Rochdale are treated as international players hit them for six!

The British Asian Sports and Arts Foundation (BASAF) cricketing competition

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The British Asian Sports and Arts Foundation (BASAF) provided a great cricketing competition and the crowds witnessed teams from all over England with players from as far away as Sri Lanka, Pakistan, The West Indies and…Milnrow!

The Bukhari Superstars, The Kunain Kings, La Hore Greens, Milnrow C.C, MS Sports, The Punjab Warriors, Shahs, Thornam C.C and Unique made up the nine teams who entered into the charity six-a-side tournament and wowed the crowds with their big hitting, due to the five over time restriction.

The nine teams were split into two groups with the first and second place teams going through to the semi finals and then to the final. The games themselves were played as five over games with a new bowler each over. This allowed the players to really showcase their talents and numerous balls were sent ‘out of the park’. Scores were high in many games with some of the biggest totals of fifty-eight, fifty-nine and even a massive innings of eighty-one! Not only were the crowds treated to a wonderful display of colourful cricket the weather was kind for most of the playing day.

In the end it was Unique sports who triumphed over Milnrow C.C in the final by twenty runs. The real winners of the day however, were Springhill Hospice who were presented with a gift of £900 by the Mayor of Rochdale on behalf of the BASAF.

The tournament was held at Thornham C.C, who very generously waived the hired fee for the day. The pitch looked great despite the recent rain and the backdrop of green fields provided a lovely view for both the crowd and the players. The players themselves looked relaxed and appeared to welcome the fact they were playing for charity and that no pressure was on them, all that said, it was evident they were there to win with the number of boundaries which were welcomed with applause and beating from the resident drummers!

Khalid Abbas said afterwards: "I am very pleased with how the day went and very pleased with the quality of the professional players, it’s great to have players of that quality who have played international cricket coming to Rochdale to play a charity game."

The BASAF are already busy planning their next set of events and are looking at a golf tournament in the coming months and at promoting sports such as rugby league and union to the youngsters of Rochdale. Further into the future the group are looking to bring a mid-week 20 twenty league to the north-west which will be the first of its kind in the area.