A breath of fresh Aire (and Wharf)

Posted by John Winn

I waited until 12 noon before deciding to stick to plan A on Saturday. Seeing that Durham had scored only 30 in the first hour I sensed a rather attritional day at Headingley so I headed for Otley, a ground I had tried to visit last season but in ignorance had turned up on the day the rugby club were playing local rivals Wharfdale. Parking space then was at such a premium that local residents were leasing their drive ways for parking.
No such problem this time but a decent crowd had gathered to see visitors Thackley take first knock and when I left after an hour's play they had made 60 for 1. This against some impressive pace bowling from Otley's 19 year old Australian all-rounder Nicholas Benton.
The fast wicket at Cross Green was repeated at at my next stop, Guiseley, where the second team were batting against Olicanians II. The dry spring and the sunshine of the last few days has produced good batting wickets and fast outfields and the hundred came up for the loss of two wickets in good time. A short drive away found me at Green Lane and here too runs came quickly with Beckwithshaw II approaching 200 for only four wickets. A nice touch was the production of a match programme in which skipper Chris Elworth outlined his hopes for the new season.
With these three new grounds 'ticked off' I made my way back to the Lower Ure Valley in time to see my local club, Ouseburn CC, complete their innings against Hampsthwaite only a few runs short of three hundred. The wicket here is prepared by Jeff Gill and Saturday's was as true as ever. Particularly at the village end the outfield slopes sharply away and fielders in position to save singles have no chance of cutting off boundaries if shots go wide of them. The tea interval was prolonged by the apparent reluctance of the Hampsthwaite openers to leave the pavilion. When they they did emerge they made their way to the middle at a pace that suggested they thought Ouseburn's total was beyond them. If so they were right, as they finished almost 150 runs short of the home team's total.
The Harrogate Advertiser feels that with their 'eye catching signings' Ouseburn 'are sure to be up there'. One swallow and all that, but one of these signings, Ollie Uffindall, began with a century, which suggests that the local correspondent knows a thing or two.In the 'attritional day' at Headingley 335 runs were scored for the loss of five wickets which suggests that this blogger knows nowt