MEWIES Solicitors Craven League Division One champions Oakworth had a rude awakening when they travelled to Embsay on the opening day of the season.

The Cure Hill side batted first and were 41-5 and 69-6 before Brannan Lawn (52) joined Jack Davison (32) and helped them to 145 before the innings subsided to 154, with Scott Robinson (4-11) and Haroon Ali (3-49) doing most of the damage.

Embsay's reply was stunning, Josh Robinson (85no) and Duncan Ward (41no) putting on 126 for the second wicket to steer the Shires Laners home in 29.3 overs.

Down at Beckfoot Lane, Ingrow St John’s rattled up 234-8, with Sarum Qureshi hitting 77 and Nadeem Safdar 53 as Matt Roberts took 3-59.

In reply, new Kiwi recruit Sam Porter got off his sick bed to score a superb 118-ball 109 not out (two sixes, 13 fours) and Neil Copping a crash-bang 28-ball 50 (three sixes, four fours) to lead Bingley Congs to a four-wicket victory as Wasim Hussain took 4-75.

Haworth entertained Foulridge and beat them by 53 runs.

The Bronte side made 203-8, with Harry Reynoldson hitting 42 not out and Jamie and Damian Rowell 35 each as Chris Brooker-Carey finished with 4-40.

The Noyna side then ran out of overs with the score on 150-9, John Lickess making an unbeaten 48 as Steve Bell claimed 5-31.

Newly-promoted Denholme quickly found their feet as they saw off Crossflatts by 65 runs at Ryshworth Park.

Adam Taylor top-scored with 30 as the visitors posted 168 but the hosts slumped to 103 all out, with Dom Bennett making 33 as Luke Pickles took 5-23.

Sutton won their South Craven derby at Cowling by 46 runs.

The Royd Hill side scored a moderate 142 after being 133-4, Richard Walker hitting 41 and Sam Solley 34 before Sajid Shafait (5-34) and Qamar Zaman (4-42) brought about a collapse.

The Coliseum side then never got to grips with Justin Holdsworth, who finished with 7-23 and closed on 96.

Haworth Road, after all their trials and tribulations following the January floods, had their ground up and ready to entertain Riddlesden.

The Baildon Bottom side rattled up 179, with Muhammad Zahid (62) and Ian Robson (35) being the main contributors as Naveed Hussain and Mohammad Qadeer took three wickets apiece.

The Grange Road side were restricted to 112 in their reply, with Jamie Fullwood top-scoring with 35 as Mansha Khan (4-19) and Sikandar Mehmood (3-15) doing most damage with the ball.

In Division Two, Barrowford – keen to regain their top-flight status after last year’s debacle with child welfare matters – started off with a comfortable 55-run victory over Bradley at Bull Holme Oval.

The hosts made a moderate 144 as Andy Holmes (5-30) and John Duffey (3-45) took the bowling honours but the south Craveners replied with just 89 as Majid Iqbal took 5-24 and Babar Shah 4-31.

Waj Mahmood (73) and Will Forrest (30) helped Haworth Road II to 195-7 at Wilsden in their inaugural match in the higher division, with Sam Mitchell taking 4-58.

The Windy Grove side's successful reply was led by evergreen Colin Bottomley (84no) and Mitchell (48), and the winning margin was four wickets.

Hepworth & Idle’s Jonathan Thompson had a big part to their 81-run win over Ingrow at Westfield Lane.

He made 89 as the home side rattled up 221-8 and then took 5-31 to go with Andrew Horner’s 3-44 as the Hainworth side were dismissed for 140, Jake Hoyle making 52 and Ben Bright 30.

At Cure Hill, visitors Airedale were indebted to Mathew Cox, who made 84 of their 130 as James Lee claimed 4-53 and Richard Cavender 3-23.

Oakworth II soon found themselves 17-3 before 17-year-old Jordan Powell entered the fray. In 56 balls, he smashed nine fours and five sixes in an innings of 82, which helped his side home by six wickets.

