league championships. Their best recent side was in the mid 1990s, when, under the leadership of Jon Hatchard, they were a decent mid table A division outift. A couple of relegations followed and the club currently plays in Division 3.
Whilst weaker in recent years, the junior section has been traditionally strong and the club has won numerous trophies. The peak being in 1992 when the Len Frobisher coached U15 side with Iain Taylor as skipper was crowned Yorkshire champions, triumphing in a 20/20 finals day style tournament over Pudsey St Lawrence, Barnsley and Bentley Colliery at Hanging Heaton CC. They were eventually eliminated from the national competition a couple of rounds later by Gateshead Fell.

Present day
Today, Alwoodley CC have two senior teams, a Sunday friendly team and a number of Junior teams. The Junior section play in the Airedale and Wharfedale Junior Cricket League.
For the 2009 season the 1st XI will be captained by Adam Trunks. After a disappointing last two seasons, where they finished second bottom both times, the club is hoping that the 1st XI with plenty of new blood can climb out of the re-election zone. It is also hoped that the weather holds as in the 2007 and 2008 seasons the 1st XI had a significant amount of games cancelled due to the weather at their home ground.
In 2005 Alwoodley Cricket club hosted Bankstown Trotters Cricket Club (from Sydney, Australia)in a special match dubbed "The Alwoodley Ashes". The Trotters won the tightly contested match.

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