Bears spoil York picnic but only slightly

posted by John Winn

When Yorkshire last played championship cricket in the city of  York in 1890 three Kent players arrived too late to bat in the first innings. For the record the laggards were W Hearne, Mr S Christopherson and Mr WH Spottiswoode. Wishing to avoid  a similar fate Mr J Gawthrope and Mr J Winn left the Lower Ure Valley shortly after 8:00 last Monday to make the twelve mile journey to Clifton Park and despite some scoundrels moving our chairs while we took coffee we had taken up a good position close to the pavilion long before Warwickshire, having taken advantage of an uncontested toss, took the field. Indeed rain delayed the start by thirty minutes but this mattered little as we took the opportunity to chat with friends old and new and watch the two thousand seater stand on the river side of the ground gradually fill up.

The chairs that were moved. 

Further rain meant 29 overs were lost on the opening day as a crowd of over 2500 saw Yorkshire suffer an afternoon collapse, much of the damage being done by former YCCC bowler Oliver Hannon-Dalby. A recovery was mounted through Willey and Patterson and when bad light and rain brought closure at 5:30 Yorkshire had just about achieved a par position at 208 for 8. Tuesday brought the best forecast of the week and the best crowd, over 3000. Yorkshire advanced to 259 all out, Patterson top scoring with 60 and OHD picking up only his second five wicket haul since his move to Edgbaston in 2013.

Some missed catches, Fraine, Lyth and Tattersall the miscreants, helped Warwickshire mount a good reply with Sibley, impressive in both innings, and newcomer Yates putting on over a hundred for the second wicket. Apart from some dogged resistance from Ambrose the middle and lower order offered little and Yorkshire perhaps surprisingly took an advantage of five into their second innings. Overnight rain which cleared by nine o'clock had  meant another delayed start but it was shortly after lunch when Lyth and Frain began the Yorkshire innings with the latter soon on his way. Lyth hung around but when he was out for 37 it was 97 for 4, further wickets followed but local hero Leaning and Patterson saw out the last ten overs to the 7:00 finish and a lead of 183.

The weather and the match situation combined to bring another crowd of over 1000 for the last day. Coach Pyrah felt a lead of over 200 would engender a 'really good game' and so it proved. Leaning was last out for a patient 65 and the Bears were set 217 at a modest scoring rate but one which both teams had found it hard to reach. Early wickets were important but not forthcoming as Sibley and Rhodes, another returning Yorkshire man, put on 132. If there was a pivotal moment it came when Rhodes took 26 off a Leaning over, the bowler surprisingly used before Logan. Warwickshire brought some excitement to proceedings after tea by losing a cluster of wickets, four to Logan but skipper Patel got them over the line with three wickets and ten overs in hand.

So came to an end four wonderful days at Clifton Park and the York Cricket Club are to be congratulated on the massive effort they put in to making it so. Of course there were some minor hitches but it would be churlish to dwell on them in the face of all the things they got right. Stewarding was kept to a minimum but was helpful and cheerful, car parking was well organised and somehow everything came together to create a festival atmosphere and for me and everybody I spoke to, four days I will remember for a long time. Of course it was disappointing that Yorkshire should fall to their first championship defeat of the season but Warwickshire, after losing their first five games of the season are on a roll, they had another good day against Surrey yesterday. In Sibley they had the batsman of the match and their ground fielding was outstanding.

It is unlikely that York will see such an occasion again but should the need arise then YCCC can go back knowing that Clifton Park is a superb setting for the four day game. That will be remembered long after the pill of defeat has been swallowed.

Minor Counties championship underway.

Posted by Tony Hutton

Sunday 23rd June and the opening day of the Minor Counties championship season, with proper three day cricket making a rare appearance after endless T20 and one day trophy games in the season so far. Thinking that braving the traffic on the M62 motorway would be somewhat easier on a Sunday than in mid-week we made the long trip to Chester to see Cheshire take on Wiltshire. For once our traffic planning proved correct and we were well in place for the start at Chester Boughton Hall, with it's pleasantly modern pavilion complex and the added bonus for canal enthusiasts to watch boats going through the lock at the bottom end of the ground.

All ready for a prompt start at Chester Boughton Hall.

Cheshire's openers raring to go.