Neil Freeman (119no) and Matt Lloyd (61) were the backbone of Glusburn’s 244-2 at Park Field.

Visitors Chatburn made a great effort to reach that but finished on 218, with George Stuart making 91 not out as Nick Williamson took 4-57 and Steve Brown 4-67.

Up at Street Lane, newly-promoted Ingrow St John’s tackled Thornton in near-Arctic conditions.

The home side enjoyed an opening stand of 80 in quick time, but then bumbled along to reach 152, with Dan Oldfield taking 6-80 as Arfan Mahmood made 44 and Abid Hussain 42 for Saints.

The West Craveners put on 134 for the first wicket before Tom Cleaver went for for 66 but his partner Kevin Pollard finished with 84 not out to add to his prolific tally of career runs as victory was attained by eight wickets.

Long Lee made a cracking start to life in Division Three, winning by nine wickets at home to newly-promoted Bingley Congs II.

The Beckfoot side made 122, with Rick Andrews (43) and Charlie Rastrick (35) putting on 63 for the first wicket before Shahbaz Ahmed (5-23) and Steve Butterfield (5-45) got to work.

The Golden View's reply was led by Lee Humphreys (50no) and Matt Taylor (46no).

Brian Freimanis (64) and Abdul Majid (61) helped Crossflatts II to 202 at Cononley as Herbie Starkey took 5-30 and Scott Brooke 5-36.

The hosts lost seven wickets in reaching their target, with Jake Parker making 53 and Tom Feather 48.

Sandy Lane were too good for Bradford & Bingley III, winning by five wickets after shooting them out for 87.

Gargrave made 108-9 at Denholme II, with Mark Jones making 31 as Michael Dennison took 5-50 and Tim Shires 3-0.

The hosts subsided for 74 as Ben Rhodes claimed 7-34 and Joe Wood 3-14.

Skipton CI were at Wagon Lane to take on nine-man Eldwick & Gilstead.

Evergreen Ian Burke rolled back the years to score 105 not out as the Sandylands side reached 194-7, the home side managing 104-8 in reply.

Riddlesden II were unable to raise a side, so Embsay II receive three points.

Despite a lot of hard work on the ground after the January floods, Airedale II were beaten by the soft conditions and had to call their game off with Cowling II in Divisions Four and Five.

Another game abandoned was that between Oakworth III and Long Lee II as the ground and wicket at Bronte Fields had not been prepared by Bradford Council, much to the hosts' chagrin.

With Sutton’s ground being unavailable due the building of their new pavilion, their match against Sandy Lane II was moved to Victory Park at Barnoldswick.

The visitors blasted 216-9, thanks to Muhammed Ulfat (84) and Muhammad Hamzar (35) as Tony Walton claimed 4-38.

The Royd Hill side only managed 119 in reply, with Simon Todd making 71 as Liquat Ali took 4-52.

Mark Johnston made 59 of Glusburn II 155-3 at Chatburn II but the Ribble Valley side knocked off the runs for the loss of five wickets, with Darren Jackson scoring 50 as veteran Bryan Hollis took 4-69.

Foulridge walloped 301-9 at Noyna, with Imran Qamer blasting 114 and Umar Farooq 70 as Peter Hatton took 6-57. Visitors Cononley could only muster 107 in reply.

Bradley II went down by 188 runs at home to Barrowford II.

There was a terrific finish at Hainworth, where Ingrow II held on by three runs to beat Wilsden II.

The hosts were restricted to 100, with Paul Kirby taking 4-44 and Waqas Ahmed 3-25.

In reply, ten-man Wilsden II were dismissed for 97, with Tony Hodgson (4-29) and Adrian Weatherill (3-25) doing the damage.

League newcomers Bingley Congs III made 98-9 at Gargrave, Ryan Baines being the mainstay of the innings with 58 as Tony Spensley took 4-10.

Spensley then made 48 as the Skipton Road side got home by four wickets.

At Sandylands, Skipton CI succumbed by six wickets to Hepworth & Idle II.