Arthington's traditional end of season festival.

 Posted by Tony Hutton

For the last thirty years or so Arthington cricket club, tucked away in lower Wharfedale north of Leeds, has provided cricket lovers with an annual festival which prolongs the end of the season until the middle of October. The opposition is provided by a variety of mainly Sunday friendly clubs, sadly becoming depleted in numbers over the years. Regular visitors such as Doghouse from Teesside and The Jesters, near neighbours in West Yorkshire, no longer exist and are sadly missed.  Arthington themselves were a friendly club not that very far back in their long history, but now are making regular progress up the divisions in the widely spread Nidderdale League. As John Winn has already mentioned both first and second elevens were promoted this season.

Arthington's rural setting.

The festival actually started early this year with a game against Woody's All Stars on Sunday 5th September. This was a side got together by Mel Wood, brother of Barry Wood, once of both Yorkshire and Lancashire. Sadly they did not live up to their name being bowled out for 103 in reply to Arthington's 248-8. Prolific first team skipper Naveed Andrabi making 100 not out. A week later another century maker, Kasir Hisham Sudais, scored 110 not out for visitors Romany who won convincingly.

The first game we actually saw was on Sunday 19th September against Halifax Nomads who made a daunting 218 all out in their allotted forty overs. It would have been more after an opening stand of 120 but the middle and lower orders collapsed against the deadly duo of Sam O'Sullivan and Dougie Jones. As is often the case players swap teams with regularity during the festival with Mel Wood turning out again this time for the Nomads. Meanwhile last  week's century maker for Romany had been recruited by the home side.

Where sheep may safely graze. A corner of the ground at Arthington.

He managed to make 36, Geoff Barker a festival regular for many years, made 37 and set the stage for Sam O'Sullivan, who plays for Pool in Wharfedale, to make 86 as Arthington raced to victory with 40 not out from Adnan Taj and a rapid 13 not out, with three fours, for the ubiquitous Andy Stoddart with just three overs remaining.

A quick single for Geoff Barker.

We managed to get to both games this weekend with fine weather all the way. Saturday's game with Burton Salmon brought an unexpected finish. The home side made a reasonable score of  165-8 with some consistent batting, helped by 43 from South African James Van Der Merve, before he was unfortunately run out. What happened next was a total surprise as a clatter of wickets started the visitors' innings.

An 85 year old opens the bowling.

There was rather a wide margin between the ages of the two opening bowlers, one of whom the incredible Dennis Nash, is now 85 years old and still going strong. It was his much younger partner Dan Fitzpatrick who clean bowled the first two batsmen, making it 7-2, before Dennis struck having the surviving opener caught behind to make it 11-3. We had been told that the visitors only had two batsman and that the rest would not last long, but the two batsmen (or batters I should say!) were proving hard to find.

Veteran Dennis Nash ready for a rest.

Number five Stuart Camm certainly looked the part until he drove Dennis in the air straight to the long on fielder who did not have to move, making it 30-4. It was not long before Abid Hussain followed given the slow finger of death from umpire Keith Dibb following Fitzpatrick's vociferous lbw appeal. This made it 35-5 and it looked only a matter of time before an early finish.

Dennis Nash describes his last wicket.

However help was at hand and at last it seemed that one of the proper batsman in the shape of Paul Heseltine, appeared at number seven. Two other batsman stayed briefly before Fitzpatrick got his fourth and fifth wickets, with Burton Salmon seemingly on their way home at 55-7. Next man in Zakee Anwar, helped Heseltine put on 50 runs, making 18, with the help of four fours before he was caught off the South African spinner to make it 106-8.

So sixty runs still required as Naveed Anwar came to the wicket. Rumours that he was one of two 'ringers' from the Bradford League are still unconfirmed, but he certainly showed plenty of ability, scoring four fours and four sixes, as together with Heseltine they knocked off the sixty runs without much trouble. Both batsman finished on exactly 50 not out to complete a rare turn around from the parlous state of  55-7.

End of season not far away.

Sunday's game against the Druids, an old established club from the Harrogate area , also produced plenty of runs although the visitors who batted first did not make the most of a good start which saw them slump from 166-4 to 180 all out. The two top scorers were young twin brothers James and Mark Wood, who made 45 and 56 respectively. Another veteran bowler, although nowhere near Mr Nash's age yet, Nick Briggs amazed himself with four wickets in his final over, without managing a hat trick.

Another wicket for Nick Briggs.

Time for tea at Arthington.

Arthington made quick work of gaining a relatively easy victory in only 22.3 overs with runs for Nathan Smith (38), Rahul Khode (65) and James Lord (50 not out). The two twins were not as successful with their bowling as they were with the bat, both having identical figures of 0-49.

Andy Stoddart, another festival regular, bowls with his cap on.

Weather permitting there are four more games to look forward two on the next two Saturdays and Sundays finishing on Sunday 10th October. All games likely to start at twelve noon.

Yorkshire's season mirrored in last match.

 Posted by Tony Hutton

Like John Winn we were present at Trent Bridge for day one of Yorkshire's last match of the 2021 troubled cricket programme and stayed over for day two of a game which somehow seemed to mirror the whole season for them. Our vantage point was at the opposite side of the ground, unable to face the risk of vertigo on the steep slopes of the Ratcliffe Road stand, but my travelling companion was able to identify the 'Lower Ure Valley four' with the aid of her binoculars, as well as many others of the visiting Yorkshire contingent.