Cheshire batted first and certainly produced a much better performance than we saw at Bracebridge Heath recently against Lincolnshire in the one day trophy. That day they were bowled all out for 88 but today after losing two early wickets for 29 they recovered well and reached 299-6 with still eleven overs of the first innings ninety available on Monday morning. Today's play was curtailed by a rain interruption and bad light but tomorrow's forecast is not good either and it sounds as if it will be difficult to obtain a result.

The neighbours get a grandstand view at Boughton Hall.

However we saw some good batting today. Rick Moore, yet another former Leeds/Bradford player, quite some time ago now, provided a long innings which rather became bogged down at one stage. The runs flowed freely at the other end though, first from Robert Sehmi, who made 39 before being run out. Then a very quick 50 from Furqan Shafiq, which seemed to be almost all boundaries provided some excellent entertainment in a partnership of 76.

Two spectators gone missing! No doubt taking advantage of the excellent catering & bar facilities.

Cheshire putting bat on ball.
(As ever click on pictures to enlarge)

After the rain interruption Moore continued until he was finally caught for 87 off the bowling of the persevering Luke Evans, who was the pick of the Wiltshire attack. This made the score 247-5 and although former county man, David Wainwright, was another run out victim for only two, Calum Rowe made the third fifty of the day in partnership with Simon Normanton who made a useful 22 not out at the end of the day. Final score Cheshire 299-6 in 79 overs, with Luke Evans taking the bowling honours for Wiltshire with 3-52.

Yorkshire seconds trounced by Kent

Posted by Tony Hutton

Friday 21st June was county second eleven trophy semi-finals day, with for once the weather set fair as Kent made the long journey from their match at Folkestone to Scarborough to take on Yorkshire.
Our other county Durham had an equally long journey to Taunton Vale to take on Somerset seconds.
Hopes were high at the start of the day that we would have a Durham v Yorkshire final which as Yorkshire could not provide a first class ground next week would be played at South Northumberland.

Sadly it was not to be, even though Durham completed their part of the bargain with an excellent win. Kent, with few names in their team known to northern cricket watchers,  proved far too good for Yorkshire and produced a crushing victory, added to which they got a home draw for the final on Thursday next which will be played at Beckenham.

Things started well for Yorkshire, despite the early loss of Harry Brook, who is finding runs hard to get at present. Will Fraine continued his recent good form and provided the back bone of the Yorkshire innings with another century. This time 121, which included fifteen fours and two sixes. Initially he got good support from Bilal Anjam who made 37 in a partnership of 85. Yorkshire were then 113-2 but lost the valuable wicket of the Academy's prolific batsman George Hill who was run out for nought. Birkhead and Fisher then gave some support but Fraine was out just after the score reached 200.

Yorkshire batting at Scarborough.

Barnes batted well at the end of the innings with a confident 41 and some lusty hitting from Pillans, including two huge sixes, brought Yorkshire within sight of three hundred but they fell to 294 all out with little contribution from the last three. Nevertheless this looked a demanding target for Kent and hopes were high at this stage that Yorkshire would reach the final.

Kent did not look too unhappy at the end of the Yorkshire innings.

Kent opened with the experienced Calum Haggett and 18 year old wicket keeper Jordan Cox. Haggett went early on caught behind off Fisher, but Cox looked confident from the very start. He lost Sam Burgess, who has joined from Essex, for 34 with the total 62-2. Enter Alex Blake well known to us from his spell with Leeds/Bradford University from 2009 to 2011. What is still his highest first class score came during that period when he made 105 not out for Kent against Yorkshire at Headingley in 2010. He has really developed as more of a one day player since that time.

Alex Blake celebrates his century.

Blake returns to the pavilion to a tremendous ovation.

Today was his day in a very big way. In partnership with young Cox he put on a stand of 215 for the third wicket, treating all the Yorkshire bowlers with the utmost contempt and taking them to the cleaners in a really big way. He faced only 83 balls but scored no less than 139 which included twelve fours and eight sixes. Many of the sixes landed in the far terracing which was inhabited by a sole spectator who became more or less a permanent ball boy! Sadly Cox, who also batted magnificently, was dismissed for 97 when an attempted big hit caught the edge went up in the air to provide a running catch for Birkhead.

