LANCASHIRE LEAGUE LEADERS WIN AGAIN

By Brian Sanderson,

I picked Bob up this morning and we sent off to the other side of the Pennines to see the Ramsbottom against Lowermoor match in the Lancashire League .Ramsbottom were top of the league this morning and Lowerhouse were third.We had not been to this ground for a few years and during last winter the ground had been completely flooded  by the river Irewell so it was good to see the club had recovered .

Lowerhouse won the toss and batted first on a sunny afternoon. Lowerhouses pro Dieter Klein opened the batting and during the week he played for Leicestershire. Today he scored 26 and I heard later that he has not had a good season .Lowerhouses recovered to 132 for 2  before they collapsed 166 for 9. There was a very good crowd and the bar taking must have been good.The teas at Ramsbottom were rated the best in the league and I am sure they will be top again of the table this season.

Ramsbottom bowling attack of Read, Fielding and Smit were steady . There pro is Daryn Smit  who has been a the club for three years and broke Brad Hodge batting record in 2015 by scoring 1248 runs at 113.5. When we left the ground he was batting again and looked in no problem.

Arriving home I find the Ramsbottom won by 6 wickets  which leaves them two points in front of Burnley who are second.A ground worth visiting just to see the cricket archives in the pavilion. Great to see a club interested in their history.

Heading tomorrow to Headingley and a late finish.

AUGUST FIXTURES

By Brian Sanderson,


AUGUST 1    YORKSHIRE V WARWICKSHIRE  HEADINGLEY 2.00PM

                      LINCOLNSHIRE  V CUMBERLAND  GRANTHAM

                 

                2 M.C.C UNIVERSITIES   V DERBYSHIRE SECONDS  WEETWOOD  3 DAYS

                   NORTHANTS SECONDS V YORKSHIRE  MARKET HARBOROUGH
                 
                 DURHAM U17 v YORKS (3 days) at Stockton
                  LANCASHIRE U17 v DERBYSHIRE at Northern CC (3 days)
                 NORTHANTS U17 v STAFFS at Desborough (3 days)
                  WARWICKSHIRE U17 v NOTTS at Edgabston Foundation (3 days)



                4 YORKSHIRE V WARWICKSHIRE HEADINGLEY   4 DAYS.


               7 MUTINEERS V ST GEORGES  ARTHINGTON

            8 YORKSHIRE SECONDS   V DURHAM    YORK 1 DAY

          9 YORKSHIRE SECONDS  V  DURHAM     YORK 3 DAYS

      11  YORKSHIRE U 14  V  DURHAM    NEW ROVER


     12   LANCASHIRE  V  YORKSHIRE    OLD TRAFFORD  4 DAYS


    13  DERBY   V  ESSEX        DERBY         4 DAYS

   14   CUMBERLAND   V  NORFOLK  SEDBERGH   3 DAYS   A MUST.

        ADEL   V  MUTINEERS  

  15    YORKSHIRE SECONDS    V   MCC UNIVERSTIES  STAMFORD BRIDGE  3 DAYS


   16    MCC  V  RIBBLESDALE CRICKET LEAGUE     BAXENDEN

   17  MCC    V  CHESTERFIELD         CHESTERFIELD     11.30
          DURHAM U19 v MIDDLESEX WHITBURN (2 days)



  22  DERBY SECONDS  V   LANCASHIRE   DERBY      3 DAYS
        DURHAM II V MCCU (3 days) South North

      YORKSHIRE U 15   V   BUCKINGHAMSHIRE   ACKWORTH   2 DAYS

  23   YORKSHIRE  V  NOTTINGHAM   SCARBOROUGH   4 DAYS
          DURHAM V WARWICKSHIRE RIVERSIDE 4 Days

  24 MCC V Nidderdale League Bolton Abbey
  25 MCC v West YOrks Schools  New Farnley

  30 MCC V DURHAM ACADEMY Ropery Lane, Chester le Street
 31   HAMPSHIRE  V YORKSHIRE      4 DAYS

   DURHAM  V   NOTTS        4 DAYS

   DERBY  V  GLOS                               4 DAYS

   DERBY SECONDS   V   NOTTS    3 DAYS    DENBY.

CRICKET FOR THE FUTURE ?

By Brian Sanderson,

Today was the first match of the Women's Cricket Super League at Headingley were Yorkshire Diamonds were playing Loughborough Lightning in a 20/20 match

The away side won the toss and batted however they lost two quick wickets for 30.Sophie Devine, New Zealand international and Australian all -rounder Ellyse Perry but on 55 for the third wicket.

Sophie Devine held the innings together with 52 from 38 balls.Loughborough managed to reach 128 for 9 in their 29 overs. The Yorkshire bowling was steady with two  very good catches.

I thought the total should be beaten but soon they were 47 for 5 in fewer than 6 overs.it was left to Katherine Brunt to win the match and she scored 16 off 20 balls but this was not enough . They were bowled out for 85 in the 18 th over,

A bit more about the Under 17 Championship

posted by John Winn

Before I am accused of being over parochial I thought I should pen an update on the other three 'A' groups in the Under 17 championship.

In group 2 there is all to play for between Warwickshire and Northants. Currently the Bears have a five point lead over their midlands rivals, each having one match left to play. Northants will take on Staffs on Tuesday at Desborough while on the same day Warwickshire face Notts at Edgbaston Foundation Ground, a renovated ground described by Tony in his posting last month, 'Historic Ground brought back to life',  There are a few ifs and buts here but bottom line says Northants must win.

No ifs and buts in the other two divisions, the outcome of which is already decided with Surrey and Somerset the winners.