Trent Bridge

It later emerged that Adam Lyth would indeed have been dropped, due to his recent poor form, had Ballance been fit to play. It is a sad fact of life that there are few natural captains around in the first class game and although Patterson has done a good job, leading by example with his metronomic and accurate bowling, he is not a natural or inspirational leader. The search for a successor or even a capable deputy goes on. Hard to criticise Coad, being thrown in at the deep end, but having put Nottinghamshire in on a green wicket we felt that Yorkshire's bowlers did not really take advantage of the conditions on day one.

Joe Clarke, who has perhaps had a mixed sort of career since joining Notts from Worcester, worked hard for his century which held the home side's first innings together, although as John Winn mentioned two dropped catches by Lyth did somewhat help him. He was well supported by young Joey Evison with a fluent maiden half century. Good to see him, and earlier in the season Lyndon James, as two local products making the grade in a side packed full of imports from elsewhere.

Nottingham missed out on the vital extra bonus point early on day two and we had an ominous feeling that disaster beckoned for Yorkshire's batting line up when their innings began. Luke Fletcher, despite his bulky appearance, has had a wonderful season already being the leading wicket taker in Championship cricket. This pitch was made for him and he was soon able to brush aside Hill, Kohler-Cadmore and Fraine, with Brett Hutton despatching the out of form Lyth to leave Yorkshire in disarray at 21-4.

Luke Fletcher.

There was no respite when Evison joined the attack and showed his ability with the ball to add to his display with the bat. The ball was moving around quite a lot throughout the Yorkshire innings as shown by the number of times wicket keeper Moores had to dive across to take the ball. Evison ran through the middle order removing Brook, Thompson, Revis and Bess to produce the remarkable figures of 4-13 from seven overs.  So after being dismissed for 73 Yorkshire were asked to follow on and thoughts of another two day finish were in the air after Essex had seen off Northants very early in the morning.

Joey Evison

However in this season of ups and downs for Yorkshire cricket it was time for something more positive to appear. This it duly did with some hard graft from Lyth, obviously determined to play himself back into form, and some confident batting from George Hill who was going very well until an unfortunate run out. Lyth called him for a quick single, but the substitute fielder Calvin Harrison, with a quick reaction and direct hit on the stumps ran Hill out. Harrison only signed for Notts after success against them for Oxford University earlier this season and then found himself with a 'Hundred' contract with the Manchester Originals.

The pair had put on 65 and Kohler-Cadmore continued the recovery with 49 at which stage the score had reached 168-1 which was quite an achievement after the first innings debacle. The loss of two wickets just before the close rather took the shine off the hard work, but nevertheless play would continue into the third day, with thoughts of an outside chance of a Yorkshire victory if they could substantially add to their total.

On day three Adam Lyth completed a splendid century and went on to make 153 before being the seventh man out caught behind of Evison with the total on 347-7. He received valuable support from Brook, Thompson and Revis but the all out total of 396, good as it was, only left Notts with a modest target of 174 to win. Lyth capped his day with a slip catch to dismiss Hameed before the close, but 42-1 overnight gave Yorkshire only the slightest chance of an unlikely victory.

Adam Lyth.

As expected Nottinghamshire completed a five wicket victory by early afternoon today (day four) with Slater on 79 not out after an innings of 54 from Ben Duckett. Acting captain Ben Coad added three more wickets but by and large Yorkshire were always going to lose the game after their poor first innings performance. So a season of peaks and troughs came to an end and it will be interesting to see whether changes of personnel in terms of both coaching and playing staffs occur during the months ahead.

In the meantime we have enjoyed the benefits of live streaming from all the counties during the season, none more so than yesterday's exciting finish at Liverpool where Lancashire had their moment of glory in such a narrow victory over Hampshire, only to be overtaken by worthy champions Warwickshire this afternoon with a convincing win over Somerset at Edgbaston.

Coad calls right first time

 posted by John Winn

In a recent edition of Cricketer magazine under the headline "The best seats in world cricket' not surprisingly there appeared a picture of the new Compton and Edrich stands at Lord's, ' new luxury premium seating' and at a cost of £52 million you would expect the breathtaking views the development offers. Yesterday and for the princely sum of £14 (£20 for younger brethren), I enjoyed this view from the Radcliffe Road stand at Trent Bridge, good enough for me and the many Yorkshire and Notts' supporters who enjoyed the view. 

 

I was part of a group of four who had journeyed from the Lower Ure Valley and an early start saw us installed in our seats by 9:45am. Much of our conversation on the journey centred round the announcement that, in the absence of skipper Patterson, a stand-in Yorkshire captain would be announced at the toss. My suggestion that this might mean that Lyth, desperately short of runs since first class cricket resumed three weeks ago, might be dropped, received underwhelming support but when it was Coad who was given the honour of calling heads or tails nobody was able to say 'I told you so'.