A distraught Jordan Cox, who just missed out on a hundred.

After the two heroes were out it was a simple task to score a mere handful of runs for Kent to achieve a notable victory from the first ball of the forty third over. Little can be said of Yorkshire's second string bowling attack except that they all suffered equally and not one of them looks like first team material on this performance.

So it will be yet another long trip for Durham seconds all the way to Beckenham on Thursday 27th June for the second eleven trophy final. On today's Kent performance they will not find it easy.

Has summer finally arrived?

Posted by Tony Hutton

Wednesday 19th June

Back to Weetwood the ground of Leeds University for the semi-final of the British Universities one day day competition between Leeds/Bradford MCCU and Durham MCCU. The winners to go through to next week's final at Kibworth in Leicestershire to meet either Loughborough or Oxford, who were also playing today. Our confidence in groundsman Richard Robinson and his team proved well founded as, despite more overnight rain, only an hour's delay was needed before play commenced. The game was restricted to forty overs per side rather than the usual fifty and the home side won the toss (no silly rules on this - yet) and invited the visitors to bat.

Durham, in their striking purple shirts, went off like a house on fire being particularly severe on opening bowler Dan Houghton returning to the Leeds/Bradford side after a long absence this season.
However, the red haired Lancastrian came back well to take the first wicket when he bowled Benjamin for 21. The other opener, skipper Graves was going well until the introduction of spin saw him caught for 33. Hewison (46) and Bedford (53) both played valuable innings and at one stage Durham were 178-4 after thirty one overs.

They somehow failed to press home their advantage as wickets then fell regularly and the acceleration required never really came. Adam Ahmed, the left arm spinner who has played for the Durham County Academy, then bowled a very useful spell of eight overs taking 4-41 and perhaps put the home side back on top. The final Durham score was 224-9, perhaps about par but still a gettable target for the powerful home side.

Leeds/Bradford start their reply.

With hot sun, interspersed by occasional cloud, the very small band of spectators were beginning to think that summer had arrived at last and very pleasant it was indeed. The 'Yellows' of Leeds/Bradford were newly crowned as University Champions for their performances in all formats, where they had won every match played until the rained off final three day game with runners up Loughborough last week. Their strong looking opening pair of Ollie Batchelor, formerly of Surrey but who recently made a guest appearance for Yorkshire seconds, and Taylor Cornall, from Lancashire, started slowly but looked in control with a fifty opening partnership.

Batchelor, a prolific scorer this season, went with the total on 51 for a patient 26 and was soon followed by Ashraf both falling to the bowling of Dickson. Acting captain Dahl put on another fifty  with Cornall to take the score beyond the hundred mark at half-way. Still a little behind the pace but in a good position nevertheless. Things then changed dramatically as Pearson, who plays for Todmorden in the Lancashire League, was run out without facing a ball, Haynes was bowled for four and then yet another run out as Neal also went for four. Panic had set in and 109-2 had suddenly become 141-6.

Cornall was still there, but not for long, as when he started to hit out after a stay of two hours his fierce straight drive was brilliantly caught by the bowler, Graves. This appeared to be the turning point of the game and Durham with tight bowling and excellent fielding had very much taken the upper hand. Leeds/Bradford were now 150-7 and needed to score 75 more runs from only eight overs. It looked a lost cause, particularly as the two batsmen at the wicket seemed to have problems.
Killoran had injured his shoulder in the field, did not bowl, and it was thought might not bat. Houghton had looked a little ring rusty after a long absence from the side when he bowled.

Houghton almost decapitates the umpire.

These two unlikely heroes however took the game by the scruff of the neck and pulverised Durham into submission. Houghton, the third Lancastrian in the side, went into overdrive and started hitting boundaries to all parts, including four magnificent sixes. Luck was on his side as he was dropped twice on the boundary edge but fortune favours the brave and the target off 55 in five overs, became 22 off three and after Houghton was run out from the last ball of the penultimate over for a magnificent 54 from 27 balls, only five runs were needed for victory from the final over.

Still work to be done.

Houghton, head down, run out with an over to go.

Harry Killoran takes the applause.

