York Cricket Club

The memories of a disappointing performance last Sunday at Malton & Old Malton CC were banished yesterday, with a hugely improved performance and excellent Win against Pocklington CC.

YCC U.13B              :  79-6

M & OM  U.13 A     :  81 -1 

Appreciating the M & OM match was only the B Teams’ second match in 6 weeks there were many good aspects with Bat and Ball however, as we discussed after the match, we effectively ‘ lost ‘ the match due to a poor performance in the field.

Having batted first a ‘ patient ‘ 30 Retired from Rohan and a ‘ Cameo ‘ from Skipper Alfred Massey 11, were the backbone with no other Batsman disappointingly reaching double-figures …. 79 – 6 was defendable but only if we played well in ‘ Second-Half ‘.

Unfortunately, that was not the case … we were very grateful to Rohan for ‘ taking the Gloves ‘ in the absence of a recognised Keeper, we know it would be ‘ tough ‘ and this was compounded by our fielding and positioning… aspects we work hard on and discuss a lot in training, which were disappointing.

It took M & OM 16 overs to score the runs … so 5 an over … another 20 runs would have made it interesting but our shortfall with the Bat and lapses in the Field were the difference.

However … what a difference a Week can make ….

YCC U.13B : 123 – 6 

PCC U.13A. :  81 – 4

‘ Energised ‘ was the word from Skipper Massey, as the Players came off the Pitch with a 42 Run victory and how true !

Batting first we much more positive and focused .. 30* Rtd from George Armitstead, 19 from the Skipper, 17 no from Henry Ellerker and 13 from Batsman/Keeper Toby ‘ The Look ‘ – together with a generous 33 Extras gave us an excellent total.

Our bowling was improved ( still a few too many Extras .. 21 ) but it was in the Field we clearly  ‘ stepped up ‘ .. with excellent contributions from everyone.

Wickets ‘ up front for Chris Green 2 ov 1 for 5, Skipper Massy 2 ov 1 for 6 and late in the Innings for Teerdha Thotli 2 ov 1 for 6, Will Rollo-Gardner 2 ov 1 for 10 and good performances with the ball from the rest.

Congratulations – but now can we please maintain that momentum as we play Yapham CC tomorrow evening .. ?

Well, for those at Abbeydale last night – Players and Supporters .. what can I say ?

An evening I suspect none of those there will forget …

A County Cup Quarter-Final against one of the most respected South Yorkshire, if not also County Clubs – Sheffield Collegiate CC ( SC CC ) … the Home of Root & Vaughan.

Losing the Toss we were invited to Bat but, as we anticipated, tight bowling kept the scoring rate ‘ in check ‘ …. unfortunately, coupled with the early wicket of Opener Alex Strain.

The arrival of Capt. Jack Robinson moved the score along and together with Henry Roberts we moved to 22, before Henry was also Bowled.

Abelard Roberts joined Jack – who proceeded to ‘ move up a Gear ‘ and began to punish the bowling attack. A difficult chance he gave was ‘ put down ‘ …. ah … as I regularly tell them “ Catches Win Matches “…..  Jack then moved quickly to 29 and hit a boundary 4 to retire 33no ( off 30 balls ).

Unfortunately our ‘ Middle Order ‘ struggled to maintain the momentum and we lost Abelard for 4, Suvan for 4, Zac Oxley for 0, relying on Seb Hardy 8, Nicky Yates 10no and Oli Huffer 4 no to “ push us towards “  90… the 16 Extras assisted and we finished on what we agreed was a ‘ below par ‘ 88 – 6.

The mood however was very determined and we agreed if we matched their intensity and application in the field then ‘ it was Defendable ‘ !

Capt. Jack and Oli Phillips opened the bowling and, as ever, kept it very tight. The introduction of Seb Hardy maintained that and with the arrival of Ryan Hodgson the first wicket fell in the 7th ov … 1 for 30.

Wickets then began to fall at regular intervals and the self-belief within the Team visibly grew … Ryan with another in his 2nd ov and Seb with one in his 3rd left SC CC 73-3 in the 15th … with increasing pressure arrived fabulous levels of fielding… the number of runs saved a real tribute to the Team’s commitment.

Jack then changed the momentum with the ‘ inspired ‘ introduction into the attack of Suvan Seluan and within a couple of overs we seemed to have ‘ secured ‘ our grip on the game

A YCC injury … Zac Oxley in making another excellent stop … on goes our 12th Man ..Alfred Massie … who suggested to me a 12th Man was just a ‘ luxury ‘ ?