In the event Coad called correctly and did what I think what most county captains would have done, namely invited Notts to bat on a well grassed strip. By the time we arrived home at 7:00pm we felt that especially given Coad's choice it had ben Notts' day and they would consider their 292 for 9 was a fair return. Given this morning's events it must seem like an abundance of riches. But I get ahead of myself.

Rewinding to yesterday's play there was  a time when Notts were close to trouble, at 173 for 6 for example, but with Lyth dropping two catches which a few weeks ago he would have safely pouched they rallied to get close to a third batting point, a point the significance of which I was not aware until watching the live stream this morning when the dismissal of Evison with the score at 296 effectively strangled any hopes Notts had of winning the championship. 

Notts' response to this disappointment was to bowl Yorkshire out for 73, Thompson top scorer with just sixteen, and enforce the follow on. As I type Yorkshire are making a better fist of things and the neutral's attention is likely to have strayed to Edgbaston or Aigburth especially the latter where the fall of wickets in just over four sessions has been even more dramatic than at Trent Bridge. 

With no plans to see anymore first class cricket this season and all league cricket having finished last Saturday only the Arthington Festival offers me any further chance of watching the summer game in 2021. Arthington players and supporters will be cocker a hoop for both their teams have been promoted in the Nidderdale League. In Division 2 Arthington are champions and will play in Division 1 next year while the second XI have won Division 7 and are are promoted to division 6. The Festival begins on Saturday when Burton Salmon provide the opposition with wickets pitched at 12 noon. On Sunday when the start is an hour later the Druids visit the attractive Wharfedale ground. 

Just in case the excellent Trent Bridge scoreboard got it wrong. 

 

Another nail biting Headingley final.

 Posted by Tony Hutton

Saturday 18th September produced yet another nail biting Yorkshire champions cup final at Headingley. Castleford, champions of Yorkshire League North, faced Woodlands champions of the Bradford League. No competition last season but in 2019 Woodlands were defeated by Sheriff Hutton Bridge by just two runs in a last ball finish. In 2017 Hanging Heaton beat Wakefield Thornes by three runs in a similar situation.

Today's final promised a similar close contest and attracted a reasonable crowd which built up during the day after an early 10.30 start. Unfortunately this was another occasion where the hosts, Yorkshire County Cricket Club, shot themselves in the foot yet again. All the spectators were restricted to the East stand in front of the Long Room with no thought of social distancing or allowing spectators to select their own spot. Everyone was in the shade at the start of proceedings, when many could have been basking in the sunshine.

Spectators packed in at Headingley.

Later in the day when the sun became very strong, many would have then preferred to move into the shade but were prevented from doing so by the zealous stewards. Another public relations fiasco. However the match itself proved to be a fascinating contest. Castleford batted and got off to an excellent start with Chesney Hughes, whose last innings here produced 279 runs for Derbyshire, and Liam Hyde putting on a century opening partnership.

Chesney Hughes batting at Headingley.

The advent of the two veteran spinners, Chris Brice and Kez Ahmed did slow things down somewhat and Brice it was who dismissed both Hyde (43) and Hughes (61) to make it 108-2. Enter Castleford's skipper David Wainwright, who missed last week's semi-final. He was not his usual fluent self and was run out going for a second run, by a good throw from Sam Frankland, for a useful 29. Brayden Clarke made 34 and Christopher Briggs 25 but the tail rather fell away against the spinners, who each bowled the maximum allocation of fifteen overs.

Andrew Bourke, Castleford's longest serving player, was bowled by Ahmed for 10 in his final appearance for the club before retirement, but at least a memorable setting for his last innings. 241-9 was the final Castleford total, which had initially promised to be quite a few more. Brice had figures of 4-59 and Ahmed 2-66. With Castleford so reliant on their four spinners the feeling at the interval was that Woodlands were still in the game with a good chance of victory.

However it was their one and only paceman, Matt Rees, who struck the first blow having opener Sam Frankland caught behind for only eight. Jackson, Garner and Collins, all reached the thirties, but then got themselves out. David Wainwright looked out of sorts and bowled a series of short spells without taking a wicket and it was the youngest spinner Jack Young, who began to turn the screw as the middle order batsmen could not get beyond the teens. Woodlands certainly missed their New Zealand batting star Brad Schmullian, who had returned home.

Three wickets for Young, one for Morrison and then Muhammad Bilal after a couple of big hits was caught and bowled by Connor Hyde to leave Woodlands seemingly out of it at 159-7. Then a stand between wicket keeper Greg Finn and Elliot Richardson, who looked much better than a number nine, began to turn the tide back Woodlands way. The scoring rate increased and the scoreboard showed the gap between the teams narrowing by the minute.

Close finish coming up.

The pair had put on 64 valuable runs and the score became 223-7 just nineteen runs short of victory when Jack Young managed to dismiss both of them in quick succession to make it 225-9. Richardson had top scored with 40. Still some hope for Woodlands when surprisingly Chesney Hughes was brought on to bowl at the end of the innings rather than Wainwright. Kez Ahmed hit a couple of boundaries but in a breathless last over Brice could not get Hughes away and Woodlands fell just short by six runs. Victory to Castleford and the celebrations could begin.

Colson Smith, Coronation Street actor and Castleford's Director of cricket at the front.

