Altaf back for more as Cleck target a dynasty

Plenty of bubbly had been used up the previous weekend when John Wood’s side reclaimed the Bradford League Division One title that they worked so hard to win for the first time in their history last season.

The popping of champagne corks is getting a common occurrence at Moorend, the club where Yorkshire captain Gale started his career and having won back-to-back titles, the aim is to build a dynasty, something managed by Woodlands and Pudsey Congs in the not too distant past.

Several Cleck charges may now be bracketed under the term ‘seasoned’, with captain and former Lancashire and Durham player John Wood among that number, but the vast majority of this season’s line-up will stay together.

Included in that number is star turn Tanzeel Altaf, who has rejected a lucrative offer from a club in Bolton to stay at Cleck in 2015.

On another red-letter campaign which has seen the club crown their 150th anniversary in the best way possible, Wood said: “It has been fantastic to win it again, we are delighted to do so and look forward to trying to make it three out of three.

“Winning it last season has bred confidence. I suppose we are now going into games thinking we are favourites to win and people are there to shoot us down and we now have the know-how to win games, when previously we maybe didn’t. Success breeds success.

“We had a few walking wounded at the end. But this year has probably been a bit easier for us. Apart from our overseas, who has had an exceptional year and taken 50 wickets and scored a fair amount of runs, you cannot really look at anybody in our side and say they have had a magnificent season. But everyone has done okay and chipped in.

“I think in the main, the side will stay together. We are still discussing what we need to do to improve and those talks will probably go on for a month or so yet.

“We have no plans to make any sweeping changes or anything like that.

“There are two or three of us who are knocking on a bit now and probably have not got long left playing. I am 45 next year and my brother is 40 (Ian) and has had a knee operation and we need to see how he comes through.

“He will now have a few months off and see how he is for next year.

“That might be something we have to change, although I hope it’s not.

“For me, it will be a couple of months off to give the body a rest and then I’ll be raring to go again.”

Cleck have arguably made their biggest signing for 2015 already in persuading Altaf to sign on for another season at Moorend, with his masterly spin bowling having bamboozled scores of batsmen this summer with his explosive batting cameos also proving game-turning ones.

As far as Wood is concerned, it is a case of enjoying the skills of Altaf, while they can.

He added: “He really enjoyed his first year here and I do believe he will play international cricket.

“Tanzeel is a very, very good leg spinner and while his performances in the last month tailed off a little bit, he was still the leading wicket taker in the league and when he scores runs, he does it so quickly that he turns games.

“As much as we have had overseas players in the past here who may have contributed to winning a few games throughout the season, Tanzeel probably won us six or seven games and you really cannot buy that.

“I am sure he will come back next year with more confidence as well, having got used to the conditions and standards. I anticipate him doing really well next year unless he gets picked for higher honours in Pakistan.

“We have a side of very good cricketers and some are going to get offered better contracts elsewhere.

“But we are very fortunate in having a set of lads who want to play and stay together, to the point where we are all going to Portugal for a long weekend. That shows we are all good mates and it is the third year we have done it.

“We have a fantastic team spirit and now we have had success, everyone wants more of it.”

It may have been an exemplary few years on the league front for Cleck, but there remain things to tick off, namely a maiden success in the Priestley Cup, having lost in disappointing fashion to Pudsey St Lawrence in the showpiece at Undercliffe in late August.

The day after clinching the title, Cleck were also convincingly beaten by York in the semi-final of the Black Sheep Champion of Champions Trophy and while that remains another item on the ‘to do’ list, Wood is philosophical over their exit this year.

Wood said: “We were really disappointed with the Priestley Cup game; we just didn’t play well on the day.

“I thought we actually bowled pretty well considering the injuries we had, but we just didn’t turn up with the bat.

“I don’t know whether the occasion got to us; it was just one of those days and Pudsey St Lawrence played better than us.

“In terms of the Black Sheep competition, if we had got to the final, we would have only had three bowlers to bowl the 50 overs, which would have been an absolute nightmare.

“In a way, it would have been a bit embarrassing; in the semi-final, me and my brother couldn’t bowl and we practically had no bowling that day.”

Cricket results: Page 13.