AMATEUR cricketers from around the Wakefield district will aim to become world champions in a new and ever-growing form of the sport.

The ten-man ‘Yorkshire Puddings’ team will travel to South Africa next month to compete in the Last Man Stands (LMS) World Championships.

The competition is the biggest amateur cricket league in the world and is based on Twenty20 cricket, with 8-a-side teams competing in two-hour games with the last man standing alone following the fall of the seventh wicket.

The Yorkshire Puddings booked their place thanks to victory over Team Hodgey in the final of the inaugural LMS Johnny Hodge Memorial Cup in August.

And they’ll travel to Cape Town to compete in the World Championships against the best LMS teams from around the world at Newlands Stadium, home of Western Province Cricket Club, for a prize of US$10,000.

Ossett Cricket Club’s Mike Edwards, Charlie Orme, Karl Anderson, Chris Day and Tom Finnigan are in the Puddings’ ten-man squad.

John Sadler, now a coach at Ossett, is also included as captain and will be playing for a Rest of the World side against South Africa on the last day of the tournament.

The competition runs from March 31-April 7.

See this week’s Wakefield Express Sport for all the latest sports news from around the district.

NEW manager Neil Warnock has already seen plenty to get stuck into as he aims to revive Leeds United’s fortunes following his appointment last weekend.

The Warnock era officially starts at Portsmouth on Saturday, although he could not resist the temptation to get his feelings across to the new players under his command at last Saturday’s Npower Championship game against Doncaster rovers.

The new manager’s half-time pep talk certainly had the desired effect as a fired up United hit back from two down to win 3-2 with goals from Andros Townsend, Adam Clayton and Luciano Becchio.

Warnock’s suggested tactical changes to give Robert Snodgrass a new role just behind front man Luciano Becchio also played a part while he has already said that he wants the Whites to play the ball up front earlier than they have been of late to suit Becchio’s style.

It was almost the perfect start for the man who took Sheffield United and QPR up from this division as his new team won to keep their play-off hopes alive yet were so poor in the first half that he saw for himself the problems he has inherited.

Defensive frailties, weak midfield play and a front line that lacked pace gave cause for concern in all the areas of the side and a lack of leadership was clear. But a much improved second half display, not for the first time this season, saw them through in the end and gave Warnock cause for optimism as well.

He knows he has plenty of work to do, but believes the Whites can still achieve their promotion aim this season if everyone pulls together.

He said: “There are areas we have to improve if we’re not to write this season off. I don’t want to write this season off, not just yet – even though the bookies aren’t giving us much opportunity.”

“It’s an opportunity now to put to bed these differences and the problems they’ve had over the past few months. Everyone get behind the team.

“We’ve only got 14 games left for heaven’s sake. Let’s put that all to bed and everyone be like they were on Saturday. It’s a great club when it’s like that.”

Warnock has made his first appointment with Mick Jones being named as his assistant. He is also looking to the loan market to bolster the playing squad at his disposal with former Whites midfielder Shaun Derry one of the potential targets.

But Fabian Delph will not be rejoining on loan after it was revealed today that his ankle injury is likely to keep him out of action for the rest of the season.

Victory over Doncaster left Leeds in tenth place in the table, but they have closed the gap a little on the teams in the play-off places and will see their next game as a winnable one as they travel to play a Portsmouth team with huge financial worries again, having gone into administration.

Pompey’s 10-point penalty has seen them drop into the bottom three, but they still have a strong first team with several players with Premiership experience even if their squad is a little thin.

Leeds will be looking to do the double over Portsmouth, having beaten them 1-0 in October and after their first week in training with their new manager the players will be keen to impress with all the shirts up for grabs.

Warnock will obviously have his own ideas on team selection with experienced midfielder Michael Brown expected to be recalled to the starting line-up for starters. Other changes will be harder for him to make so soon, although the likes of Andy O’Brien, Leigh Bromby and Lloyd Sam, who for one reason or another have not featured in recent weeks, could come into contention.

OSSETT Town fell to a slender 1-0 defeat at Radcliffe Borough on Tuesday night.

Matthew Chadwick’s 50th-minute strike was enough to give the hosts all three points and leave Eric Gilchrist’s troops travelling back across the Pennines with nothing to show for their efforts.

The defeat leaves Town 14th in the Evo-Stik Division 1 North with games in-hand on the majority of teams around them.

Wakefield FC host Durham City in a vital league clash at Stade France tonight (kick-off 7.45pm).

The Bears are six points adrift of safety and tonight’s game is one of their three games in-hand on nearest rivals Harrogate Railway Athletic.