Yorkshire retain slim hope of Lord's final

 posted by John Winn

Yorkshire supporters have been short changed twice in the last two weeks with their matches at Scarborough and Headingley occupying just thirteen out of a possible twenty four sessions. Following the crushing of Somerset at North Marine Road which was accomplished with a ball to spare on the second day, this week's game at Headingley finished just short of lunch on day four but only because there was no play on Tuesday because of heavy rain. This time the boot was on the other foot, if bears wear boots, when Warwickshire won by 106 runs without registering a batting point. 

I was present throughout the match at Headingley, a match in which there was not one over of spin bowled and only two batsmen reached fifty. At the end of it all Warwickshire became one of four counties still with a chance of winning the championship, the others are Hampshire, Lancashire and Notts. The title's destination will be decided in games beginning on Tuesday the most intriguing of which will be at Liverpool where just four points separate Lancashire and Hants. Warwickshire, in second place, take on the currently hapless Somerset at Edgbaston while Yorkshire visit Trent Bridge for a match which lost quite a lot of its appeal on Wednesday morning when Yorkshire went from 50 for 3 to 117 all out.

To my surprise Yorkshire retain the slimmest hope of finishing second and thereby qualifying for the Bob Willis final which begins on September 27th and might not finish until October. If ifs and buts were sugar and nuts we'd  have our pockets full comes to mind closely followed by flying pigs. Yorkshire are not alone in suffering batting collapses for Hampshire and Nottinghamshire managed only one score of over 200 in their match which finished on Tuesday and just four scores over fifty. 

A murky Monday afternoon at Headingley 

Finally above is the ECB's version of the second division table. Let's take it step by step. Essex seems to be correct, four games played, three wins and a draw and points carried forward make 77. Gloucestershire however have played four and have amassed 56 points but without a win, draw, tie, loss or no result. Durham lie third, presumably on the basis of average points per game but it appears they lost a game when I wasn't looking. It should read played three won one, drawn one, no result one. Northants have gained fifty one points by virtue of a loss, Surrey 27 points via a draw and as for Glamorgan, I give up. 

George Macauley - a forgotten hero

 Posted by Tony Hutton

The Association of Cricket Statisticians are to be congratulated for many things in maintaining the history of the game and none more so than the excellent 'Lives in Cricket' series which records the life stories of famous men, and some not so famous, whose cricketing deeds have often been forgotten. I have just read the latest in the series 'George Macauley, The Road to Sullom Voe' by Giles Wilcox. The title reflects his sad early death during World War Two on the Shetland Islands in somewhat mysterious circumstances.

Macauley played for Yorkshire with distinction between 1920 and 1935 mainly as a bowler, but he could also bat quite well. He made eight appearances for England, and should perhaps have played more often, but was often ignored, largely for his rather aggressive attitude on the field. He is of particular interest to me as he was very much my father's boyhood hero. Although my father saw all the great Yorkshire players of the 1930s and was one of the few who really were present when Verity took 10-10 in 1932, he always spoke of Macauley more than other other player.

Verity, Bowes and Macauley in 1932.

I think it was Macauley's never say die attitude which appealed to him. He was always in the face of his opponents, an attitude well described by Giles Wilcox in this well researched book. This often involved him in controversies particularly in games against the southern counties, who at times took exception to his behaviour. However his off field persona was that of a charming man with many other interests. His on field record speaks for itself as only the great triumvirate of Wilfred Rhodes, George Hirst and Schofield Haigh have taken more wickets for Yorkshire.

Yorkshire team picture 1923. Macauley 2nd from the left on the back row.

In addition only Rhodes, Hirst and Appleyard have matched his achievement of 200 wickets in a season and only Trueman equalled his performance of four hat tricks. This brings me back to my late father again. A keen club cricketer, who I played alongside for several seasons, he was a quiet and well respected man on the field and only rarely got excited. However when I took him to Edgbaston in 1963 to see Trueman bowl out the West Indies in a Test Match that certainly got him going as he felt Trueman's aggression reminded him of Macauley.

George Macauley 1927

Giles Wilcox starts the book with the mysterious cause of Macauley's death, which despite conflicting reports was clearly due to long term alcoholism and prevented his widow from obtaining a war pension. The author goes back to Macauley's earliest days in Thirsk, North Yorkshire and chronicles his life in great detail with all the ups and downs of his eventful career but several questions about his life still go unanswered. It is a story well told and one which needed to be told, of one of the great heroes of Yorkshire cricket.

All the pictures are from the book.

Castleford's last ball winner takes them to Headingley.

Posted by Tony Hutton

Saturday 11th September at Savile Park, Castleford for the Yorkshire Premier League Champions semi-final between the home side, champions of Yorkshire League North, and Richmondshire cricket club champions of the North Yorkshire and South Durham League. An eleven a.m. start for a game already shrouded in confusion before the start, something which continued to the final decisive over.

The Yorkshire county cricket club website, not really known for it's knowledge of league cricket, created one of it's greatest blunders by suggesting that Richmond was situated in County Durham therefore the cricket club would not be eligible to play for the Yorkshire champions trophy and their place would be taken by second club Marton. In a previous season this ruling had applied to Barnard Castle, which is in Durham, if only just to the north of the River Tees.

