Patched up Yorkshire seconds aim for victory

Posted by Tony Hutton

Yorkshire 2nd XI v MCC Young Cricketers at Weetwood, Leeds.

This friendly three day match started yesterday and got off to a bad start for Yorkshire when two of the team named on the scorecard turned up within minutes of each other with arms in plaster. Alex Lilley and James Wainmaa had both managed to suffer fractured bones in their hands.

However Yorkshire batted first and gave skipper John Blain time to regroup.
Opening for Yorkshire was Gerhardus Rudolph, younger brother of Jacques, who has been playing for Rotherham this season. He looked in good form and made a patient 40.

His opening partner, Alex Lees, went for 15 and Gerald Brophy for 25, before Hodgson who keeps wicket for Leeds/Bradford University came in to play the innings of the day. Unfortunately he got very little support from a very young middle order, apart from Oliver Hannon Dolby. Usually a number eleven he was promoted to the dizzy heights of number seven and stuck around with Hodgson for nearly an hour, scoring 13, which included a perfect cover driven four.

Hodgson went on to make 86, with ten fours and when he was out a last wicket partnership of 41 between skipper Blain and left arm spinner Oliver Jackson enabled the home side to declare on 268-8.

The MCC youngsters who had not really distinguished themselves in the field, struggled to 50-2 by the close with wickets for both opening bowlers, Wardlaw and
Hannon-Dalby.
On day two Hannon-Dolby continued his good work and took three more wickets, just missing out on a hat-trick. He had Ed Ballard, who had fielded sub for England in the Lord's Test, caught behind off his first ball. MCC slumped to 90-6 but were rescued by yet another South African, Chad Barrett, with a fine innings of 63. He was eventually the last man out with the total on 215 after a last wicket partnership of 50.

Left arm spinner Randhawa finished with 4-56 and Hannon-Dolby with 4-46. Also worthy of mention was another young left arm spinner, also from Rotherham, Oliver Jackson. He gave the ball plenty of air and finished with excellent figures of 10.1-3-18-1.

Yorkshire's second innings started in mid-afternoon and again Rudolph did well with 43, but this time Hodgson perished for a duck and the very inexperienced middle order again collapsed until the lower order came to the rescue and Yorkshire finished the day on 169-9, a lead of 223. So all is evenly balanced for the last day tomorrow.