York wide of the mark

posted by John Winn

On Saturday my wife sponsored the match ball for the Nidderdale League match between Ouseburn and Goldsborough. The visitors batted first and an aggressive approach saw the score rise quickly but the innings declined from 98 for 1 to to 160 all out, largely due to some excellent bowling from Chris Morrison who took 6 for 29 off his 12 overs. He was well supported by some good catching and ground fielding.
When Ouseburn batted last week's hero Tom Parker went early but skipper Ollie Uffindall and Jamie Bryant put together a century stand and the league leaders went on to win by 8 wickets with 14 overs to spare, a result that leaves Ouseburn needing just one win from their last three games to take the championship. It would be fitting if that were to come at nearest rivals Pannall next week.
If Ouseburn's victory was comfortable it was nothing compared with the game I attended at Weetwood yesterday, a semi final in The Yorkshire League KO cup between the Academy and York. On a beautiful afternoon the Academy had its usual core of dedicated support. York won the toss and elected to bat on a wicket that clearly had some juice in it and were soon reduced to 16 for 2.A stand of 63 for the seventh wicket between Ryan McKendry and Richard Love brought some respectability but a final score of 138 was never likely to be enough. Yorkshire's bowling hero was Alex Lilley who took 7 for 10 off his 7 overs.
The early loss of Jonathan Tattersall was York's only success for the other Alex, Lees, and Jack Leaning hit off the runs with 17 overs to spare. The winners will play Scarborough at home on a yet to be decided date.League leaders York, clearly not at full strength were plagued by wides, conceding 23 runs this way. Chief culprit was Jake Murphy who bowled ten wides, costing 14 runs.The two sides meet again next Saturday in a league match when York will be very anxious to avenge yesterday's defeat and the one handed out to them by the Academy at Clifton Park in May.
Towards the end of York's innings Tony Hutton appeared at the ground for a brief spell and then returned later to see out the game. It was good to have the opportunity to have a long chat with him and see that his recovery from shingles is continuing.