However Richmond, as most people know, is and always has been well within the Yorkshire boundary and is anyway somewhat to the south of Marton which scrapes in being only a short distance south of the Tees, which has always been the traditional Yorkshire boundary. Nobody seemed to be aware that another contender Appleby Frodingham are based in Lincolnshire. However enough of that as Castleford, sadly without skipper David Wainwright, won the toss and batted. A nice steady start from Chesney Hughes, once of Derbyshire, and Liam Hyde took the score to 54 before Hughes went for 33.

Chesney Hughes

Hyde was the next to go for  a solid 38, soon followed by Brayden Clarke with all three wickets to Richmondshire's Sam Wood and the total wobbling somewhat on 94-3. Wickets continued to fall and the hoped for acceleration never really came against a tight spell of spin bowling from Craig Marshall and Gary Pratt. It was only towards the end of the innings when Christopher Briggs, with a very useful 46 not out, took Cas to the respectable total of 180-7 at the end of their fifty overs.

Castleford cricket club - League champions.

Respectable, but perhaps somewhat below par, was the general consensus especially in the absence of Wainwright, but when opening bowler Matt Rees had removed both openers with the score on 22, the home side began to believe. The introduction of Chesney Hughes left arm spin, not seen much during his county days, brought the dismissal of Sam Wood and the big man then took a slip catch to remove the danger man, Gary Pratt, for only 23.

Good spin bowling from Ed Morrison and Jack Young curtailed the scoring rate as the home side chipped away at the wickets. Hughes then returned and although not really bowling well, with a number of wides, managed to dismiss two more tail enders to leave the score at 149-8. It then came down to fourteen runs required from the last two overs of the match. Richmondshire's hopes rested on their number six batsman Mathew Cowling who had already completed his fifty and looked well capable of winning the match.

Connor Hyde, who has been very economical, bowled the penultimate over which went for seven runs but importantly Cowling took a single from the last ball to retain the strike. So to the vital final over and more confusion as the digital scorer suggested that the bowler was the untried Simon Briggs, but in fact Castleford's veteran acting skipper Andrew Bourke has entrusted it to Chesney Hughes, which might have been seen as something of a gamble.

So Hughes to Cowling, already well set on 61 not out. Amazingly the first three balls were all dots - no runs scored, still seven wanted. Cowling then scored a four from the fourth ball, which Hughes followed by bowling a wide, so now two required from two balls. Cowling goes for glory with a big hit and is caught by Matthew Rees on the boundary! The batsmen crossed, so number ten Craig Marshall needs two runs to win the game from the very last ball of the match, but to the home side's delight Chesney Hughes hits the off stump to clean bowl him and Castleford win by one run.

Castleford celebrate.

A truly remarkable game of cricket which sees them now play Bradford League champions Woodlands at Headingley on Saturday next 18th September at 10.30 a.m. Woodlands also had a close game to beat Yorkshire League South champions Appleby Frodingham by two wickets, thanks mainly to their New Zealand batsman Brad Schmulian, who by now has returned home and will miss the final. However good news for Cas is that David Wainwright should return.

Saturday's final.

One other item of news from the Yorkshire League North is that they will have an odd number of teams next season with both Beverley Town and Sessay promoted although only one team has been relegated. This is understood to be because until the late withdrawal from this season's fixtures of the Yorkshire Academy the teams in the York Senior League had played on the understanding that two teams would be promoted and this has been maintained.

Durham to Derby via Denby in easy stages.

 Posted by Tony Hutton

John Winn has already reported on day three of Durham's victory over Glamorgan at Riverside, but as we were present for the first two days I can fill in some details of the earlier events before we set off to watch Derbyshire second eleven taking on Middlesex seconds at one of our favourite club grounds, Denby and then on to the last day of the championship match between Derbyshire and Leicestershire at the county ground Derby.

Sunday 5th September saw us return to Riverside, after the disappointing cancellation of last week's game with Surrey, which led to a large hole in our carefully planned end of season calendar. No doubt revenge was on the mind of the Durham players following their defeat by Glamorgan in the Royal London Cup semi-final. Revenge they certainly got in no small measure by bowling them out for a mere 97 runs in just 32 overs soon after lunch.

The Glamorgan fielders look a little dejected as the score approaches 500.

Rushworth as expected got his traditional early wicket by dismissing the other David Lloyd lbw in his second over. It then took a while for the second wicket to fall with the total on 63. The New Zealander Rutherford was caught in the slips by the returning Paul Coughlin for what proved to be top score of 43. After that the wickets came thick and fast. Rushworth got his third by removing debutant Ed Byrom, recently acquired from Somerset, then Ben Raine and Paul Coughlin disposed of the rest in a hurry.

Rushworth's final figures 3-26, Raine 3-25 and a remarkable return for Coughlin with 4-11 to add to his two slip catches. The final wicket fell when Carey skied Coughlin high in the air for Rushworth to take a fine running catch. Glamorgan 97 all out and thoughts of an early finish already surfacing. A century opening partnership between Lees and Jones put Durham well in control and by the end of day one they had progressed to 223-3. Jones just missed out on his career best when dismissed for 81.

Ned Eckersley batting for Durham.

