Match reports.
Lancashire U14 v Yorkshire U14A, held at Blackpool CC on Tuesday 17th July.
Game 1
Lancashire 104-5 (Alex Midgley 2-24) beat Yorkshire 103 all out (Rhys Ditta 29) by 5 wickets.
Overnight rain meant a damp playing surface greeted the squad on their arrival at Blackpool CC for the two T20 fixtures. T20 skipper Jack Young won the toss and decided to bat first on what looked like a hard surface. Opening pair Tom Douglas and Noah Priestley strode out to the middle to face up to the Lancashire opening bowlers. Douglas (0) fell early, caught at midwicket, bringing Rhys Ditta to the crease. Alongside Priestley (22) and then Nico Nicola (10), Ditta (29) anchored the innings building an solid platform through some excellent running between the wickets in the face of some good bowling. At 85-3 with 7 overs left, the innings looked set-up to accelerate over the remaining overs. However, some poor running between the wickets and some good bowling from the Lancashire bowlers resulted in Yorkshire being bowled out for a below par 103 in 19.2 overs. It would take an extremely determined and disciplined approach from the team to defend this total and that is exactly what the lads produced, led, from the off, by the pace and aggression of Alex Midgley (2-24) alongside the ever miserly Clark Doughney (0-8 off 4 overs) bowling in the powerplay overs. A strong second wicket partnership between Henshall and Shetty looked to be taking the game away from Yorkshire. However, Max Didgiunaitis (1-11) removed the dangerous Henshall and Jack Young (1-19) removed Shetty to make it a nervy finish for the Lanchashire batsmen. Noah Priestley (1-10) bowled a tight last over to take it to the last ball with Lancashire requiring 1 to win; which they scrambled through for to win. A great effort from the Yorkshire lads to take the game so deep in the second innings.
Game 2
Yorkshire 92-1 (Matthew Weston 48*) beat Lancashire 90 all out (Clarke Doughney 3-12, Rhys Ditta, 2-17) by 9 wickets.
The second game saw Lancashire bat first with Yorkshire keen to make amends for the narrow loss in the first game. The spin trio of Clarke Doughney (3-12), Jack Young (1-12) and Rhys Ditta (2-17) broke the back of the Lancashire innings with regular wickets, supported by some exceptional fielding, before Noah Priestley (1-26) and George Horbury (1-7) finished the innings off with a wicket and a run out each to bowl Lancashire out for 90 in 18.3 overs. Openers Matthew Weston (48*) and Harry Alinson (7) started the innings well before a mix up saw Allinson depart for his second run out of the day - bringing George Horbury (20*) to the crease. Horbury and Weston were clinical in their approach, putting pressure on the Lancashire bowlers - the spinners in particular - reaching the total with 5 overs to spare. The lads now travel to Scarborough for 2 days of cricket against Warwickshire.
Full scorecards available HERE.