After the sunshine of the bank holiday weekend it has been back to cold and wet weather since Friday and watching cricket has been a fairly miserable experience especially if you were a Harrogate supporter at St George's Road yesterday.
After a day off on Thursday I returned to Headingley on Friday having suggested not entirely seriously in my last blog that Yorkshire could conjure up a third championship victory of the season from their match with Somerset. And how close they came and it would only be the most ardent West Country supporter who would deny that they were saved by the weather. Persistent drizzle and poor light prevented play before lunch and persuaded many that they could find better things to do than hang about the long room. This blogger very nearly joined that company for at 1:30 I decided I would go home but not until I had had a walk into the local shopping area and as I left I took a pass out ticket. No sooner had I climbed the hill than it did brighten a little and I returned to the ground to hear the announcement that play would begin at 2:10.
Most readers will be aware of what happened next, namely that Yorkshire took three quick wickets to leave Somerset 222 for 8 but then a partnership between Thomas and Brooks took them to tea at 243 for 8 at which point I decided, for the second time in the day, to go home and this time I did: the result of which was that I missed eight wickets going down as for the second time in eight days Brooks struck a rich vein and with help from Patterson reduced Somerset to 46 for 6. Alas this time the fairy tale did not quite come true for Captain Trescothick found support from Thomas and saw out time until the captains shook hands with just three balls left. Somerset coach Dave Nosworthy was gracious enough to admit his side had been outplayed. He will be disappointed and I imagine not a little surprised that after four games his troops are without a championship win. They face an intriguing fixture with Middlesex at Taunton this week.
Saturday saw me in Darlington, primarily to attend a book fair at my old school where I was a pupil more than fifty years ago and where I taught for a while in the late sixties. I had not been in the building since the mid eighties and felt very nostalgic walking through its corridors again, Didn't have carpets in my day! After lunch with my friend Mike Taylerson (our Hartlepool correspondent) we went to the town's cricket ground where Brian had been earlier in the week. Here Darlington II were playing their Marton counterparts in an NYSD Division One game with the home side batting and after a poor start recovering to make 175 all out, largely due to 86 from Callum Lethbridge. At one point Darlington had been 135 for 3 but were undone by young left arm spinner Harry Peacock who finished with 5 for 29.
The players had to leave the field for about 20 minutes during a shower but the sun did shine at times and it was not unpleasant sitting at the front of the pavilion. We left shortly before tea but Darlington's total did not cause Marton too much trouble and they reached the target in the forty first over with Graham Shaw hitting an undefeated 108.
I had been looking forward to my choice of Sunday cricket for it presented an opportunity to see teams representative of two ECB premier leagues with Harrogate the home team and Chester le Street their visitors from the North East. It turned out to be a damp squib in more than one way. Harrogate were a little understrength, but they did have eight of those who had easily beaten Cleethorpes the day before and yet they were never really in the game. The Cestrians got off to a flying start led by Simon Birtwistle, former Durham II player and who had scored 122 not out against Durham Academy on Saturday and he received good support from all the top order including Durham Development player Usman Arshad. The more optimistic among the small group of home supporters who tolerated the light rain and cold wind, thought they might hold Chester le Street to 250 but 42 off 23 balls from Liam Simpson knocked that into a cocked hat and the innings closed on 300 for 7. It would be unfair to record any of the bowling figures.
If 300 was even a remote possibility then 'Gate need a good start and when opener Twigg went for 0 the tarot cards were indicating gloom to match the weather and with only George Ross making a decent fist of things Harrogate were bowled out for 90. Leading wicket taker was Chester and former Durham II skipper Quentin Hughes and as the tenth wicket fell the rain increased to the point where the umpires would have had to enter the labyrinth wherein are kept the wet weather regulations for this competition.
During the game I bumped into Jennifer Ellison who informed me that Tuesday's game between Yorkshire Academy and Hyderabad Under 19s had been cancelled which will come as a disappointment to a number of pcws. I note that the Indian youngsters' match with Lancs Academy has also been cancelled. Somebody suggested that they had arrived in England and, thinking it was winter, got straight back on the plane and who could blame them? There is alternative entertainment at Weetwood tomorrow with a one day friendly between Leeds/Bradford and Durham Universities. Also at Masham, Yorks over 60s take on Northumberland and Durham.
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