On day two Durham continued to pile on the runs with everyone contributing to a rather unique scorecard in which everyone scored over twenty. Lees, Jones, Eckersley, Raine and Trevaskis all making fifties and Dickson and Bedingham  both made forties. The declaration might have come earlier but Borthwick waited until the 500 came up. When Glamorgan batted again, over four hundred behind, they were soon 38-2 but advanced to 71-2 before the close, when an early finish seemed likely the next day but as John has already described the visitors prolonged the action into day four.

Ben Raine dismissed as Durham pile on the runs.

The following day we made our way to Denby for day two of Derbyshire seconds game with Middlesex. Derbyshire were batting in reply to the Middlesex first innings of 244. On a very hot day the few spectators were huddled under the trees to find some welcome shade as the Middlesex bowlers toiled away. They eventually dismissed the two main men, Matty McKiernan (53) and Donald Butchart (40) before running through the tail fairly quickly.

Middlesex start their second innings at Denby.

Strangely their most experienced bowler, James Harris, who is returning to Glamorgan next season, did not take a wicket and it was the younger Max Harris who had the best figures of 3-23. Toby Greatwood, another youngster, who opened the bowling, took 3-38 and the leg spinner Nathan Sowter, who has quite a few first team games under his belt, was somewhat more expensive with 3-63.

Dustin Melton bowling with pace which earned him a first team recall for Derby.

When Middlesex batted again, both openers were dismissed quickly including Mike Atherton's son Josh de Caires for only seven. Joseph Cracknell and James Harris came to the rescue until Kamran Khanna, an unorthodox looking leg spinner from the Hampshire Academy, had Cracknell caught on 75, when a century looked his for the asking. James Harris carried on the good work to end the day on 66 not out to leave Middlesex on  215-8 with a lead of 247 which should be enough to see off the young Derbyshire side on day three. So it proved as Middlesex bowled them out for 209 winning by 56 runs with a day to spare.

Meanwhile we had moved on to nearby Derby to see day four of the Championship game with Leicester. Another hot day with Derbyshire, having followed on after Leicester's mammoth 528 in the first innings, starting on 313-8. This soon became 340 all out and Leicestershire enforced the follow on obviously with high hopes of bowling Derbyshire out for a second time before the close. Hopes were high when Chris Wright had Tom Wood caught behind early on and then dismissed South African Du Plooy in the same fashion. Derby 18-2 and deep in trouble.

The overnight batsmen take to the field at Derby as Leicester prepare their own demolition job.

However the experience of skipper Billy Godleman and veteran Wayne Madsen saw the home side out of trouble before Madsen went for 21 and thereafter Derby's man of the season Matt Critchley joined his captain in an unbroken partnership of 139 which saw them safely home to a draw. So a pleasant afternoon in the sun with only a small crowd there to enjoy some good batting which saw Godleman complete his century and Critchley reach 59 not out before the teams shook hands.

Thankfully nobody needed to take the advice on the notice.

Callum Parkinson, the acting Leicestershire captain, tried his upmost to make the break through and ended with figures of 0-49 in his twentieth over at the end. Veteran Chris Wright had the best figures of 3-36. I remember first seeing Billy Godleman as a fifteen year old in the Bunbury Festival many years ago now when David English told me to watch out for him in the future as one of the best prospects he had seen. He perhaps never reached the highest stage but has been an admirable county batsman over the years for Middlesex, Essex and Derbyshire. He certainly took the honours today.

End of season atmosphere at Derby.

Looking forward to Headingley

 posted by John Winn

Championship cricket returns to Headingley tomorrow for the first time since the ill-fated roses match in July. Warwickshire are the visitors for the last home match of the season and Yorkshire will go into it in good heart and with a realistic chance of being crowned champions at Trent Bridge the following week. Their strong position owes much to the remarkable  events at Scarborough last Monday when I was part of a group of eight or so who had travelled from the Lower Ure Valley.

Having been told just a few days before by a man from Bradford that there was 'not a bed to be had in Scarborough' it was a somewhat disappointing crowd that saw Yorkshire resume their first innings already in a healthy position having bowled out Somerset for just 134 on the first day. A century from Brook and a fifty from Thompson gave Yorkshire a first innings lead of 174. 

To Somerset, who had failed to reach 200 in three attempts since red ball cricket resumed. this lead must have seemed higher than the Mendips and so it proved for in a whisker over ten overs Willey and Fisher had reduced them to 18 for 5 with the latter having taken 4 for 5. At this point, and perhaps out of kindness to those spectators waiting to hear David Gower speak at the festival dinner that evening, Patterson replaced Fisher in the attack. This allowed Somerset's middle order to effect some sort of recovery but Patterson chose to take the extra half hour and with just one ball left in the day's play Thompson dismissed de Lange  for 21, an innings which had occupied just 14 deliveries, a rate of progress that suggested Somerset were not intent on a draw.

 Above is the table before tomorrow's matches with Yorkshire having done much to offset the paltry number of points they carried over from phase1. The more observant of our readers will spot that it doesn't really make sense, look at Yorkshire's statistics for example, but all teams have played the same number of games and the points gained tallies with the BBC's version. Notts go the Ageas tomorrow where a draw would suit Yorkshire nicely and could set up a cracker at Trent Bridge for the last round of matches providing of course that Warwickshire don't throw a spanner in the wheel. 

