Where there's a Will

 posted by John Winn

My friend Arthur Bartle and I made an early start from The Lower Ure Valley on Wednesday, so early in fact that we formed part of a queue waiting for the gates to open at the Trafalgar Square end of Scarborough Cricket Club. Arthur was clearly expecting an exciting day's cricket for he had packed a copy of My Grammar and I (or should that be me?), essential reading for those attending matches in the devalued Royal London Cup. 

After cursory bag searches we pitched camp behind the boundary close to the players' bubble aka the pavilion only to be told a few minutes later by a steward that we were in forbidden territory and must move. Protestations that Arthur had sat in that very spot for the Surrey match last week were in vain and so we moved our chairs to a position close to the West Stand and more importantly the purveyors of coffee and ice cream, the services of both of which were to come in handy later in the day. A brief shower forced us to seek shelter but play started on time on what had turned into sunny morning. 

Northamptonshire having won the toss elected to field and on a pitch that had been under wraps until very shortly before play began soon had Yorkshire in trouble with Cumbrian Jack White the main threat. Duke, Ballance and Hill all went cheaply to leave Yorkshire on 33 for 3 which by the twentieth over had become 69 for 6. This brought Will Luxton and Matthew Waite together and with Northants' back up bowling being less effective fifty two were added before another wicket fell at which point Pillans, who just two weeks ago I saw playing for Harrogate, joined Academy skipper Luxton. The pair added nearly a hundred before the latter went for 68 including two sixes hit very straight in the direction of Peasholm Park. A decent size crowd gave the youngster generous applause and a final score of 222 all out gave us hope that we might see a contest after lunch. 

Alas this was not to be, for during the interval clouds over Bill's mother's spread to the location of even more of his relatives and after only five balls of the Northants' reply from which two singles were squeezed the rain arrived with a force that sent us scurrying for cover. The intensity and duration of the rain convinced us that at best we would have to wait a long time to see more play and at worst that that there might not be any more cricket and so we opted for what proved to be a tortuous journey home with many others of the same mind. By the time we reached the outskirts of York social media had confirmed we had made the right decision for play had been abandoned leaving the sides with a point each. It later transpired that a restart had been planned for 5:50 with DLS setting the visitors 71 more to win off 9.1 overs but that this was prevented by a wet outfield. 

Via twitter Will reflected on his first team debut which had been watched by family members and confirmed our view that batting had not been easy but that 222 was defendable. Whether 71 off 55 balls was defendable will remain an unknown. 

Scarborough CC pavilion July 2017