Harrogate cricket club (above) and Doncaster Town cricket club (below)
Posted by Tony Hutton
Sunday 5th July - with the start of the Ashes series only days away the country seems awash with Australian touring sides who have come here not only to play cricket but to support their national side in the Test Matches which start at Cardiff this week.
At Harrogate cricket club we had a double dose of Aussie visitors. On the main ground, sadly a pale shadow of it's former self following the fire which destroyed the main pavilion, the home side were taking on no less than the Melbourne cricket club. The visitors are probably the Australian equivalent of the MCC in England, with their hooped caps of red, white and blue, they certainly looked the part as they took the field.
The home side, struggling somewhat in the Yorkshire Premier League these days, batted first and made a reasonable score of 214-9 in their 45 overs. Youngster Owram with 68 and veteran skipper John Proud with 40 being the main contributors. However the above average number of spectators basking in the afternoon sun had no idea what lay in store.
Melbourne's opening batsman Rob Cooper took the game by storm. He obviously put his local knowledge to good use, having played for Upper Wharfedale cricket club at Grassington in recent years and by all accounts broken so many batting records that they re-named the bar after him. Today he won the match almost single handed, with a great innings of 151 not out, which included nine sixes and nine fours. Melbourne finishing on 217-4 with four overs to spare.
So grand entertainment, but this was also the case on the adjoining junior ground where a team of Australian schoolboys from Westfield School in Sydney were also putting Harrogate Under 17s to the sword. They racked up a score of 286-5 in 45 overs on a ground where no sixes are allowed because of adjoining houses. A great display with another century maker in Williams who made 110. He did not have time to let his success go to his head as after his dismissal he had to take over the role of scorer.
So great entertainment from two very different Aussie sides. Let's hope their compatriots don't score so freely in Cardiff.
Tuesday 7th July - the Melbourne cricket club party, after a day at Ripon races, moved on to face Doncaster Town, another Yorkshire Premier League side. This time the home side, perhaps warned of the visitors' strength, put a rather stronger looking side into the field.
Sadly however a torrential downpour just before lunch curtailed proceedings and the game was abandoned with the visitors on 76-4 in 26 overs. Still there was time to chat with some of the Aussies and to find out a little more about their club with some useful literature including their impressive fixture list being handed out. By all accounts the tourists were royally entertained for the rest of the day and certainly enjoyed their visit to Doncaster.
Although I was not present the following day they ended the Yorkshire part of their tour with a visit to Upper Wharfedale to play against Rob Cooper's old club. After watching the start of the Cardiff Test on TV they had a narrow victory with Cooper making the most of it again with another 80 not out, with six sixes and seven fours. The club website reports another great day with a few 'frothies' with the locals in the village pub. So Melbourne head off down south not only to see the Lord's Test but to play a game there themselves against MCC.
Monday 6th July - in between these tourist matches a very domestic occasion took place at the beautiful Follifoot ground near Harrogate. The Addison Cup is played for by clubs competing in the Harrogate evening league, many of them reinforced by players from other leagues.
After heavy rain during the day and even en route to the match, the teams took the field on time and played the game without interruption much to everyone's suprise.
The favourites Knaresborough batted first, but not against the winners of the other sem-final Studley Royal, who had been disqualified on the grounds of fielding an ineligible player. Apparently not the first time this sort of thing has happened as players in the cup competition have to play a minimum number of league games to qualify. So the loosing semi-finalists, Blubberhouses, were reinstated.
In view of what happened Blubberhouses might have wished they were not there at all as Knaresborough batted with great confidence to run up 172-2 in their 20 overs. By this time the crowd has built up significantly during the evening as word obviously went round that the game was one despite the weather.
The spectators, including a large number of people I had not seen since last season, were to be
disappointed as Blubberhouses, who were apparently well below full strength, never looked like getting the runs. They lost wickets at regular intervals and contributed to their own downfall with three successive run outs in mid-innings. So 62 all out was a poor effort and Knaresborough took the cup, but a happy ending for many who thought it would be a day without cricket.
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