The two day finish at Scarborough cleared the way for me to travel to Chester le Street on Tuesday in anticipation that Durham might complete a three day win over Glamorgan. The visitors resumed their second innings still almost three hundred behind and by lunch Durham had taken three wickets to leave the board looking like this, five wickets down and still 261 to make Durham bat again. 

The afternoon did not work out quite as anticipated for after the early wicket of Cooke  Douthwaite and Salter added 163 for the seventh wicket and it was not until 5:30 that the small crowd who had remained got their reward when Douthwaite who had been tied down in the nervous nineties by the spin of Trevaskis and Borthwick, tried to hit the former over the top and was well caught by Potts. Salter and van de Gugten dug in until stumps were pulled at 5:50. The extra half hour was not claimed and the teams returned on Wednesday morning for Durham via Rushworth and Coughlin to finish matters off in ten overs.

Durham's last two matches are away and as I left the ground the gateman, having established I would not be returning for the last knockings thanked me for my attendance and said 'winter well' which given it had been a scorcher might have seemed a little premature but it was kind of him anyway. 

This is the Division 2 table and makes sense if we assume it has been compiled on a points per game basis following the cancellation of the Durham Surrey fixture two weeks ago. Durham travel to Northants tomorrow which given the slender margin between them makes for an interesting fixture. Essex are at the Oval and Glamorgan are at home to Gloucestershire

Harrogate avoid the drop

 Posted by Tony Hutton

Last Saturday 4th September saw the last round of this season's Yorkshire Premier League North fixtures. With the championship already decided, with Castleford worthy winners, the only issue at stake was which of the three teams at the bottom would be relegated. As previously mentioned the withdrawal of the Yorkshire Academy side has affected the league table somewhat, now decided on average points per game and only one team, instead of the usual two, would be relegated.

We were at Clifton Park, York to see if visitors Harrogate could clinch victory to avoid the drop, whereas it was all to play for at Driffield who faced relegation rivals Stamford Bridge in what could prove to be the decisive result. York batted first and their rather inconsistent season was illustrated by the early loss of openers Lambert and Snell both of whom are capable of high scores. Skipper Ryan McKendry, who missed much of the season due to injury, played a valuable innings of 68 and his partnership of 62 with Alex Collins seemed to have turned the game back York's way.

However Harrogate's concentration on a four man spin attack eventually paid dividends when Ishan Abeysekara continued his good form with four wickets to confirm his position as the League's leading wicket taker and also passing the fifty wicket mark for the season in the process. Ben Moss again chipped in with two valuable wickets as the tail rather disintegrated and York were all out during the final over for a rather below par 208.

It still looked a daunting challenge for the visitors with news that the game at Driffield looked like being a close contest, which meant that bonus points might enter the equation if Harrogate lost. However it turned out that the result was never in doubt, even though opener Isaac Light had to retire hurt. He did not need to return until the first wicket fell which was some considerable time later after Henry Thompson and skipper William Bates had taken the total to 183-1 when Thompson was out for 69. Bates played a true captain's innings of 90 not out, obviously deserving a century, which took his side to safety and all thoughts of relegation removed.. Light happily restored to action was 30 not out at the end. An amazing nine wicket victory for Harrogate.

Harrogate celebrate avoiding relegation at York.

Meanwhile away across the Wolds things were hotting up after Driffield's excellent innings of 260 all out, again in the final over. Rhys Crowe excelled himself for Stamford Bridge with 7-53, which must be one of the best bowling performances of the season. Skipper Sam Drury did well with 62 but Randeera Ranasingha played the inning of the day with a rapid 65, including three fours and five sixes. Nick Hardgrave also joined in the fun with a rapid 51.

Stamford Bridge were kept in the chase by their top order with 64 from Martin Woodliffe , 58 from the consistent Jack Timby and 41 from Salman Syed. After that Sam Drury proved his all round worth with four wickets which destroyed the middle order. So with two wickets each from Anson, Hardgrave and Ranasingha the visitors were all out for 248 in the 47th over, just an unlucky thirteen short of victory.

So relegation for Stamford Bridge and the battle to replace them continues next Saturday in the York Senior League Premier Division when another round of fixtures should decide which of Beverley Town or Sessay will replace them.

Welcome return for county 2nd XI cricket

 Posted by Tony Hutton

Already into September but a welcome return of county 2nd XI cricket, which seems to have suffered more than most with early season matches all over the country being closed to spectators. We have heard several sad stories of long journeys being made only for people to be turned away at the gate for games where social distancing has always been a way of life.

However worth the long ride over the Pennines to Boughton Hall, Chester where Lancashire seconds were entertaining Yorkshire seconds on day two of a four day game. In the not too distant past this game would have been played at Todmorden cricket club, right on the county boundary and would have attracted a substantial following of spectators from both counties. Today with Lancashire's first eleven at home at Old Trafford the crowd, if you could call it that, was probably no more than twenty or thirty people all day.

Harry Allinson poised on 98 not out at Chester Boughton Hall.

