An afternoon at the cricket in York - 06 July 

 After looking at the weather forecast and the starting 
time of today’s fixtures—a lot of them were scheduled for 11am, due to some football match in Germany !, I decided to go and see York play Woodhouse Grange in the ECB Yorkshire Northern League.
 
Both sides are in mid-table, about forty points behind leaders Clifton Alliance.The venue is situated in a large complex. Today the first team was playing on the main ground, while behind the rugby stand the fourth team were taking on New Earswick; next to that ground Clifton Alliance were up against bottom-of-the-league Easingwold.
It was sunny when I arrived, and for a change this season, there was no wind to chill it. Glancing over the York team list, I recognised four names: the opener Jonny Tattersall, who keeps wicket for Yorkshire; Duncan Snell, the league’s leading run-scorer; Harry O’Sullivan, a left-arm spinner who used to be in the Yorkshire Academy; and Finlay Bean, the Yorkshire first team opening batter. Woodhouse Grange, in contrast, had just one name that rang a bell: James Finch, the captain, who played for the county Seconds a decade ago.
York won the toss and decided to bat, Tattersall and Bean taking first strike, but Bean was soon out for a duck. His successor, the overseas star Breidyn Schaper, contributed just two runs more. In fourth was Snell, but he was brilliantly caught by Hudson for eighteen, reducing York 61 for three. Tattersall dug in for a crucial knock of 66, which helped 
the locals to 204 for six in their fifty overs—a reasonable score, I thought. Finch bowled thirteen wicketless overs for forty runs.
During the interval I popped next door to see Clifton Alliance reach 282 with the help of second-team batter Josh Tynan, who hit 107. Later, with the ball, Tynan took two crucial wickets to drag his team to victory. A day to remember for the young man.When Woodhouse Grange came out to bat, the long-deferred gale returned with a vengeance, and made it very cold watching. I was lucky to find a stable tent. Woodhouse got off to steady start, but soon got behind the scoring rate, and then the spinners seized control. O’Sullivan took five for 35 and Dave Brent two for forty, bowling the visitors out for 185 in 49 overs. It was nice to get in a warm car and head home. 

The article was first published on ACS Cricket website 
06 July 2024, reporter Brian Sanderson.