Paul Lines will be looking for his men to bounce back from their 2-0 defeat at Salford City at the weekend.

See this week’s Wakefield Express Sport for all the latest news from our Evo-Stik Premier League clubs.

MERRIE City boxer Andy Townend will fight former English champion Marc Callaghan in his second professional bout.

The 22-year-old lightweight was due to fight Sam Slater at Doncaster Dome on Saturday, March 3 but he pulled out with a broken hand, leaving the experienced Callaghan to step in.

Former White Rose Boxing Club member Townend caused a storm with a superb performance and victory in his first professional outing in the ring last November.

And he’s hoping for more of the same against 33-year-old Callaghan, who has a fight with former European champion Ian Napa to his name.

“I can’t wait to get back in the ring, I’d have a fight every day if I could,” said an eager Townend.

“It’s going to be tougher, he’s [Callaghan] boxed Ian Napa and he has a lot of experience so it’s going to be tough.

“I’ll be going into it treating it like a world title fight like I do all of my fights.”

Townend, a roofer by trade, has been sparring alongside European Champion Jamie McDonnell at the Empress Gym in Mexborough, where he trains under the watchful eye of Stephy Bull.

And Bull believes the contest will provide the former Kettlethorpe High School pupil with the perfect step-up following his winning professional debut.

“Marc Callaghan is a former English champion,” he said.

“He’s not really a journeyman boxer, he has a lot of experience and will provide a good test for Andy. He doesn’t really get stopped in the ring, but I’m confident Andy can go out there and win.”

Callaghan has a record of 19 wins, 28 defeats and one draw from his 48 professional bouts so far.

Townend is looking for a bumper support for his fight and tickets are still available priced at £35 or £55 for VIP ringside seats.

Bull added: “Andy will have a good support there. The support for boxers is really important because when it gets to the nitty gritty you need to hear your supporters backing you.”

His fight will be part of a ten-bout show at the Doncaster Dome.

For more information or to buy tickets contact Andy on 07807427954 or trainer Stephy on 07976 328015.

You can follow Andy on Twitter {http://www.twitter.com/team_townend|@team_townend|@team_townend}.

See this week’s Wakefield Express Sport for full feature piece on Townend and his preparations for next weekend’s fight.

NEW Ossett Cricket Club chairman Bob Schofield has continued his restructuring at Dimple Wells by welcoming former Yorkshire and Derbyshire player John Sadler to the club’s coaching staff.

Schofield has highlighted a need for a more professional approach at the club since he took charge at the end of last season - and Sadler fits the bill.

He has a wealth of experience at professional county cricket level, playing over 60 first-class matches for Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire, and his family has a long-standing relationship with the Ossett club.

John’s dad, Michael, coached the junior section when John and his two brothers, Jamie and David, played for the club.

And John has followed in his dad’s footsteps by taking a coaching role at Dimple Wells and helping to fine-tune the club’s players of the future.

“I’ve always said the future of the cricket club is with the junior section,” said Schofield.

“It was important that we got a more professional approach to things and bringing John in does exactly that.

“He’ll help out with the juniors in the nets and he’s also helping with the senior players too. He’s been running coaching courses of his own for a while now and he can also offer one-on-one coaching if players require it.”

Sadler, who now plays for Hoylandswaine Cricket Club in the Huddersfield Drakes Cricket League, has already started helping out at the club’s winter net training at Wakefield City Academy in Eastmoor.

And Schofield says the impact has been extremely positive.

“There’s a big change in the coaching and the juniors, and seniors, are loving it,” he said.

“Before we’ve had parents helping out and although we’ve been grateful for that, it’s often the case that they move on as soon as their children move on from the club so we had to do something to stop that.”

Schofield has revealed an encouraging increase in player numbers, both in the junior and senior set-up, ahead of the forthcoming 2012 season.

And he’s appealing for more players to come down and bolster the Ossett ranks.

“The more new faces that come along the better for the club, and for the players,” he said.

“It means we have stronger squads and it means players have to work hard and impress in training in order to earn their places in the team at the weekend.”

Winter training is currently taking place for juniors and seniors weekly at Wakefield City Academy on Tuesday night.

Outdoor training starts on Friday, April 6 ahead of a new season which starts on Saturday, April 21 for the senior teams. The junior campaign, with teams competing in the Heavy Woollen Junior League, starts from Sunday, April 29.

Anyone interested in joining the club should contact Bob Schofield on 07846 754059 for more information.

See this week’s Wakefield Express Sport for all the latest sports news from around the area.