Two defeats in a day.

posted by John Winn

To Bingley by train for a double header of 20/20 matches between Yorkshire II and England U19 in a competition that will  see two more matches at Wagon Lane on Thursday when Derbyshire II will visit. In slightly cooler weather than has been the case for the last few days but still very pleasant for cricket watching, a decent crowd had assembled for the 11:30 start including some who had sworn never to go near this form of the game.They may have worn  dark glasses but we know who they are,  At least they were spared music, dancing girls, fireworks and Ravi Shastri.
Yorkshire batted first in the opening game but really never got to grips with the approach needed in this type of cricket and managed only 103 for 8 off their 20 overs.  Top scorer was Lilley with 31 not out. Led by skipper Alex Davies from Lancashire who made 38 not out the Under 19s won at ease with 6 overs to spare, a situation that raised the question of how long we might have to wait for game two. Despite being told by the umpires that the interval would be 45 minutes an extra half hour was added and so play did not resume until 3:00pm.
Yorkshire batted first again but this time fared better.  Rashid, who has been left out of Yorkshire's squad for tomorrow's championship match at Headingley, led the way and only a brilliant catch by Tom Rowe of Nottinghamshire intercepted the six that would have given Adil his 50. The innings closed on 141 for 8 and this time England were extended to the last ball of the nineteenth before Hutton hit the winning runs.
During the lunch interval the Yorkshire coach  was seen offering some consolation to Rashid but one wonders if it can have come too much of a surprise to him that Rafiq has been preferred  for in this last week the leg spinner has played for the second eleven in the SET and fielded sub at Hove in the televised game last Thursday when fortunately the second innings came after the watershed. To add to his success with the bat today he also picked up wickets which may be some, but probably not complete, consolation.
It is an intriguing fixture at HQ tomorrow, not least for the return of the very much in form James Middlebrook. Northants have made a decent start and are just six points behind Yorkshire having played a game more. With Derbyshire, assisted by another former Yorkshire spin bowler, setting a fast pace Yorkshire need a good points tally from this game.