Wednesday30th August and a trip to Honley, south of Huddersfield, for the annual clash between Yorkshire and Lancashire under 19s for the Sanderson Cup. I go back a long way with this fixture which used to be played at the Yorkshire Bank ground at Moortown, Leeds. In fact I can recall a young Michael Atherton bowling leg spin and taking wickets there.
Unfortunately this is a game which gets little, if any, publicity. The worthy gentlemen on both sides of the Pennines who organise this game are I gather not computer literate and therefore very little news or scores is ever generated either before, during or after the game.
This year in a break in tradition Yorkshire fielded over half their strong Academy side, whereas in the past it used to be a Yorkshire Senior Schools side made up of good players who had not quite broken into the top level. However a match programme was produced so that we did know the players involved and Lancashire batted first in typically dour Roses cricket fashion before lunch when runs came only slowly.
After a lunchtime walk round this very attractive village, with lots of old buildings and hidden nooks and crannies, the tempo increased somewhat particularly after the arrival at the crease of the Lancashire captain, George Lavelle, who is a talented wicket keeper batsman. After Yorkshire's Ed Barnes had taken two quick wickets soon after lunch, Lavelle was soon hitting the ball to all parts and provided by far the best entertainment of the day.
Yorkshire had an abundance of bowlers and most of them got a turn although it was something of a surprise to see Harry Brook come on as first change and bowl a fair number of overs of gentle medium pace. James Logan and Adam Ahmed, from Farsley, who are both left arm spinners were soon in on the act and taking wickets. It was only later in the day that we had a glimpse of local leg spinner, Siran Sajid from Kirkburton, who bowled a tidy length and Nicky Bulcock from Burley who had a very good performance in the St Peter's School festival with both bat and ball.
Throughout all this Lavalle was in control as partners came and went until he was in the nineties and in danger of running out of partners. When the number eleven came to the wicket he seemed to have little faith in him and on 94 tried an optimistic leg side heave to bring up his hundred and was clean bowled. A sad end to a fine innings as Lancashire were all out around teatime for 241.
The Honley pavilion, with it's unusual pagoda like centre piece, has recently been extended and improved and provides really excellent facilities both for players and spectators. They also have a loyal band of tea ladies who provide food of a high standard. Altogether a pleasant experience with many friends and acquaintances from the Huddersfield area to keep us up to date with all the cricketing news from the Huddersfield League.
Yorkshire opened their innings in the evening session with the Academy opening pair of Harry Brook and Bilal Anjum. Brook after his splendid first half of the season has had rather a difficult period lately with a string of low scores. He played himself in without making any rash mistakes and needs some runs under his belt before Saturday's vital Yorkshire League North crunch game when the Academy, current league leaders by just four points, take on second place Stamford Bridge.
The pair were still there at close of play and thanks to our good friend Peter France we got the news of day two that the pair had put on a tremendous opening stand which took the home side beyond the Lancashire total before the first wicket fell. Both batsmen completed centuries, Brook 128 and Anjum 115 and Yorkshire regained the Sanderson Cup with a final score of 299-4.
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