A neglected competition ?
Brian Sanderson at MetroBank One Day Cup
This article first appeared on the ACS Cricket website on
01 August 2024.
I left my house at nine o’clock yesterday, for my destination, York, less than an hour’s drive from Headingley. It is a club I have visited regularly over the years. Today it was hosting an important tie in Group B of the MetroBank One Day Cup.
In the group are Essex, Leicestershire, Sussex, Glamorgan, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire. The latter were taking on Sussex. The first two people I chatted to were the groundsmen; both were looking forward to the rain forecast for Thursday.Today, however, the sun was shining !
Sussex won the toss and elected to field. There were a number of names on the team sheets that I did not recognise—including the exotic-sounding Zach Lion-Cachet, who has earned a call-up from the Sussex seconds. Yorkshire had a twenty-one-year-old opener, Will Luxton, who has been playing for the England Under-19s, and was soon out bowled by Ari Karvelas, a South African fast bowler who has represented Greece. Finlay Bean (whom, for a mercy, I did recognise) played some expansive shots, and could have been out earlier than he was. Ultimately he was caught by Charlie Tear off Karvelas for 37. Tear is a Scottish keeper who has played for the national side and for Gloucestershire.
As perhaps you can see from this brief chronicle, one needs a supercomputer these days, or failing that an up-to-date Playfair, to identify the players in this competition. The reason is not far to seek: It is limited to players who have not been picked up by any of the Hundred teams. What a sad degradation of this once-excellent cup.
How will England players thrive the fifty-over game if they never play it domestically?
Yorkshire captain Shan Masood was required to play a steady innings to help his team to a respectable total, reaching 63 before he ran himself out going for an impossible two. Then Harry Duke, the wicketkeeper, arrived at the crease. He has just come back from playing for the First Class Counties side against West Indies. Yesterday, with the help of Dom Bess, he brought the Yorkshire total up to 261 in the final over.
My lunch was tongue sandwiches and malt bread—an interesting contrast to the delights of Mrs Mulholland at Hartlepool CC the day before !
When Sussex batted, they reached 123 for four at the halfway stage, and were in with a good chance, but then Ben Coad came back to bowl and had Lion-Cachet caught behind by Duke for twelve. The next five batters amassed just 59, so Yorkshire won by 49 runs.
Yorkshire’s next match is against Gloucestershire, again at York, on Friday
A lovely day spoiled.....
Brian Sanderson rues the One Day Cup defeat of his beloved Yorkshire.
This article first appeared on the ACS Cricket website on
02 August 2024.
Returning at York today to see Yorkshire take on Gloucestershire in the fifty-over competition, I was pleased to see a bigger crowd than earlier in the week. Perhaps this means nothing more than that it was a Friday. Or perhaps my late philippic has roused the masses. The sun was out, and the ground looked excellent. These are the days a Yorkshireman lives for.
I stationed my chair at the opposite end of the ground from the one I occupied on Wednesday. Variety is the spice of life !
Gloucestershire won the toss and batted, and someone commented that runs were in the offing; the wicket looked better than on Wednesday. No sooner had I ingested this intelligence than I was treated to that rarest of sights in this competition: the arrival at the crease of an international batsman, the Australian Cameron Bancroft. But he was soon out for thirteen, caught by Duke behind the wickets off a beautiful swinging delivery from Ben Coad. You can see it now if you like—and I would strongly recommend you do—on Yorkshire’s YouTube channel:
In fact, you should check out all of Coad’s spell, for he bowled excellently throughout, finishing with two for 27 in his ten overs.
Next in was Ollie Price, who held the innings together with a score of 98 before being yorked by George Hill for 98. I felt sorry; he deserved a century. He was seventh out at 237 in the 48th over, and Gloucestershire finished on 251 for nine. The other bowler worth mentioning was Daniel Moriarty, who took two for 42 in his ten overs.
A Yorkshire supporter observed to me at the break that our lads have not proven very good of late at chasing a total, and certainly they did not start well today: They were 24 for two after seven overs. Ajeet Singh Dale, of the sharp, slinging action, looked too good for our batters.
It was left to Shan Masood and James Wharton to give us any hope of hauling in the target. Those hopes were on the rise when Masood reached 76, but then he was caught at the wicket off Mike Taylor. He lingered a second at the crease after the umpire raised his finger: Was it disappointment, or was he hard done by? I cannot say.
The last resort was for James Wharton to carry his bat, but he fell, too, and in the end Yorkshire were all out for 215 in the 48th over. This drops them down to fifth, with just four points on the broad. They will have to improve significantly in the two matches at Scarborough next week if they are to reach the quarter-finals. Scarborough could certainly do with the money that would accrue from a pair of well-contested matches.