a little bit better

posted by John Winn

Driving through Great Ouseburn shortly after noon yesterday I called at the Lightmire Lane ground to find the ground staff just removing the covers and was told that if there were no more rain then that afternoon's game for the second eleven against West Tanfield would go ahead. At precisely that moment a squally shower materialised but it lasted only a few minutes and when I returned after lunch, Ouseburn were batting and had made a good start with skipper Mark Kinghorn again leading the way in his typical aggressive fashion. He received good support from Ed Barnes until he(Kinghorn)  played on for 34. This proved to be the highest score of the innings but despite two run outs enough batsmen chipped in for the home team, who prior to this match were bottom of the league, to reach 184 for 8 off 40 overs, five overs having been lost to rain.

West Tanfield got off to a bad start being at one point 22 for 5 but a fifth wicket stand of 82 brought about a recovery with Andy Ganderton getting 62 and veteran Tony Clark, 41 not out. Clark had bowled his very slow enticing spinners effectively to take 2 for 26 off 12 overs but if there had been a man of the match award it would probably have gone to Barnes who added to his 32 with the bat with 3 wickets for 16 off 11 overs. West Tanfield finished 50 short to take one point to Ouseburn's 5. With West Tanfield near the top of the table this was a good win for relegation threatened Ouseburn.

Slightly more games in The Nidderdale League were completed than last week and as last Saturday one of those to survive was at Alne. My original plan for today had been to go to York to see their group final game in the National KO Cup but for the second week running this was postponed and instead I made the short journey 'over the water' to the 'island in the stream' that is Alne, where the neat little ground was in excellent condition. The match here was a quarter final in the Atkinson/ Swires Cup, a competition for the first division plus the four top clubs from division two in The Nidderdale League. There opponents today were Burton Leonard who were somewhat understrength and had several juniors in their ranks.

The Alne ground is tucked away up a lane leading to a farm and to make maximum use of its small playing area the boundary and the fence are almost contiguous. There is a splendid pavilion built in the mid nineties with an electronic scoreboard above it. The afternoon was sunny with a good drying breeze and at times it was pleasantly warm. I pitched camp in front of the pavilion and watched the Burton Leonard innings. They made 179 off their 40 overs and the feeling amongst their supporters was that this was at least 20 short of a defendable total. So it proved for Alne got off to a flier and reached just short of 60 off the first 8 overs. From this point the result was never in doubt as Alne progressed to the semi final with a six wicket victory and seven overs to spare. Star man with the bat was opener Chris Beaumont who, despite an injury which necessitated a runner, hit powerfully to make 67. Four byes brought up the winning runs, bringing extras to 17.
Alne's opponents in the semi final will be Pannal or Blubberhouses whose game could not be played today. In the  other surviving quarter final Masham beat Spofforth.

As I drove home via the Aldwark Toll Bridge there was flood water in the fields bordering The River Ure but I felt content that I had managed to see cricket on successive days and that this afternoon in particular had been how cricket at the end of June should be. With a decent forecast there is a promise of more to come, but we've been here before this summer and the heavy rain which washed out Yorkshire's game at Scarborough is a reminder of just how unpredictable this weather can be.