On Saturday the 1^st XI travelled to Thornton-le Moor. When they arrived, the conditions were not good – there was rain in the air, and the ground was slippery under foot.

The home side won the toss and asked us to bat first. We struggled to get going and made our way to 76 for 5. From there the other five wickets added 133 runs as we closed on 208. Skipper Morgan Davie led the way with 40, Sam Arkwright and Harry West both made 29 and Thomas Mountain 22. Mr Extras contributed 38 runs.

Rain fell during the interval but the homesters didn’t put the covers on the wicket. The field by this time was very slippy and the bowlers and fielders struggled to stay upright. We took two wickets as they reached 33. Pleas to the sole umpire to take the players off fell on deaf ears. By this time the ball was like a bar of soap! They made their way to 86 for 2 after 12 overs. At his point our skipper told the umpire that it was too dangerous to continue and that somebody was going to get hurt. So, off the players trudged. To the homesters surprise and ours as well the umpire invoked the mysterious Duckworth Lewis rules. Under the system the homeside were declared the winners by 8 wickets. Josh Robinson took the two wickets to fall for 36 off 5 overs. We gained six points which leaves us next to bottom in the Division.

The 2^nd XI entertained Middleham at the Billy Bob’s Ice Cream Parlour sponsored ground. They couldn’t quite believe it had not rained down. The wicket was hard and the outfield bone dry. Praise to the hard work put in by Scott and he helpers.

We won the toss and elected to field. They made 164 for 7 in their overs with opener Thomas Chilton putting in a fine stint to score 92 not out off 119 balls. Matt Buckmaster was the best bowler with 2 for 9 off 8 overs with the other wickets being shared by five bowlers.

We made 43 for the first wicket, where Matt went for 19. Skipper Nathan Barrett made 8 as we reached 66 for 2. Ben Jolly joined Gareth Wooller, and they put together a stand of 64 at which point the former went for 24. Rory Dollard made 12, Hayden Barrett 1 and Zac Sherpe 7. Gareth stood firm and was 87 not out as we won by five wickets. The match was sponsored by RYLO Freight and in memory of Marjorie and Harold Batchelor. We sit fourth in the table. This Saturday the 1^st XI are at home to Burnt Yates whilst the 2^nd XI travel to Helperby. The match sponsors are Ian Cranston Auto Technicians and Simon Holt.

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