Roman Holiday

posted by John Winn

The jet stream which, because it refuses to track its normal summer journey to the north of the UK and since March has taken up lodgings over southern England bringing with it weeks and weeks of heavy rain, played a particularly cruel trick on much local cricket this weekend. Many places had downpours of such intensity on Thursday and/or Friday that clubs could call off Saturday's cricket long before we woke to sunshine yesterday morning. Bad enough not to be playing or watching cricket without the added frustration of a warm, sunny afternoon.
During the morning I had kept an eye on a number of league websites as match after match was cancelled, and how much better some sites are than others in this respect. NYSD go to the naughty step and perhaps take note of the admirable Bradford League while you are at it. By lunchtime I had confirmed that plans a, b and c had floated away and when the city of York has to cancel a river pageant what chance has cricket got, I decided that long distance travel might prove to be nothing more than a waste of petrol. The obvious solution was to head for the ground nearest to home and so I took the one mile journey to Whixley and the Rudgate Fields ground where to my delight men and boys in white were in action in a Wetherby League Divison Six match, Whixley A v Rufforth A with the visitors batting.

Taking a turn round the boundary I struck up conversation with a man who turned out to be none other than Brian Sanderson's frequent companion on excursions into the more remote parts of Yorkshire in search of minor league cricket, Ron Deaton. We enjoyed half an hour's conversation during which we put much of the cricketing world to rights before Ron moved off in search of other grounds, last seen heading towards Kirk Hammerton.

Meanwhile not much had happened on the field with Rufforth scoring at less than two an over but reaching forty with only two down they might have felt they were building a decent platform but suddenly five wickets went down for three runs and the innings was in ruins. it was shored up by some late order mowing and when they were all out for 82 the rate had just reached two an over.

Taking a cup of tea on a bench by the pavilion I was reminded of two aspects of Whixley's history. The ground is named Rudgate Fields after Rudgate, a Roman road that passes through the village to link up with the road from York to the Roman town of Aldborough near Boroughbridge. Whilst drinking my tea I noticed at my feet some small cherries; Whixley having been famous at one time for its cherry growing. When play resumed Whixley scored no more quickly than had Rufforth but when I left with the score at 22 without loss the home team seemed to be on the road to six points. A look at the league's website this morning confirmed that they had reached their target with four wickets to spare and they lie second in the table. Whixley's fortune in being able to complete the fixture is in contrast with the other matches in that division that were abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Attending a village function last evening I heard stories of spectacular storms affecting Knaresborough, just eight miles away, which serves to underline how much fortune with the weather may determine which teams finish top of the various leagues this year. In division two of The Wetherby League where Whixley I compete there have been thirty 'no result'  games this season, and if the table were printed using washouts as a measure the cherry pickers would find themselves top.