A man who fractured his cousin’s skull with a cricket bat in an attack in a Bradford street later boasted about the attack on Facebook.

Mohammed Atif took to the social networking site to say he should “join the Pakistan cricket team after the six he has hit today”, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

The 23-year-old also wrote “let the bat do the tonking”, in the wake of the attack, which happened on February 26 last year and left Azhar Mushtaq with three fractures to his skull and bruising on his brain.

Atif also fractured the hand of his uncle Mohammed Ishaq with the bat, the court was told.

Judge John Potter, who jailed Atif for 22 months, condemned him for “frankly gloating” about what he had done.

The court heard that the attack was borne out of problems within Atif’s extended family. His sister’s marriage to his cousin had broken down, it was said.

As a result, at 4.30pm on the day of the attack, Atif’s sister ended up outside Mr Ishaq’s home in Bradford being abusive.

The row spilled out into the street and the police and Atif were called.

The court heard that Atif was scared for his and his sibling’s safety and took a cricket bat with him for protection.

Sophie Drake, prosecuting, said: “The defendant had smashed a car window and was holding the bat with both hands.

“He ran to Mr Ishaq and was swinging the bat at him. Mr Ishaq put up his hands to defend himself. The defendant hit him on the hand and said ‘you’re not the big man anymore’.”

Ms Drake added that Mr Ishaq then saw that Atif was about to strike Mr Mushtaq and tried to warn him.

She said: “He hit Mr Mushtaq on the head with the cricket bat before he could be warned.”

The court heard that Atif was dragged away and then left the scene.

In mitigation, Shufqat Khan, said Atif, of Horton Grange Road, Bradford, who had no previous convictions, was a “young man who has acted completely out of character”.

“He comes from a good family,” said Mr Khan. “He is well-educated and hard-working.”

Judge Potter said Atif’s decision to grab a cricket bat and head to the scene was a “serious and significant error”.

He jailed Atif for 22 months for inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Mushtaq, and gave him a six-month prison sentence, to run concurrently, for causing actual bodily harm to Mr Ishaq.