Lots of comings and goings at Richmondshire.

 Posted by Tony Hutton

Having greeted the return of four day second eleven championship matches with a visit to Richmondshire cricket club in North Yorkshire, for a Durham seconds home game against Yorkshire, we were able to enjoy two very hot days in this ancient market town. After our departure the game took a few surprising turns with six Yorkshire players leaving the action, for either first team duty or for duties as substitute fielders or net bowlers at the Test Match at Headingley. Several Durham players also left the scene presumably due to a T20 game at Blackpool later today. Many of the players will have been puzzled by the strange contours of the ground with a steep slope and many undulations at the pavilion end.

The game has just reached it's conclusion by mid afternoon on the fourth day, with Yorkshire victorious by the narrow margin of four wickets and some uncertainty whether they had any more batsman left despite the importation of several substitutes. More of all this later but perhaps better to begin at the beginning of the game.

Richmond Castle in the background as play gets underway.

Durham batted first on Monday morning opening with skipper George Drissell, a recent import from the West Country and Ben McKinney, a promising 17 year old from Sunderland. This pair put on 71 for the first wicket before McKinney was caught behind by Harry Duke off George Hill (two players not required in first team T20). McKinney made a useful 35, including eight fours, and looks a useful prospect. Drissell went on to make 60 and there were also good contributions from Bushnell and wicket keeper Macintosh.

Spectators and their dog enjoy the sunshine.

However the battery of five Yorkshire seam bowlers did well in the hot conditions and chipped away until Durham were all out for 269 in 70 overs. One new face among the bowlers was Biswick Kapala from Whitley Hall one of several South Yorkshire teams he has played for. The only spinner on show was left armer Harry Sullivan who went for several sixes into the road on the short straight boundary. He stuck to his task well with good figures of 2-42 from fifteen overs.

The short, straight boundary was a tempting target.

When Yorkshire batted Wharton and Hill put on a century partnership, only for Hill to be dismissed from the final ball of day one for a well made 64. They managed to cope well with the opening attack of first team seamers Rushworth and Salisbury, again not playing in the current Vitality Blast for Durham. Number three for Yorkshire was another newcomer, Andrew Umeed who is Scottish born and has played representative cricket for Scotland and had a brief career with Warwickshire, during which he scored the second slowest hundred in Championship history. On Tuesday he played a sensible innings making a careful 62 in two and a quarter hours.

View of the Richmondshire C.C. pavilion.

The scoreboard took some deciphering at times.

Without doubt the performance of the day was from Will Luxton, who we have seen score centuries for the under 17s and the Academy in the past. He now matched this with his first second eleven century hitting fifteen fours and one six. In fact he was caught on the boundary with his six, but the fielder just stepped over the rope. A grand innings and hopefully the first of many for Yorkshire. Luxton was helped with a partnership of 141 with Harry Duke, who made his highest second eleven score of 82. At the end of day two Yorkshire were in command with a score of 464-9.

Will Luxton reaches his century.

On day three, after our departure, Yorkshire were all out for 481 and players began to go elsewhere and were replaced by others. The original newcomer, Kapala, took three wickets at the start of the Durham second innings. However Durham managed to bat on into day four, thanks mainly to a fine innings from Luke Doneathy who fell just short of his century on the fourth day. Even so Durham's all out 321 set Yorkshire a victory target of 109 and they had something of a struggle getting there, but eventually managed it by four wickets.

Some of the comings and goings involved Wharton taking over the Yorkshire captaincy from Hill, then being replaced by a Durham player J. Oswell, who batted in the second innings for Yorkshire. J. Priestley then took the place of Harry Duke (presumably Josh Priestley from Pudsey St Lawrence). Umeed took over as the third Yorkshire captain of the match. Other newcomers were Harry Allinson and Isaac Light (wicket keeper) both from Harrogate CC. Light scored 34 to help Yorkshire to victory. A bowler from Lancashire Ed Moulton also appeared for Yorkshire and Drissell and Bushnell left the Durham ranks presumably on first team duty to be replaced by Oliver Gibson and Academy player Joe Defty. All very confusing for the spectators and not least the two scorers.