Killoran scrambled a single from the first ball, Ahmed after being hit on the hand got another and Killoran hit the third ball through mid off to the boundary to take Leeds/Bradford to a stunning victory. Congratulations to all concerned for a magnificent effort. Coaches Andrew Lawson and Richard Horner must be so proud as will be Melvyn Betts coach of Durham who looked to have victory in their grasp until that final onslaught.

Richard Horner consoles Melvyn Betts at the end of a wonderful game.

Leeds/Bradford will play Oxford University at Kibworth, Leicestershire next Wednesday 26th June in the final of the BUCS championship.

The rainy season arrives

Posted by Tony Hutton

The month of June has not distinguished itself, certainly in the eyes of the cricket watching fraternity. We did manage to get a full game in on the first of the month at Weetwood when the Yorkshire Academy managed to beat Scarborough by seven wickets thanks to fifties from the 'Sedbergh two' - Hill and Revis, despite a century for the visitors from Ben Elvidge. After that every game we have seen has been interrupted at some stage by rain.

A familiar scene at Harrogate cricket club.

We did manage two days in County Durham last week before three completely blank days when Leeds/Bradford University were due to play Loughborough to decide the Universities championship under the new complicated rules, with points for all three formats of the game. Apparently Leeds/Bradford somehow came out on top by the narrowest of margins to win what was once decided by a Lord's final. Yet another retrograde step as the game of cricket as we knew it is gradually dismantled.

Add to that the fact that it seems to have rained on every Saturday for the last month, as we saw another abandonment at Weetwood when the Academy were dismissed for 193 by Woodhouse Grange, only for the rains to come when the visitors reached 33-0. Wharton was the outstanding batsman of the day with 85 for the Yorkshire youngsters. More rain on Monday when we decided not to take in the much heralded championship game at York and settled, as we thought, for the more quiet and peaceful atmosphere of second eleven cricket between Yorkshire and Durham at Harrogate.

Play eventually gets underway at Harrogate.

However we should have known better as the poor facilities at this once regular first team venue meant that play on day one was called off very early. Things improved on Tuesday when we had a full day's play and Durham gave the opportunity of some much needed batting practice for a few first teamers, including Australian captain Cameron Bancroft. Not that he got much practice after a long wait while Jones (45) and Pringle (59) added 97 for the first wicket. He stayed around for about half an hour before being lbw to Matthew Fisher for just 13.

Cameron Bancroft awaits his turn to bat.

Graham Clark gave his first team chances a boost with a two hour stay which brought him 74 runs, including ten fours and one six. Although Fisher bowled sixteen tidy overs to take 1-36, the remaining battery of seam bowlers proved largely ineffective. Acting captain Poysden did manage to take four wickets with his leg spin, but received rather a battering at the end of the day when Irish international Stuart Poynter cut loose in the penultimate over of the day.

 Graham Clark

Stuart Poynter.

Poynter raced to a not out century in style with no less than 28 runs in the over consisting of  6 4 4 2 6 6. Durham finished the day (and the match as it turned out) on 388-6, with Poynter on 102 not out and Poysden's previously excellent figures enhanced to 4-92. As we suspected overnight rain prevented any further play on day three but fortunately we had already made alternative plans to visit a rather more weather proof venue.

Len's Seven

posted by John Winn

Yorkshire supporters took much pleasure earlier this season when on May 30th at Headingley Gary Ballance took his overnight score of 83 against Hampshire to 100 before he was lbw to Crane thus completing centuries in five consecutive championship matches. The run came to an end the following week at the same venue when he was left 51 not out in a rain interrupted match with Essex. To find the start of this purple patch we must go back to the final match of the 2018 season played at New Road. Here Ballance hit 194 in Yorkshire's first innings. The second, third and fourth centuries came in the opening three matches of this season against Notts, Hampshire and Kent respectively. Only Joe Root stands above Ballance in the first division  averages and Gary's aggregate of 609 is exceeded only by that of South African Marnus Labuschagne who has scored 653 against second division attacks for Glamorgan.

