The lower reaches of Yorkshire cricket come out on top

Posted by Tony Hutton

As Harold Wilson once famously said 'A week is a long time in politics' and don't we know it. I can also suggest that a week is a long time in cricket, especially when you have a summer bank holiday weekend marred by typically wet weather to contend with. However the professional cricket watcher is not deterred by such problems, certainly not in Yorkshire where the preponderance of fixtures was mind boggling and should in theory have been enough for all tastes.

Leeds University ground at Weetwood, Leeds - home of the Yorkshire Academy.

Saturday had the usual wealth of league cricket to choose from and we stuck to the one nearest to home, to avoid the bank holiday traffic. The Yorkshire Academy were taking on Sessay, newcomers to the Premier League North last season, but with a long pedigree of success in the national village knock out competition over the years. It was an uphill struggle for them against an Academy side reinforced by the 'Sedbergh two' - Matthew Revis and George Hill. They are both pupils at Sedbergh School and so far this season have been required to play for their school team, with considerable success, rather than the Academy at weekends. Both are very talented young batsmen.

Yorkshire Academy batting against Sessay at Weetwood.

After the early loss of both openers, the pair came together and put on a partnership of 103 which looked very easy once the opening bowlers had been seen off. Hill dominated the scoring but it was still a surprise when Revis was lbw to Sri Lankan Kavikara for 31 with the score then 107-3. Hill was joined by wicketkeeper Harry Duke who also helped put on 96 runs for the fourth wicket in the process seeing Hill proceed to an almost chance less century. When he was finally out for 122, with eight fours and three sixes, the Academy were over the two hundred mark.

George Hill celebrates his century with partner Harry Duke.

Some good hitting by the lower middle order saw the Academy finish on 262-7 a daunting target for the visitors. However the forecast rain showers eventually arrived after Dominic Leech had already taken three early wickets to virtually put Sessay out of the game on 24-3. A very long rain delay ensued and it was not until much later in the evening that play resumed and after two run outs ended a promising partnership by Watson and Harrison, wickets fell rapidly but the last pair batted out time.
The Academy getting eight points for a winning draw instead of the ten available for a complete win.

George Hill returns to the pavilion.

Sunday 26th May saw us venturing over the worn out roads of suburban Harrogate, no doubt partly responsible for the need of a new tyre on Monday morning, to watch Yorkshire's women's team take on the county championship leaders Kent in a game reduced to 36 overs per side by the delayed start. As John Winn has already reported Yorkshire bowled well and Katherine Brunt had her England colleague Tamsin Beaumont lbw for nought in the first over of the game. A good partnership of 55 between Fran Wilson and the very tall Maxine Blythin restored Kent's fortunes briefly, but then the Yorkshire spinners ran through the tail to have them all out for just 121.

The pavilion at Harrogate cricket club.

It looked as though a Yorkshire victory was on the cards when Winfield and Armitage put on 33 for the first wicket  but a middle order collapse precipitated by spinner Megan Belt reduced  Yorkshire to 66-6 and, despite a brave innings of 30 not out from Leah Dobson, Yorkshire just failed to get over the line falling six runs short of victory.

Bank Holiday Monday saw us make a brief flirtation with County Championship cricket at Headingley for the very first time this season, but the adverse weather conditions again delayed the start and the forecast of further showers throughout the day after play did start for a time with Yorkshire batting was not conducive to a long stay. We learned that play was underway just up the road at Weetwood where the Academy were playing Beverley in the Yorkshire Premier League north. This was enough to turn our backs on the packed Headingley Long Room, with an atmosphere something like a third world refugee camp, for pastures new.

This proved to be a good decision with play continuing almost uninterrupted at Weetwood for much of the day whereas there were five rain breaks in a much curtailed day at Headingley. When the rain finally arrived at Weetwood after tea, there was a long break until play finally resumed with enough time left for Beverley to be bowled out for 209 which gave the Academy ten welcome points after a series of abandoned games.

The Academy had batted first during the afternoon and yet again the 'Sedbergh two' were most impressive, Matthew Revis making an impressive 78 and George Hill almost completing a second century in three days when he fell for 94, after yet another very accomplished display. Yorkshire's total of 302 was well beyond Beverley's capabilities, despite a good knock of 60 from opener Harry Gamble. The spinning Sullivan brothers were yet again the star performers with the ball with eight wickets between them.

Tuesday again saw us preferring the peaceful surroundings of Weetwood to the problems of first class cricket at Headingley. Yorkshire under 17s were playing Cheshire in a one day cup game in the northern group which also involves, Derbyshire, Durham and Lancashire. Yorkshire made 278-8 in their fifty overs with Ramkumar, who has already impressed with the Second eleven, top scoring with 71 helped by 15 year old Yash Vagadia, from Middlesborough, who made a very tidy 36.

In reply Cheshire had made 59-1 in 15.1 overs when rain returned, becoming more heavy as the early evening progressed and the game could not continue. This was a great shame as Cheshire's number three batsman, Aaryan Godhamgaonkar was beginning to show considerable talent. There appeared to be some debate as to the minimum number of overs required before the dreaded Duckworth/Lewis formula applied, but the consensus seemed to be that Yorkshire had won by one run!

The pavilion at York cricket club.

Wednesday saw a change of scene, travelling a little further afield to York where Yorkshire second eleven were taking on Derbyshire seconds in a three day championship match. Day one had been seriously depleted by the rain and only thirteen overs had been bowled. Derbyshire took full advantage of the usual batsman friendly wicket on day two to bat almost all day before declaring on 379-9. The innings was built around a very workmanlike century from Tom Wood, which contained fifteen fours and a very large number of singles. He was at the wicket for almost five and a half hours, but fortunately a rapid 74 from Hudson-Prentice and and some big hitting from the last pair, Marshall and Taylor,  who put on an unbroken partnership of 75 provided more entertainment for the very small band of spectators.

We had returned to Weetwood for another Under 17 battle on Thursday but at York both sides forefeited an innings so Yorkshire required  380 to win, which they got shortly before the end of play thanks to another century from Will Fraine, pressing for a first team place, and 92 not out from skipper Thompson.

Yorkshire Under 17s were entertaining Durham in yet another one day cup game and this time they came unstuck by losing from the very last ball of the game. Harry Duke, the wicket keeper, made an excellent century for the home side in a rather below par 223-8. Durham were soon struggling at 34-3 and the game seemed as good as over but Luke Doneathy the skipper and Oliver Barrett put on what proved to be a match winning partnership of 145 for the fourth wicket. Barrett making an excellent 52 and Doneathy unlucky to be lbw to one that kept low when he was on 91.

Harry Duke acknowledges the applause after his century against Durham.

Five wickets had fallen for nine runs as panic set in but James Hindmarsh and Isaac Unsworth saw Durham home to a famous victory with a single off the last ball of the game. A splendid ending to a wonderful week of cricket. We had missed out on a rather tedious county championship match, perhaps notable only for yet another Gary Ballance century, but had certainly enjoyed some very entertaining cricket in pleasant, quiet and peaceful surroundings in the lower reaches of Yorkshire county cricket.