19 May Inter-district team strikes

Huddersfield’s Veterans Inter-district side opened their 2026 campaign in style on May 15th with emphatic wins both home and away against Castleford — and if last season left followers scratching their heads, this felt like the first signs of a team rediscovering its confidence.

After a disappointing 2025 season, predictably, everybody had a theory. Too strong at home. Too weak away. Wrong green choices. Wrong balance. Wrong approach. By winter, half the district could have selected the team. There had been no shortage of opinions, some helpful others less so. But whatever, it was clear change was needed.

So, what actually has changed?

To find out, I caught up with new home team captain Graham Sigsworth — who, incidentally, has also stepped up to join the league Management Committee alongside his Inter-district duties. And within about five minutes of speaking to him, one thing became abundantly clear: this isn’t somebody making up the numbers. This is somebody fully invested in getting the Huddersfield Inter-district team back to where he believes it belongs.

One of the recurring criticisms from last year centred on the perception that Huddersfield’s resources were weighted too heavily toward the home side, leaving the away team exposed. Why not simply stack the away team with all the best available players?

As a general philosophy, he explained, this is fine – but it is not that simple. Huddersfield’s performance was going to take more than rearranging existing personnel and the focus over the winter was to strengthen the squad as a whole. New players have been introduced, increasing both depth and flexibility. The intention being not simply to improve one side at the expense of the other, but to create a stronger overall group capable of competing consistently, home and away.

Against Castleford, there was early evidence that the strategy may have substance.
At home, Huddersfield were dominant in a 26-2 victory that underlined the advantage they continue to hold on home greens. Yet it was the away result that perhaps drew most attention. Last season Huddersfield lost 21-11 at Castleford. This time, bolstered by several new bowlers, they returned with a very convincing 19-9 victory.

It is important not to overstate the significance. Castleford finished bottom of the table in 2025, and stronger tests await. Skipton, Huddersfield’s next opponents on May 29th, will provide a more meaningful measure of progress.

Still, sport is often about increments rather than revolutions. The signs of improvement do not always arrive dramatically. Sometimes they reveal themselves quietly: in greater composure away from home, in increased competition for places, in a squad carrying itself with renewed belief.

I also asked Graham about Lockwood, last Friday’s home green, a green whose condition has become a subject of increasing debate locally. He did not deny its imperfections. But he was equally clear that Inter-district bowling is governed by pragmatism rather than aesthetics.
A lot of care goes into selecting home greens, he said, and they are not chosen to impress visiting horticultural societies. They are chosen to win matches. On Friday afternoon, it certainly did.

Yet perhaps the most striking aspect of the conversation was not tactical at all. Talking to Graham Sigsworth, you quickly realise this is somebody who genuinely cares. About the team. About the Inter-district scene. About winning.
And in any sport, that’s usually not a bad place to start.