At the time that Ballance reached this milestone some media sources made reference to another Yorkshire man still revered in the county although his playing career came to an end in 1955 and he died in 1990, namely Len Hutton.  Sir Leonard went two better than Ballance for starting in the final two matches of 1947 and continuing into 1948 he reached three figures in seven consecutive championship matches. Len's seven were as follows:

1. v Essex at Southend August 27th to 29 1947, match drawn. Dropped on nought in the first innings Hutton scored 197 and 104 in his second knock. A curiosity of this match was that Doug Insole, later to play in nine tests for England as a batsman went in at nine for Essex

2. v Hants at Bournemouth August 30th to September 1st match drawn. In his only innings Hutton played his highest innings of the season, 270 not out, and put on 273 for the fifth wicket with Yardley who hit 136.

Although this match marked the end of the championship season Len showed his liking for sea air when in the same week as the Bournemouth match he scored 109 in the second innings of Yorkshire v MCC at Scarborough. The following week he captained the Players v Gentlemen at North Marine Road and in his only innings scored 64. Even Homer nods. The final match of this festival , HDG Leveson Gower's XI v South Africans, was not played because 'owing to shipping conditions which compelled them to return home earlier than arranged the tourists could not fulfil this fixture'

3. v Northamptonshire at Huddersfield May 12th to 14th 1948. Hutton contributed 100 not out to an unbroken first wicket  stand of 167 with Harry Halliday as Yorkshire won by ten wickets.

4. v Lancs at Leeds May 15th to 18th. Match drawn. After Lancashire's score of 450, Washbrook 170, Yorkshire struggled to save the match with Hutton scoring 100 in their first innings.

5 v Sussex at Sheffield May 29th and 31st. Having missed two games Len returned to action with 176 not out in a game won in two days with Sussex having no answer to the wiles of Johnny Wardle.

6 v Middlesex at Lord's June 5th to 8th, Yorkshire won by an innings and 80 runs. Hutton 133 with Yardley and Watson both hitting good scores. Nine wickets in the match for Ellis Robinson and eight for Wardle.

7. v Essex at Westcliff June 30th to July 2nd. Having missed a number of matches Hutton returned to county action with 103 in the first innings in a match Yorkshire won by seven wickets.

The run finally came to an end in a match with Surrey at Bramall Lane on July 3rd and 5th for having scored only 15 in the first innings Len was denied a second bite at the cherry by Surrey's poor batting, dismissed for only 42 in their first innings they lost by an innings and 139 runs in two days. The biggest loser however was Frank Smailes whose benefit match this was and who after receipts of £1423 on the Saturday was denied a third day's gate money.

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours in York watching Clifton Alliance play their very near neighbours York CC. The game was interestingly poised when, like so many other matches it was spoilt by rain. I took the opportunity to check out arrangements for tomorrow's historic match when championship cricket will be played on York's ground for the first time. Things seem to be well in hand as these picture show.

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Cricket carries on in the North East.

Posted by Tony Hutton

A couple of nights in Durham City led to two very interesting days of cricket in the North East when virtually the whole of the cricket programme in the rest of the country was washed out. As John Winn has already reported day one of the Durham v Northamptonshire game continued in sunshine well into the evening session. Having seen Durham's early batting collapse at Worcester and then at home to both Gloucester and Derbyshire it was no surprise to see it happen again this time at the hands of yet another Yorkshire reject Ben Sanderson, who removed the top three in no time at all.

We had hoped that the eventual victory over Derbyshire last week in such dramatic circumstances, after Alex Lee's return to form with 63 and 107 not out, might have meant that they had turned the corner but it seemed back to square one on the first morning yet again. However help was at hand this time in the workmanlike partnership between Ben Raine and Brydon Carse. Slow going indeed but a most valuable one. Tuesday morning (day two) dawned wet, windy and miserable and the covers were still on as we arrived at the ground.

Brydon Carse

To our surprise just before eleven the covers were removed very rapidly and the game started on time admittedly in rather adverse conditions. The hard core of Durham members were packed tightly into the confines of the lounge area of the Paul Collingwood stand. This due to the fact that the usual members' lounge in the spacious Long Room was being given a makeover in preparation for the forthcoming World Cup games at Riverside. Food and drink was readily available but the view of the action behind glass was rather limited unless you got there early enough to be on the front row.

The grumblers were out in force and with good reason. With the weather as cold as it was the Long Room would have been an ideal vantage point for many and most of the members were upset about it's temporary closure for the whole of this game. Large gangs of workmen were also employed putting up huge sponsors' flags for the World Cup on every lamp post in the nearby streets.

