Whiston Parish Church CC up for testing run

OUT: Whiston's Arman Jaffer catches out Arsalan Khalid. Pictures by Kerrie Beddows

SKIPPER Gareth Davis says the next month will give his improving Whiston Parish Church side a proper idea where they are in their development.

Two years after dropping out of the top flight of the Yorkshire Southern Premier League, Church are making a challenge to get back with a re-shaped, younger side.

They sit third in the Championship after beating struggling Wath by five wickets on Saturday but, says Davis, upcoming tests will reveal more.

“We’ve got a local derby against Aston Hall on Saturday and then we play Sprotbrough, who had a good start and are another dangerous team.

NEARLY: Wath's Michael Bates just makes the crease

"After that we’ve got the teams teams above us – Wickersley and Ackworth – so it’s a big four weeks.

“They’re the games that tell you a lot about yourselves. We are training hard and preparing well and I guess once we have these next four weeks out of the way we will assess where we are and kick on from there.”

A classy 118 not out from overseas Arman Jaffer helped Church overturn Wath’s 225 for the loss of five wickets at Church Fields, Davis himself finishing 37 not out.

“He is class, really calm and professional,” said the skipper. “He’s scored three 100s, he’s got an 80 and a couple of 40 not outs and on Saturday he was brilliant. He just dominated the game.”

Michael Bates took four wickets for Wath, as did Sam Drabble for Whiston. Wath opener cracked 58 but Church had too much for them.

Added Davis: “Over the last couple of years we have been trying to build a young side, so giving the lads that opportunity and experience has meant tight games we were losing in the last couple of years due to inexperience and age we are now winning.

"We still have a lot of learning to do but looking at the position we are in now, we want to challenge in all formats."