IT may have been Hepworth & Idle who took the the Covid Cup Group C crown, but it was a player for runners-up Denholme who made the headlines on the final day of the Mewies Solicitors Craven League.

Gargrave opener John Beckwith was without a game due to Bradley's withdrawal from Group E, but he noticed that Denholme were a player short at Wilsden.

He volunteered his services, Denholme skipper Ryan Judson accepted the offer and opener Beckwith then scored an astonishing 178 out of 221 to help his team to a 93-run victory.

Beckwith said: "I was disappointed that Bradley pulled out but I always try and play until the end of the season and noticed that Denholme were a man short.

"Denholme skipper Ryan Judson was good enough to let me open, which I usually do for Gargrave, but wickets kept falling at the other end - I don't know why."

Despite Beckwith's innings, Denholme had slumped to 89-9 before Judson came to the wicket and added a superb 132 with the loanee for the final wicket.

Beckwith, whose innings only lasted 89 balls and contained 12 fours and a mighty 18 sixes, revealed: "I asked the square leg umpire how many I was on and he said 89 so I hit the next ball for six and then hit two fours, and I just teed off after that.

"Ryan batted well for his 15 not out but I tried to take the first four or five balls of the over."

Beckwith started the shortened season by making 79 and 112 for Gargrave but admitted that his knock for Denholme was "one of my best innings, although the boundaries at Wilsden are shorter than at Gargrave".

Wicket-keeper Callum Gerrard, with 10, was the only other Denholme player to score double figures.

Ben Mitchell (5-47) and Hasnat Bukhari (2-25) had caused the early damage for Wilsden, who were understandably shell-shocked when they went out to bat and were dismissed for 128.

Opener Bukhari completed a fine match by hitting 52 off as many balls, including six fours and three sixes, and added 58 for the first wicket with Nigel Butterfield (13).

Toby Priestley (4-30) and Jack Peel (2-4) triggered the collapse from 80-1.

Bradford & Bingley III have brought on many youngsters but there is still a place for 'older heads' and they were indebted to Andrew Dobson, Lawrence Davis, Farhan Khalid and Shahbaz Ahmed when they faced Crossflatts II in Group D.

The visitors were dismissed for 80 by Khalid (3-15), Ahmed (3-20) and under-15 Oliver Gokhale (2-11), with the majority of the runs coming from the reliable Vijay Amirtharaj (29), Mark Pennington (15 not out) and Joe Taylor (10).

Bingley found things little easier on the Sandy Lane wicket until Dobson (29no) was joined by Davis (19no), who saw them to a five-wicket win in the 26th over after Tahir Mehmood (2-11) and Lee Bailey (2-16) had caused some early tremors.

There were no such difficulties for Group D winners Eldwick & Gilstead at Long Lee, with the visitors posting an impressive 231-2.

Deependra Rathore (95no) and Jacob Roach (80no) put on an unbroken 174 for the third wicket, with Rathore cracking nine fours and six sixes and Roach 11 fours and a six, after opener Oliver Hall had hit seven fours in his 31.

Ahsan Rizwan (36) and Stephen Butterfield (27) added 51 for the fifth wicket but that was the only stand of note for Long Lee, who fell for 143 at the hands of Matthew Sharp (2-11), Tom Conneely (2-14) and Andrew Stephenson (2-28).

Even with Riddlesden getting five penalty runs when the ball struck the keeper's helmet, they still lost by 23 runs at home to Hepworth & Idle II.

The Westfield Laners totalled 159-7, with opener Jamie Topham (55) and Jonathan Robinson (51) both hitting half-centuries and adding 53 for the third wicket.

Husnain Zia (2-12), Mohammed Qadeer (2-32) and Habib Aslam (2-40) did their best to keep the visitors honest but it wasn't enough, as the hosts could only make 136 in reply.

Of that total, opener Qadeer scored 49, Mohammed Kamran 24 and Bilal Bashir 21, with Qadeer and Bashir putting on 55 for the third wicket.

From 97-2, however, Riddlesden collapsed, the clatter of wickets being prompted by Harry Pinkney (4-44), Robinson (3-34) and Owen Price (2-35).

Skipton CI II must also have been eyeing victory at home to Cowling II when they were 97-4 chasing 134.

However, the last six wickets could only add 12 runs after Connors Hall Brown (28) and opener William Shuttleworth (26) had put on 52 for the third wicket.

John Stuttard (16) and Sean Williamson (11) were the only other players to trouble the scorers unduly as Aqib Chatta (5-18) and Martyn Dalby (2-31) weighed in.

Cowling II, who thus won Group G, had earlier made 133-9, boosted by opener Steve Dalby (32), keeper Ben Davy (31no), Martyn Dalby (20) and Mohammed Shah Usman (16), as they were pegged back by Hall Brown (4-53) and Stuttard (3-28).

In Group F, the Dennison brothers dominated Denholme II's innings at home to Haworth II.

Chris made 47, in an innings which contained six fours and a six off 88 balls, and fellow opener Michael scored 38, including seven fours and a six off 45 balls, in a partnership of 50.

However, No 4 Chris Foster (11) was the only other batsman to reach double figures in a total of 108 as Jacob Hudson (3-1), Ollie Bishop (3-14) and loanee Jacob Stephens (2-9) made Denholme struggle.

It looked like it might not be enough when Haworth were 76-5 but an excellent effort late on ensured the visitors only ended on 101-9, giving Denholme the title in dramatic fashion.

No 7 Hudson (22) and opener Neil Rollins (17) were the only two to make scorer Felicity Dennison work overtime as Ryan Clark (4-17), Neil Spencer (2-9) and Adrian Shires (2-32) just gave Denholme the edge.

Glusburn skipper Matt Lloyd, with an unbeaten 60, dominated their innings of 120 at Keighley.

Steve Brown (20) and Akram Javed (16) providing the strongest support as Amaan Nadeem (4-33), under-13 Mohammed Abbas (3-18) and under-17 Rahim Hussain (3-23) shared the wickets.

Keighley's third team didn't find things easy themselves but won by three wickets off the final ball of the penultimate over in what has proved a good end to the campaign for them.

None of their first five made double figures, with three of them out for ducks, but the innings was rescued by juniors Abbas (49no) and Hussain (48), with Lloyd (4-26) and Brown (2-41) causing the early butterflies.

Another player to have had a solid 2020 is Thornton-in-Craven opener Stephen Laycock.

He scored 56 of their 117-6 at home to Oakworth II in Group E, but they lost by nine wickets.

Harry Hollingsworth (2-13) and Jake Keslinke (2-28) had the best figures for the visitors, who lost star batsman Lucas Keslinke early in their reply.

That didn't cause them any worries, however, as Ellis Marshall (56no) came out to join skipper Niall Saynor (45no) and put on 107 unbroken to take Oakworth II to victory in the 26th over.

Marshall hit nine fours and two sixes in his 73-ball stay, with Saynor adding five fours and a six in his 74-ball knock.

Group E was won by Gargrave, while Groups A and B were won by Barrowford and Oakworth respectively.

As mentioned above, the season is now over, with no finals day or knockout phase. All seven group winners will instead receive a Covid Cup.