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Oh Calamity!
The 1st XI suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Studley Royal 2nds at Shires Lane. On a beautiful sunny, warm afternoon, we won the toss and elected to bat. Sadly, we were dismissed for 49 with 21 of those coming from extras. The clamp down on wides in the top two divisions yielding 16 of those. Only Haroon Ali reached double figures – 10. For them Austin Hamilton enjoyed a fine spell of bowling, taking 7 for 27 off 10 overs.
Studley knocked off the runs in 14.2 overs, for the loss of two wickets. Their innings contained 16 extras, of which 13 were wides. Sam Arkwright and Jack Kitching both took 1 for 9. We remain in 11th place in the table.
By contrast the 2nd XI enjoyed another fine victory. We made the long journey to Middleham and they won the toss and asked us to go first. Gareth Wooler and Caspar Bean put on 145 for the first wicket, where the latter went for 54 off 70 balls including 4 fours and one six. Danny Horne joined the fray and the score progressed to 197 in the 36th over, where Danny departed for 25. Thomas Mountain made 9 and Rory Dolland 3 not out as the innings closed on 227 for 3. Gareth had gone quietly about his business and amassed a scintillating 124 off 129 balls which included 10 fours and 4 sixes.
They weren’t going to lie down and chipped away at our total. They had reached 176 when the final wicket fell. Even without the clamp down on wides, we conceded 19 out of a total 28 extras. Skipper Paul Wormald finished with 3 for 51, Caspar Bean 2 for 29, Thomas 2 for 34 and a wicket each for Harry Ayrton and Ben Jolly. One pleasing aspect was the trust the skipper put in Ben and Thomas to bowl the final six overs The both responded well and picked up a wicket a piece.
The 20 points garnered lifts us up to fourth spot in the division.
Fixtures for the coming week – on Monday Embsay Eagles u11s entertain Settle Gazelles u11s.
Tuesday 2nd XI away to Ripley 2nds in the 1st round of the Wath Cup.
Thursday Embsay Eagles u11s are away to U Wharfedale u11s
Saturday – 1st XI away to Burnt Yates 1st XI (a clash of the bottom two)
2nd XI at home to Wath & Melmerby 1st with match sponsors Mary Hargreaves and R McDowell Haulage and Distribution.
Trevor Coe – ECC Chairman
