Match report.
On Monday 19th August, Yorkshire U11 Phoenix ventured over to Marple CC in Stockport to play a 40-over game against Cheshire. The venue had been rearranged from its original ground due to the deluge of rain that had fallen over the past week and the day's fixture saw it’s fair share of the weather too. But more about that later...
At the toss, skipper Daniel Longley lost and was asked to bat by his Cheshire counterpart. For the first time in 4 games, the Pheonix boys were going to be setting a target. The first ball of the game was driven back down the ground for 4 by opener Joe Birks, with the positive mindset that was talked about pre match at the forefront of the boys minds. However, a mix up in communication saw Aarush Shinde run out without facing a ball. Birks set out to not let this bother him, scoring at a run-a-ball, until he was bowled stepping back to one that kept low; leaving Pheonix 18-2 and Birks scoring all of them so far. Longley was next to follow, bowled by a Yorker from Cheshire’s first change bowler Arjen Kunjoor. Phoenix were now 34-3 and in need of a rebuild. For Peter Greenfield and Mack Hall runs were becoming hard to come by due to accurate bowling from Kunjoor and spinner Navneet Kamal and, at 18 overs, Pheonix were 50-3. Then at 1:10pm, the rain came.
What could only be described as monsoon weather hit Marple CC and the ground was soon under water in the torrential rain. It was thought that the game would have to be abandoned. After the rain eased, an early tea was taken whilst the groundstaff, coaches and even parents worked tirelessly to bowdry the square and, after over 20 trips back to empty the water tanks, the umpires inspected the pitch and with the agreement to tarp the used wicket ends and a scattering of sawdust, a game could continue. The teams were informed that their could be only 34 overs left in the entire match, restarting at 3:40pm - a full 2 1/2 hours after the previous over. So, it was agreed that the Pheonix boys would bat for 12 more overs, giving Cheshire 22 overs in their innings.
The pitch seemed to have deteriorated within that time and the ball kept very low on many occasions. Within the final 12 overs, wickets fell at regular intervals despite the positive batting from the boys. Mack Hall top scored with 25 and was the last man out in the final over. Yorkshire Phoenix finished on 113 all out.
Cheshire’s innings got off to the worst possible start, with a run out occurring on the 2nd ball of the inning, before they found themselves 1-2 after only 8 balls. This brought young Joe Moores to the crease. Moores brought positive, aggressive batting to the crease, smashing the ball to the boundary on numerous occasions. The Phoenix boys looked rattle, which led to a few mistakes as Moores gave chances and was dropped on two occasions. Cheshire were suddenly 39-2 after only 6 overs. Longley called for a bowling change at both ends, which did the trick as Pheonix soon took back control, as Cheshire lost their next 3 wickets for just 14 runs. At the halfway stage, the hosts were 53-5, losing Moores (25 in 21 balls) in the process. It had been a great spell of bowling from Aiden Gaunt-Edwards (5 overs, 2-12) which swung the pendulum in Yorkshire’s favour and from then on they never let go! Wickets fell at regular intervals and the run rate kept rising. Cheshire were eventually bowled all out for 91 in the 22nd over - minutes before the rain started again!
A massive thank you goes to the groundstaff at Marple CC for getting the game on and to our opposition, Cheshire, for giving us a great game in challenging conditions.