The long suffering members do have to put up with an awful lot in this day and age. We tried sitting outside for a while as much out of the wind as was possible, but not for too long although the stand between Raine and Carse continued.The admirable Ben Raine has never scored a first class century, although he did get one in a T20 game for Leicester, and had reached 82 before he was hit on the pad by Ben Hutton, causing him to fall over and be given out lbw at the same time. The partnership had put on 154 runs which was a record for the Durham eighth wicket passing that of Plunkett and Mustard of 147 against Yorkshire ten years ago.

Ben Raine

Durham were eventually all out for 253, with Brydon Carse 77 not out in four hours, and Sanderson's early figures of three for not many had stretched to four for 55. Curran and Vasconcelos started the Northant's reply confidently and Rushworth was not able to make the early breakthrough he has achieved several times already this season. By lunchtime we had managed to keep warm by watching the live streaming of the game on the big screen in the Sticky Wicket pub. Not really to be recommended so we upped sticks and set off for Burnopfield where Durham seconds had started a game with Warwickshire that morning.

Will Rhodes batting at Burnopfield.

Here we knew we could sit in the car in comfort on the banking surrounding this admirable bowl like ground. About an hour's play had been lost during the morning but Warwickshire were batting and another Yorkshire exile, Will Rhodes soon completed his fifty and continued to monopolise the scoring in partnership with Robert Yates, who was bowled by Harding for a modest 18 out of an opening partnership of 111. Soon afterwards Rhodes went to his century before being bowled by young left arm spinner Faizan Hussain, from Marton cricket club.

Will Rhodes celebrates his century.

The Durham coach not impressed with the figures on the scoreboard.

Hussain, bowling a good length, took two further wickets before we left but a strong Warwickshire side piled on the runs for the rest of the day to finally declared on a total of 348-7. Rhodes by the way had scored another century the day before at Jesmond in a second eleven trophy game. Despite  Durham losing that one they have qualified for the trophy semi-finals where they will play Somerset away next Friday. They could possibly play Yorkshire in the final the following week.

University back at Weetwood after long break

Posted by Tony Hutton

After a long break in their truncated season due to exams Leeds/Bradford MCCU returned to action at Weetwood on Thursday 6th June with a friendly match against MCC. This traditional annual fixture always brings along a few surprises in the visiting team and so it was this year with a variety of MCC players from near and far.

Those from close to home included a bevy of players from the New Farnley club such as Simon Lambert, Andrew Brewster and Luke Jarvis. From further afield came three Suffolk Minor Counties players in the shape of skipper Tom Rash, Chris Swallow and former Leeds/Bradford old boy Ollie Bocking.

Rob Peyton, the wicket keeper, is from South Northumberland cricket club and has played Minor Counties for Northumberland. Another keeper in the squad was Jonty Jenner, from Jersey, who has played second eleven cricket for Sussex.

Usman Arshad, originally from Bradford, had quite a long spell with Durham as well as seeing Minor Counties action with Northumberland and Lincolnshire, but without a doubt the star attraction was a guest player with quite a pedigree. Nick Malolo was originally from Australia, but with Italian parents, and is currently playing league cricket in the Sunderland area. He will soon be on international duty with Italy in a tournament which starts in a few weeks time.

After Swallow and Jenner had been dismissed with the total on 53-2 enter Malolo. Initially he played second fiddle to Simon Lambert who scored an excellent 50 before being run out. Malolo then took over and dominated the middle part of the MCC innings with a fine knock of 92, playing on when a century seemed certain. Atkins, from nearer to home in Steeton, then made 49, Arshad 45 and skipper Rash 45 to take the visitors beyond the 300 mark in their 50 overs. The final score being 314-7.

This was fine entertainment for the handful of spectators against a very varied University attack, with as many as five spinners employed after the opening burst from Fallows and Holling. Some of them looked a bit rusty after the long lay off but full marks to the MCC side for an excellent all round batting performance.

The University reply promised much with the season's top batsman, Ollie Batchelor, who as well as scoring runs for York cricket club made a recent appearance for Yorkshire second eleven. However just as he was getting into his stride he was bowled by former team mate Bocking for 21. Ashraf and Shafiq had looked in good form and took the score to 85, before the appearance of veteran left arm spinner Luke Jarvis had Shafiq caught for 37. Soon after this, the rain which had threatened earlier really came down in earnest and the absolute downpour meant that the game was abandoned as a draw.

