South Wilts raised William Wade topped the batting charts in the ECB Yorkshire Premier Leagues this past truncated season, scoring almost 500 runs in nine knocks for his adopted club Acomb, based just outside of York.
He hit three 85-plus scores and two other fifties, boasting a healthy 70.57 average from his 494-run aggregate and helping promoted Acomb to a highest ever fifth place finish in Yorkshire Premier North.
Wade’s 494 runs is the highest tally in all four highly competitive Premier Leagues in Yorkshire, which includes the powerful Bradford League. He scored some 110 runs more than the second highest batsman.
Bradford City fan Wade, 21, is in his third and final year at Leeds Beckett University, studying for a degree in Criminology.
He explained: “The standard is fairly similar to that of the Southern Premier, but I’d say the depth (of the Yorkshire League) is stronger inasmuch that the weaker teams are better; however, the top teams in both leagues would compete well.”
Having scored closed on 1,000 runs in his maiden 2019 season with Acomb and doing well for Wiltshire in Minor Counties Championship cricket, Wade was quietly confident he would be selected for Leeds & Bradford’s powerful MCCU side.
But the coronavirus pandemic and the suspension of cricket across the country put paid to his chances.
“I don’t know whether I'd have been in the starting XI. The season effectively got racked the same day I completed my fitness test (about March 17), so the team hadn't even been selected for the two pre-season games a week later.
“But I was fairly hopeful about being picked for the three-day games against Yorkshire. What a great experience that would have been !”
Dominated
But the Salisbury talent, who debuted in South Wilts Under-11s as a nine-year old and went on to score hundreds of runs in local and Wiltshire junior cricket, soon put that disappointment behind him.
Wade hit form directly the Yorkshire Premier North League got under way in mid-July, rattling off scores of 91 not out (v Driffield Town), 85 (Stamford Bridge) and 89 against York in his first four innings.
He went on to make 60s against Woodhouse Grange (who dominated the National Village Championships a few years ago) and Harrogate.
Returning south for one August weekend, he smashed a 50-ball 91 not out for Wiltshire against Devon in the T20 match at Sidmouth.
“We had nine league games at Acomb, so we had a fair amount of cricket,” he continued.
“Acomb is a village just outside York City Centre, so about 40 minutes away from Leeds. The club is run really well and in the right spirit.
“They fully encourage everyone to succeed and provide maximum opportunity for players. I really enjoy playing there.”
He hit three 85-plus scores and two other fifties, boasting a healthy 70.57 average from his 494-run aggregate and helping promoted Acomb to a highest ever fifth place finish in Yorkshire Premier North.
Wade’s 494 runs is the highest tally in all four highly competitive Premier Leagues in Yorkshire, which includes the powerful Bradford League. He scored some 110 runs more than the second highest batsman.
Bradford City fan Wade, 21, is in his third and final year at Leeds Beckett University, studying for a degree in Criminology.
He explained: “The standard is fairly similar to that of the Southern Premier, but I’d say the depth (of the Yorkshire League) is stronger inasmuch that the weaker teams are better; however, the top teams in both leagues would compete well.”
Having scored closed on 1,000 runs in his maiden 2019 season with Acomb and doing well for Wiltshire in Minor Counties Championship cricket, Wade was quietly confident he would be selected for Leeds & Bradford’s powerful MCCU side.
But the coronavirus pandemic and the suspension of cricket across the country put paid to his chances.
“I don’t know whether I'd have been in the starting XI. The season effectively got racked the same day I completed my fitness test (about March 17), so the team hadn't even been selected for the two pre-season games a week later.
“But I was fairly hopeful about being picked for the three-day games against Yorkshire. What a great experience that would have been !”
Dominated
But the Salisbury talent, who debuted in South Wilts Under-11s as a nine-year old and went on to score hundreds of runs in local and Wiltshire junior cricket, soon put that disappointment behind him.
Wade hit form directly the Yorkshire Premier North League got under way in mid-July, rattling off scores of 91 not out (v Driffield Town), 85 (Stamford Bridge) and 89 against York in his first four innings.
He went on to make 60s against Woodhouse Grange (who dominated the National Village Championships a few years ago) and Harrogate.
Returning south for one August weekend, he smashed a 50-ball 91 not out for Wiltshire against Devon in the T20 match at Sidmouth.
“We had nine league games at Acomb, so we had a fair amount of cricket,” he continued.
“Acomb is a village just outside York City Centre, so about 40 minutes away from Leeds. The club is run really well and in the right spirit.
“They fully encourage everyone to succeed and provide maximum opportunity for players. I really enjoy playing there.”
