DESPITE falling to a three-wicket defeat at Altofts last weekend, Buttershaw St Pauls are still riding high ahead of this weekend’s showdown with Bradford Premier League (Division Two) leaders, Crossflatts.

That’s because in their previous fixture at Hopton Mills the Bradford outfit scored a remarkable 465 runs in what can only be described as an innings ‘out of this world’.

The fifth man to step into the crease was big hitter Amjid Hussain, and he certainly lived up to his reputation by scoring 196 runs of 86 balls, scoring 23 sixes and 8 fours in the process.

Club captain Jonathan Burston admitted that he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.

He said: “When you’re there in the moment, you don’t ever envisage getting 465 runs, even when you’re halfway through the game and looking fairly strong.

“When he (Amjid Hussain) went in, I think we were only 120-3 and I was questioning whether it was the right time to put someone like Amjid in because he’s an aggressive batter who is always looking for the big hits.

“Thankfully, I made the right call and Amjid was able to put on a brilliant batting display.

“A win like that doesn’t come along so frequently so you have to savour it and use it as a confidence builder for the rest of the season.”

It’s the league leaders, Crossflatts who Buttershaw have to knock off their perch this time around and they have to do that at the opposition’s home ground.

Despite being 42 points and five places behind them in 6th, Burston believes that they should be attacking this game with confidence.

He said: “I think it’s a shock that Crossflatts are at the top of the table, and I think a lot of people would think that.

“It does show that if you get a winning run together in this league, then there is every chance that you can use that momentum to push on towards the top of the league.

“I think that Crossflatts have shown that they can win these tight games, which is something that we haven’t been able to do.

“However, they are beatable, and we’ve shown that we can beat the teams at the top already this season, so we are coming into this one with confidence that we can get the job done.”

Discussing what a win would mean for his side, Burston said: “Every win is big in this division but even more so when you play the teams at the top.

“We still have aspirations of getting promoted, so beating the league leaders would give us a huge boost of confidence ahead of the second half of the season.”