Attritional day at The Riverside

posted by John Winn

There was no play in four of yesterday's scheduled six championship matches while at Worcester only 38.1 overs were bowled but which was was enough to see the home team bowled out by Lancs with four wickets each for Anderson and Onions, a combination which on several occasions in the past shared the new ball for England. When Barnard was caught Vilas bowled Anderson the last ground standing was The Riverside where we basked in glorious sunshine until well after tea.

The absurd 'uncontested toss' rule having been gleefully enforced by Northants' new skipper Adam Rossington, Durham's ineptitude against the new ball on the first morning reached new depths when to the third, and his first, ball of the day Jones shouldered arms to Sanderson, one of the most effective seamers on the circuit and was bowled, 1 for 1. Shortly afterwards, Bancroft, who should no longer be dining out on his runs in white ball cricket, mimicked Jones and suffered the same fate, 5 for 2. Here we go again became again and again when Lees became Sanderson's third victim and Harte fell to on loan Matt Coles for six, brilliantly caught at slip by Vasconcelos. 18 for 4.

A recovery of sorts having been mounted by Burnham who fell to a worm burner from Buck, Trevaskis and Eckersley we lunched on 61 for 5 but when the last of these was caught behind off Coles and Trevaskis showed the same irresponsibility as he had against Derbyshire last week and holed out next ball to midwicket it was 81 for 7 and those hoping Durham might add to their five batting points gained so far this season were casting their eyes towards Hove on June 24th. Not for the first time however the lower order, perhaps benefiting from a drying wicket and outfield lifted our spirits and by the close Raine and Carse had added an unbeaten 128 for the eighth wicket, setting a new record for this wicket against Northants, beating the mark set by Collingwood and Killeen twenty years ago. In so doing Raine passed his highest score, 72 for Leicestershire against Lancs in 2013 and at stumps Carse was not far short of his pb of 61 not out  which came against Sussex two seasons ago.

Despite Rossington seeming to revel in his new found power to change the bowling it is very much to Northants' credit that 96 overs were bowled by six o'clock and by the close of play Durham had managed to get their run rate above two, below which it had languished for most of the day. On their respective websites both sides seemed content with the day's proceedings. Durham 'ended the day on a high note' while Northants felt they had the 'upper hand'. A good round for both boys then as WE Barrington Dalby was known to say and given that play has started on time this morning and with  the forecast for the north east a little less dire than it was earlier more play than was previously predicted might be possible today.

Not T20 - but not far off

Posted by Tony Hutton

Sunday 2nd June brought a change of scene at the pleasant Bracebridge Heath ground on the outskirts of Lincoln. Lincolnshire were playing Cheshire in a knock out trophy fifty overs per side match. Having avoided the Minor Counties T20 competition, which is all they have played so far this season, we felt that this might be a bit more like proper cricket despite the coloured clothing. Cheshire's all black outfits at least matched the sightscreens, but little else whereas Lincoln green seemed slightly more acceptable.

Can't see the wood for the trees at Bracebridge Heath. In fact there are two trees inside the boundary.

However those who had travelled a fair distance, including a few all the way from Cheshire, were somewhat short changed thanks to a lively, bouncy wicket which proved particularly attractive to Lincoln's Alex Willerton bowling down the slope. He generated a fair amount of pace and was soon among the wickets, with batsmen often fending the ball off in self defence to the eager close catchers.
Even former Yorkshire and Derbyshire all rounder David Wainwright, who scored a century for Castleford the previous day, could not help Cheshire for long. Robert Sehmi, the Cheshire wicket keeper had also made a century for Croft yesterday but was lbw for only eight.

First innings almost over and lunch no where near ready.

After opener Will Evans made a rapid 19, before becoming the third man out, the score was 42-3. The hoped for recovery never happened and the middle order totally disintegrated with Curtis Free, a former Yorkshire Academy player, joining in with two wickets. Willerton bowled his ten overs to finish with remarkable figures of 10-1-20-6. A last wicket stand of 15, thanks to Andrew Jackson's 18, brought the total to 88 all out, after two final wickets to Daniel Freeman. The innings only lasted 22.5 overs. James Wainman, the former Yorkshire bowler, didn't get a look in with only one over at the end.