A day at Weetwood

posted by John Winn

Those of us who can remember Phyllosan but might struggle to recall what if fortified turned out in good numbers at Weetwood on Tuesday for the first day of an Under 17 match with Lancashire the visitors. At one point the hospitality box (below) was full and from the cheap seats we looked on in envy as lunch was served. Seated nearby was a gentleman from Lancashire who assisted with identification of his team's players. He was also able to inform anybody interested how to get from Leeds to Accrington by bus, although worryingly not how to get back, and identified the winner of the Canadian Open Golf. Renaissance man indeed.

For many the county under 17 competition is part of cricket's hidden agenda but with patience it can be followed at ecbu17.play-cricket.com. For the championship there are eight groups with five county teams in  each and Tuesday's match was within Division 1A where in addition to Yorkshire and Lancashire, Durham, Derbyshire and Cheshire also compete.

On a decent enough morning, better for watching than in the last week's high temperatures, Lancashire won the toss and chose to bat. They lost two early wickets, one to a run out and the other , in the words of the Lancashire coach a  'given out'. Then followed a partnership of 116 for the third wicket between Thomas Billington and Sam Oldham. The afternoon, for which we were joined by John Rex, went Yorkshire's way until Red Rose skipper Nathan Jones boosted the later order with 59 to see his side to 255 all out.

The full scorecard appeared on the website last night and an interesting feature is the presence of 'Unsure of Yorkshire' who despite effecting a run out, scoring 22 runs and taking four wickets remains a man of mystery. Yesterday's rain ensured a draw but that was sufficient to send Yorkshire top, albeit by only two points from Lancashire and with Durham only a further point away. With sixteen points for a win such margins are easily overcome. Durham and Yorkshire meet at Stockton CC on Tuesday while Lancashire and Derbyshire meet at Northern on the same day. Cheshire have completed their matches. The winners will progress to semi finals and then a final at Arundel on 17th to 19th August.

The ECB  also run a cup competition for this age group with the finals day being at Kibworth CC Leicestershire on Sunday June 21st.

Sessay ensure a long journey

posted by John Winn

During the hot weather of last week every weather forecast mentioned the possibility of showers,'heavy at times', but with the exception of ten minute sharp burst on Wednesday morning I saw no rain throughout the week. Yesterday, however my luck ran out for the Village Cup semi final between Sessay and Cumbrian visitors Cleator was plagued by a series of brief showers. Although none of these were particularly heavy they caused several interruptions to play.

Both these teams are past winners of the competition, Sessay in 2010, Cleator in 2013, and with the two sides having met twice before and the score at one all a very good crowd had come in anticipation of a keen contest, as many if not more from West Cumbria than from the locality. With exact timing the first shower delayed the start for 25 minutes when Sessay, who had surprised the visitors by choosing to bat, began their innings. Opening the bowling for Cleator was Darren Clark, brother of Jordan who in 2013 hit six sixes in an over for Lancashire II at North Marine Road, also in the side yesterday was their father, Ian. All six bowlers used by Cleator maintained a grip on Sessay that saw the run rate struggle to get much above three and whilst several of their fielders would be in the 13 stone division if they were Cumberland wrestlers there were few errors and one excellent catch to get rid of Sessay dangerman, Simon Mason.

Towards the end of the Sessay innings and after the fourth rain break the shackles were finally cast aside and the acceleration enabled the home team to reach 199 for 7 off their 40 overs. One loose over from opening bowler David Blackwell, who had bowled an economic first spell, cost 17 including four wides, and left Cleator with the nice round figure of 200 to win.

The Cumbrians' reply got off to a flier with ten off the first over and skipper Mark Wilkie was forced to bring himself into the attack after five overs, a move that bore immediate fruit with a wicket and from thereon Sessay bowled and fielded themselves back into the game. Another shower persuaded me it was time to head home but I was able to follow the closing overs on Live Sports FM, an online commentary broadcast from in front of the pavilion despite competition from some spectators who had clearly visited the bar.

Cleator lost wickets regularly and eventually fell forty short thus sending Sessay through to the semi final in which they will visit Pembrokeshire outfit Carew CC who were winners over Newtown Linford yesterday, a round trip of almost 600 miles. The other semi final will be between Sibton Park who beat Dinton by six runs and Miskin Manor who got home by two runs against Cookham Dene when a last wicket stand which had produced 52 runs was ended with a run out off the last ball. Thus the two surviving Welsh clubs, Carew and Miskin Manor are kept apart and Lord's on September 4th may yet be a feast of dragons and leeks.

Scorers are behind the door at Sessay

BLACK SHEEP SEMI-FINAL

By Brian Sanderson,

I return to Weetwood again to watch Yorkshire Academy against York in the Black Sheep semi-final.

It is a fifty over competiition which started at 1.00P.M. with the Academy batting after there victory yesterday. There was a shower of rain which delayed the start a few minutes.Harry Brook was soon out for 4 and then Hussain was out for 2 which left the score at 21 for 2. Leo McKendry ,photographed above bowled well . Bowling his ten over for 3 for 28.

Nearly half way through the overs the Academy were in trouble at 88 for 5.Both sides were under strength but  Imtiaz batted well to score 61 before Pringle had him l.b.w .With the help of  Warner ,who scored 41, the Academy reached 224 in the fifty overs. There was a decent crowd but by half time the weather became cooler and some people went in their car too watch the match.

York started well with Brown, also a Academy player and McCauley who put on 35 in eight overs.At this stage I went home for my dinner . The last score is 117 for after 24 overs with the two McKendry brothers batting.

York must be favourites  to go through to the final with these good batsmen.