A week ago on Saturday 20th August the Yorkshire Academy achieved a famous victory over Yorkshire league north leaders Harrogate at the Leeds University ground at Weetwood. The weather, although dry, kept the number of hardy spectators to a minimum with almost gale force winds blowing throughout the game. Perhaps this had a bearing on the game in which wickets fell with great regularity.
The Academy won the toss and batted and lost the first four batsmen in no time for only 16 runs. Indeed John Abrahams, the England Under 19 team manager, who had come to watch Harry Brook bat, appeared from the car park just as Harry was out lbw to the fifth ball of the first over. Harrogate's Geeson-Brown took three of these wickets in an unplayable opening spell.
Wickets continued to fall and only Ainsley and Read, both with 10, had reached double figures when the ninth wicket fell for only 60. However a gallant last wicket partnership of 25 between the two spin bowlers, Logan and Shutt, did improve the total somewhat to a final figure of 85 all out. Logan 15 and Shutt 16 not out with Geeson-Brown finishing withe figures of 4-33 in twelve overs.
Most people thought Harrogate would knock off this modest total in no time, but Matthew Fisher, recently returned from a long standing injury, had other ideas and immediately clean bowled Aussie Sanson and the prolific Johnny Tattersall for ducks with balls which swung in to demolish the stumps. Matthew Taylor, fresh from a century batting at number 11 for Yorkshire under 19s last week, joined in by bowling the other opener Good for 5 and amazingly Harrogate were 7-3.
Harrogate's unhappy scoreboard
Things settled down for a while with the biggest partnership of the match between skipper George Ross and Foster who put on 43 to take the score to 50-3 and the visitors seemed to be coasting. Off spinner Shutt entered the fray and immediately dismissed Foster and Ellaby to make it 50-5. The turning point then came when George Ross on 31, by far the highest score of the match was controversially given out caught behind by Read off Shutt. Obviously the batsman did not agree with the decision.
Another concerted appeal during Fisher's opening spell - this time not out
After that the Harrogate innings turned into a shambles and Logan joined in with two wickets, Taylor was run out by Imtiaz, before Fisher, bowling with considerable pace, returned to clean bowl number eleven Harry Stow and Harrogate were all out for just 73. A memorable victory for the young Academy side due in full measure to that last wicket stand. This opened up the title race with both sides, together with York, fighting for top spot.
The Academy celebrate victory as the umpire retrieves the middle stump
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