The home Team now clearly felt the pressure : 76-5, 80-6, ….. a Wicket each for Henry Roberts and Capt. Jack built the intensity…until 4 overthrows seemed that it might have just ‘ cost us ‘ .. ?

2 overs remaining… 9 to Win for Collegiate and return of Ryan Hodgson for an excellent 19th was quite ‘ pivotal ‘…. 2 Wickets for 2 runs …. 83-8 and 7 off 6 for Collegiate to triumph.

Suvan was thrown the Ball and with Vice-Capt Strain ‘ marshalling ‘ the Field placings with precision we awaited the 20th … the final 6 balls ….

A  ‘ dot ‘ then a single … then a dot … 6 from 3 … 2 wickets ‘ in hand ‘ … then … a 4 ball
(despite a valiant attempt on the Boundary by the Capt ) … so now 2 from 2 …. SH CC smelt Victory again ‘ … a good ball and the drop and run ‘ policy implemented by SC CC … …. a RUN OUT… 88-9 .. 2 needed for them from the last …..

Once again a good ball just swinging past the bat and then Off Stump … the Bails were ‘ whipped ‘ of  ‘ like Lighting ‘ by V-C Strain …. UP went the Finger from the Square Leg Umpire. … OUT !

……SC CC All Out for 88 – organised  ‘chaos‘ both in noise and with joy from the YCC Players and quite understandably the opposite …. total dejection of Hosts SC CC…. a York CC Win by 1 Run !

How to snatch Victory from the Jaws of Defeat …

The Match was really won with the Ball and in the Field – well done indeed to all 12 Players a superb effort and a very memorable Win.

Thank you so much to our On Field Umpire Derek Lancaster, Coaching Team Mick Hammerton and Matt Huffer …. as well as all our Travelling ‘ Barmy Army ‘ of Supporting Parents.

An excellent Advert ‘ for the quality of U.13 Club Cricket within the County and real tribute to both Teams for a Fabulous Match … the Semi-Final beckons .. the winners of Olicanians CC .v. Osset CC.

After our ‘ tight ‘ Win last week in the District Cup Preliminary Round we produced a much improved and very ‘ Professional ‘ performance by the A Team yesterday, to secure a place in the 2nd Round of the District Cup.

After losing the Toss and being invited to Bat we began with a solid early Partnership between Henry Roberts and Suvan ( 20-0 after 7ov ) which then accelerated, as they just ‘ dismantled  ‘ the HCC attack for 59 runs in 6 overs ….with some excellent timing and destructive hitting – both reaching 24 no and then each hitting a maximum over the Boundary to Retire on 30 – just fabulous to watch.

Losing such momentum, as effectively we had 2 new Batsmen, is always challenging but Lucas Oxley, Seb Hardy,George Armitstead and Nicky Yates all ‘ worked hard ‘ to keep the Scoreboard ‘ ticking over ‘ to leave us with a  ‘defendable ‘ total of 104 – 4 …. if we bowled and fielded to our potential.

Opening with ‘ Hurricane Oli  ‘ ( 4ov 1mdn 1 for 9 ) and Henry R ( 3ov 0 for 7 ) we kept the early HCC Batsmen in check …  scoring at 3 an over, with the one early Wicket for Oli.

The introduction of our first change Bowlers … Alfred Massie and Oli Huffer ( 3 ov 0-14 ) saw an acceleration from HCC but shortly thereafter the Wickets also began to fall as they tried to ‘ keep up  ‘ with the increasing scoring rate.

Alfred’ s figures especially reflected that fact, as HCC played their shots but also lost Wickets to leave him with respectable figures of 3ov 1mdn 3 for 20.

The introduction of Seb Hardy created more challenges for HCC with excellent ‘ line and length ‘ ( 3ov 0 for 6 ) together with a Run Out after some excellent keeping and glove work from Toby ‘ the Look ‘.

HCC were by the end of the 15th at 64-4 requiring another 10 runs an over and we were  ‘into ‘ their lower middle order who, with respect, were not capable of managing that especially with Seb ‘s form and the introduction of spin through Ryan Hodgson ( 3ov 0-20) and George A.

George ( 1ov 1 for 9 ) just had time to ‘ grab ‘ a Wicket in the 20th with HCC closing on 88-6 and a YCC win by 16 runs with the District Cup Qtr Final draw taking us Away to the Winners yesterday of Bolton Percy CC or Malton & Old Malton CC on the 27th June.