BAILDON, who are the only club other than Woodlands (six times), Pudsey Congs (six) and Cleckheaton (two) to have won the JCT600 Bradford League championship since 1999, reckon this is the optimum season to get promoted.

The Jenny Laners, who won the title in 2009, have since led a yo-yo existence, being relegated in 2011, winning the Division Two title in 2012 but going down again in 2013.

They finished third in the lower tier last season and are second equal at the moment with newcomers Scholes ahead of Baildon's important clash at fourth-placed Spen Victoria tomorrow, with Baildon on 96 points and Spen 84.

Baildon secretary Jamie Abbott, who has played in seven of their eight matches so far, said: "With Birstall and Methley coming into the league next season and two good teams likely to be coming down, this is the perfect opportunity to gain promotion.

"We have a good mix of experience and youth and a good overseas player in Waqas Maqsood, who is in his second season with us. He bowls at a decent pace and can hit the ball a long way.

"We also have Mushtaq Ahmed, who is still one of the best bowlers in Division Two, and brothers Jonny and Chris Reynolds, who have been doing well for us with the bat."

Baildon have won five of their eight matches so far, with two others being abandoned, while the only loss came at Yeadon on May 23.

Abbott recalled: "That was a bad day all round for us. We let them get off to a flier with some misfields and then some of our batsman got themselves out."

Leaders Morley (106 points) have what should be a home victory against second-bottom Idle (33), while Scholes (96) are at third-bottom Windhill (47).

Eye-catching matches in Division One see leaders Pudsey St Lawrence (134) at home to fifth-placed Bradford & Bingley (89), third-placed Cleckheaton's (101) visit to fourth-placed Hanging Heaton (93) and second-bottom Farsley's (49) trip to basement boys Saltaire (34).

* The biggest of new Pudsey Congs signing Jonny Bairstow's 14 sixes for Yorkshire Vikings in last month's T20 clash with the Bradford League at Congs has now been measured.

Club spokesman Ralph Middlebrook said: "One of our sponsors, Richard Burrows, is a builder and calculated that the ball, which must have cleared the large house on Intake Road by 20 metres, travelled 123 metres.

"It was a massive hit. There used to be some cottages on Balloon Row which were cleared with a big hit by either Frank Worrell or Frank Woolley."

* Pudsey St Lawrence will stage the league's Twenty20 finals day on Sunday, June 21, beating off competition from Bradford & Bingley, Brighouse and Morley.