Alex Willerton (No. 14) applauded back to the pavilion.

Some persistent rain showers then interrupted proceedings for a while and despite the small target required for victory, Lincolnshire had it further reduced to 80 in 34 overs. Opener Tom Keast with 25 and experienced Notts county player Bilal Shafyat showed the necessary aggression to make easy work of this before the rain returned again. 18 year old Ben Gibbon, Cheshire's opening bowler, had taken 8-59 the previous day for Oulton Park and had given them a hint of a chance with two early wickets, but Shafyat's innings of 39 which included six fours settled the match very rapidly, with this innings lasting only 16.4 overs.

Bilal Shafyat hits a four through mid-wicket.

So the spectators only saw a total of 39.3 overs - no escaping the T20 formula even here!
Lincolnshire will now meet Gary Pratt's Cumberland side in the quarter final at Bourne on Sunday 30th June. Hopefully that game will last a little longer.

Short changed spectators at the end of the game.

The Langbaurgh League completed, for the time being?

posted by John Winn

I began my acquaintance with the Langbaurgh League in 2010 when, in two separate visits I saw cricket at Hutton Rudby, Crathorne, East Harsley, Kirby Sigston, Scruton and Thimleby. The following year when I began writing for the blog I added Kildale and  Ingleby Greenhow to my list, a visit I described in a posting on May1st of that year under the title 'Great Uncle Bill appears at tea.' Since those days the league has undergone changes, of those listed above Crathorne and Scruton have gone but reinforcements have arrived mainly from the now defunct Cleveland League and in most years since I began I have made a trip to at least one new ground.  Thus I found myself at the beginning of this season needing just two grounds to complete the full set and last Saturday both were at home and the weather forecast was favourable.

First port of call was Dormanstown CC on the outskirts of Redcar. The town was built in the early twentieth century by the Dorman Long Steel Company, famous for its construction of Sydney Harbour Bridge, to house the many hundreds of steel workers and their families. Dormanstown CC, fairly recent incomers from The Cleveland League gained promotion to Division 1 on the last Saturday of last season but have found the going tough in the top flight. Their opponents on Saturday were bottom club  Kildale with 'Dormo' just one place above them.

The fifty mile journey from home took just under an hour and I was pleased to see the stumps in position and players arriving. It would be hard to be dewy eyed and romantic about the ground for its facilities are basic, the outfield would have benefitted from another cut and about 15 minutes before the call of play it started to rain and this continued steadily for over an hour. To the credit of the players there was an obvious willingness to play and shortly after three o'clock Kildale took the field with the home openers in close attendance. In a match reduced to thirty two overs DCC made a brisk start and when I left after 45 minutes the openers, Steve Johnson and Phil Lloyd were still at the crease and were not parted until there were 132 on the board. A final score of 182 for 4 was too much for Kildale who were bowled out in 23 overs for 82, a result that eases Dormanstown out of the relegation places but leaves Kildale bottom, still pointless after five games.

My second new ground was not entirely so for in 2017 I had turned up at Danby CC expecting to see a game with Goathland in the Eskdale League only to find the neat pavilion bolted and barred. No such disappointment this time for I arrived in time to see the closing of overs of Danby's innings in a Langbaurgh Division Two match. For their first season in this competition Danby have merged with near neighbours Fryup, although the latter retain their separate identity in the Evening League. High scoring was the order of the day with D and C hitting over 250 and Thimbleby falling well short but with only 9 down.* The table shows Danby third and only Yarm III keeping Thimbleby off the bottom.

With help from Tony and Ron Deaton I hade been made aware of matches in the Whitby Gazette Cup and my original plan had been to take in the game at Glaisdale which is just a few miles from Danby down the Esk Valley. The rain at Dormanstown having disrupted my schedule and wary that the match might have been conceded I headed for home having achieved my main objective. The Eskdale league has only six clubs left and one feels it will not be long before that follows The Cleveland into oblivion with Langbaurgh providing a home for those clubs wanting to carry on. If so Saturday might not be my last visit to that corner of North Yorkshire.

Fryup is just over the hill.

The Danby heavy roller provides a welcome resting place for my cup of tea