Yorkshire had batted first on the previous day and made quite a good job of it with an overnight score of 324-7. Harry Allinson, the Academy batsman still only 17 I believe, who we remember doing well as a junior player at Harrogate cricket club, was poised on 98 not out, which might have given him something of a sleepless night. Not to worry as he soon passed the milestone of his first second eleven century and went on to make 126 before being bowled by left arm spinner Morley. He first came to our attention in May 2018 in making 100 not out in a double century opening partnership for Harrogate third eleven against Blubberhouses no less!

Allinson about to receive congratulations from Ben Cliff just before the scoreboard ticks over to the magic hundred.

He had been given good support by opening bowler Ben Cliff who stayed with him for an hour and a quarter, despite only making thirteen runs. A valuable partnership of 49. After a short rain break and an early lunch in the palatial marquee shared by players and spectators alike, Yorkshire batted on only briefly before declaring on 376-9. The other main run scorers yesterday were James Wharton with 55 and Matt Pillans with 40.

Harry Allinson returns to the pavilion.

Lancashire's opening batsman, Ben Walkden from the Newton le Willows club, started his innings as if intent on breaking all records for slow scoring. His first run came in the eleventh over when a single brought a derisory cheer from his team mates. Two snicks through the slips then brought him racing into double figures, but full marks to him for sticking with it as he stayed there for four and a half hours to make 80 runs, including nine fours and amazingly two sixes! 

Thanks to Walkden, together with Newton le Willows team mate wicket keeper Matthew Hurst, who made 68 and J.J. Fielding from Ormskirk, who made 66, Lancashire's first innings total of 331 was only 45 runs behind Yorkshire. We did not return on day three, but Yorkshire's best bowlers were Dominic Leech with 3-57 followed by long spells from the spinners Jack Shutt (3-62) and Harry Sullivan (2-59). Sadly Yorkshire collapsed in their second innings being all out for 105, having no answer to the four pronged attack of Hurt, Blatherwick, Hartley and Morley.

That left Lancashire with the relatively easy task of scoring 151 to win on day four which they achieved by early afternoon, despite two late wickets from Ben Cliff, to win by five wickets. Yet again young Matthew Hurst was prominent with the bat making an excellent 71 not out, including nine fours. Some very promising young talent on display from both teams, but Lancashire well deserved their victory mainly due to their second innings bowling performance.

If it is September it must be Scarborough

 posted by John Winn

And so it is, for on Sunday Yorkshire take on Somerset in the second round of the last stage of matches in this season's county championship. Yorkshire come into the match still 16.5 (sic) points behind Group 1 leaders Warwickshire after a most frustrating day at the Ageas Bowl yesterday. I followed events closely on the streamed service as last pair Kyle Abbott and Brad Wheal held out for the final six overs. As the light faded Yorkshire raided the helmet cupboard and employed spin at both ends but to no avail. Wheal faced twenty two balls without scoring and Abbott batted for nearly an hour for his nine not out as Hampshire finished 215 short of their nominal target. Yorkshire took 12 points from the match, Hants 11. Just one more wicket would have given Yorkshire another 8 points and taken them above Hants and Somerset in the table. 

Both teams will probably apply the  'must win' label to next week's game at North Marine Road. Somerset travel to Yorkshire on the back of a fearful thrashing by Notts, a game which they lost 23 to 2 on points and the mood among their supporters expressed through social media is that once again the most coveted prize has eluded them. Yorkshire are still handicapped by the low number of points they carried forward from phase1(see above) In the other two matches in the top group Notts, no doubt cocker hoop after their first win at Taunton in first class cricket since 1985 take on Lancashire at Trent Bridge while leaders Warwickshire entertain Hampshire. Remember all matches start at 10:30. 

A family celebration prevents me seeing any cricket on Sunday but I will be at NMR on Monday and Riverside on Tuesday. It has been a frustrating week for Durham members with this week's scheduled game with Surrey being called off late on Saturday night when a Surrey player tested positive for covid. The cynic in me says that the match would have been played had Surrey been in with a shout of the championship but as the teams are in Division Two that of course was not the case. Glamorgan, covid permitting, make the long trip to County Durham and Durham will be seeking revenge for the defeat to the Welshmen in the Royal London Cup final last month. 

Sticking with Scarborough readers might just recognise this signature as that of Ted Dexter whose death was announced two weeks ago. I collected it on or around the 31st of August 1957 at Scarborough when as part of what was then the traditional festival Yorkshire played MCC. Dexter came to Scarborough after a very successful season with Cambridge University and lined up in a MCC side which included Bill Edrich, Doug Insole, Trevor Bailey and Frank Tyson all of whose signatures I collected at the match in question. Yorkshire won the match by 8 wickets with Dexter ct Binks bowled Wardle 30 in the first innings and bowled Pickles 0 in the second. 'Lord Ted' stayed on the Yorkshire coast for the second match of the festival this time representing the Gentlemen in their match with the Players when in the second innings 'driving powerfully' he hit 88 before being caught Taylor bowled Trueman. 

Dexter of course went on to be captain of England and was one of the most exciting batsmen of that era. It is commonly acknowledged that his innings against the West Indies at Lord's in 1963 is one of the greatest test match innings ever played. He hit 70 off 73 balls with ten fours from an attack including Hall, Griffith, Sobers and Gibbs. My father only went to Lord's once in his lifetime, nice timing for he was there to see that innings.